Request By:
Ms. Marcella W. Horney
Assistant Director
Kentucky Real Estate Commission
100 E. Liberty Street
Suite 204
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; Carl T. Miller, Jr., Assistant Attorney General
On behalf of the Real Estate Commission you have requested an opinion of the Attorney General on several questions pertaining to the access of the public to the records of your office. We will answer the questions as presented.
1. Is it legal for this Commission to make up and furnish (either to give or sell) to individuals operating real estate schools for profit, or to anyone else who requests, a list of the names and addresses of all the applicants, prior to each real estate examination? The examinations are held six times a year and there are some 1400 to 1500 applicants for each test administration.
There is no statute requiring that the list of applicants for the real estate examination must be kept confidential. There is, therefore no reason why your office cannot prepare such a list and furnish it to anyone requesting it.
2. May a fee be charged for providing this service and if so, must the charge be based on the actual cost of doing so, or may a figure be set by the Commission?
KRS 61.874(2), a portion of the Open Records law, provides: "The public agency may prescribe a reasonable fee for making copies of public records which shall not exceed the actual cost thereof not including the cost of staff required." If your office prepares a list in special form for the purpose of selling to real estate schools and others, we believe you may charge a reasonable fee for the list including a charge for the staff required to prepare the list. If a record is already in existence the fee can only be for the copying expense not including staff costs.
3. Must the list of names and addresses be either available to, or furnished to, individuals requesting same at a given time before each examination for their convenience and use?
There is no requirement that your office prepare a list before each examination or any given time. It is a matter of policy to be decided by the Real Estate Commission whether such a list shall be prepared and when it shall be prepared.
4. Does the name and address of a person who takes the real estate examination become a matter of public record when he applies for the test, or after he passes?
The name and address of the person who applies to take the real estate examination becomes a matter of public record when he applies. Of course those who have passed the examination and have received their license are listed as required by KRS 324.290. This list is a public record required to be published and distributed to all the county clerks in the state.
We find nothing in the Real Estate statute, Chapter 324, which makes examination records confidential.