Request By:
Mr. R. Michael Amyx
Executive Director
Kentucky Municipal League
Suite 201, Bradley Hall
University of Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky 40506
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General as to whether the public has the right under the Kentucky Open Records Law, KRS 61.870-61.884, to inspect records containing the salaries of city employees. You ask whether the provision protecting information of a personal nature where the public disclosure thereof would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of person privacy, KRS 61.878(1)(a), makes an employee's salary exempted under the Open Records Law.
It is our opinion that the salary of a city employee is not exempt under the law. In OAG 76-717 we said the following:
"The public is entitled to know the name, position, work station and salary of state employees. These are matters in which the public has an interest since state employees are carrying on the public's business at public expense. However, a state employee is entitled to privacy as to his personal life including his home address."
We believe that what we have said concerning state employees applies equally to all public employees.
It should be noted that Kentucky does not have a privacy law and that the purpose of the Open Records Law is to make records available to the public. There is no penalty provided for revealing matters in public records which are of a private nature, but a public agency may adopt a policy of protecting personal privacy as long as it does not impinge upon the public's legitimate right to knowledge of how the public's business is being conducted.