Request By:
Mr. Paul D. Cowden
Montgomery County Attorney
Post Office Box 102
Mt. Sterling, Kentucky 40353
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General in regard to a request by the Mt. Sterling Advocate for the opportunity to inspect certain records of the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department. In its request the newspaper described the records as "all cruiser repair vouchers, bills, receipts, cancelled checks and/or other records for said work. This would also include parts and accessories you may have purchased for the two cars your office operates. Also we would like the opportunity to examine all gasoline purchase records you may have kept since taking office."
It appears to us that the records which the Mt. Sterling Advocate has requested to inspect are all public records within the meaning of the Kentucky Open Records Law, KRS 61.870 - 61.884. The definition of public records in KRS 61.870(2) reads as follows:
"Public records means all books, papers, maps, photographs, cards, tapes, discs, recordings or other documentary materials regardless of physical form or characteristics, which are prepared, owned, used, in the possession of or retained by a public agency. 'Public record' shall not include any records owned by a private person or corporation that are not related to functions, activities, programs or operations funded by state or local authority."
When a written request is made to inspect public records the custodian of the records is required to make a response within three days either allowing the inspection of the records or stating in writing that the records will not be made available for inspection and stating the specific exception authorizing the withholding of the record and a brief explanation of how the exception applies to the record withheld. KRS 61.880(1). Exceptions to the Open Records Law are contained in KRS 61.878 and we find no exception which applies to the records described in this opinion.
You suggest in your letter of request that it is your opinion that only final settlements submitted by a sheriff are public records. We find nothing in the Open Records Law to support that position.