Request By:
Mr. James M. Lay
Director of Finance
Jefferson County Public Schools
P.O. Box 18325
3332 Newburg Road
Louisville, Kentucky 40218
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
Mr. John Frith Stewart has appealed to the Attorney General under KRS 61.880 the denial by you of certain public records requested to be inspected by his client, Mr. Herschel Lillard. The records requested to be inspected are as follows:
1. A payroll list dated May 19, 1978, pp. 284-292
2. An "Alpha" or alphabetical list dated July 14, 1978.
In your letter of reply to Mr. Stewart, dated November 28, 1978, you state as follows:
"Mr. Dan McCubbin, Attorney for the Jefferson County Board of Education, was contacted regarding your request. He states we cannot make available records of employees which include their Social Security number. This would constitute an invasion of privacy. Both documents you request fall in that category."
We would point out that KRS 61.878(3) provides:
"If any public record contains material which is not excepted under this section, the public agency shall separate the excepted and make the non-excepted material available for examination."
We would also point out that the exceptions to the Open Records Law contained in KRS 61.878 do not probhibit the release of private information such as Social Security numbers. They only allow the agency the right to withhold such information if it adopts the policy to do so. There is no penalty provided for the release of exempted material. In this case, we believe you may either release the entire document containing the Social Security numbers of other employees or you may, if you so elect, delete the Social Security numbers and other private information and then allow inspection of the documents.
In compliance with the statute, we are sending Mr. Stewart a copy of this opinion.