Request By:
Chester L. Hager
Coroner
Fayette County
312 N. Limestone
Lexington, Kentucky 40507
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
Mr. Robert F. Houlihan, Jr., attorney for the Lexington Herald-Leader Company, has appealed to the Attorney General under KRS 61.880 your denial of his client's request to inspect certain public records in your custody. The records are described as the coroner's reports and complete investigatory files developed in connection with the deaths of certain named individuals who died in Fayette County on stated dates within the last four years. (It is not necessary to this opinion to state the names of the deceased persons as listed in the request.) You responded to the request by letter dated April 1, 1981 to Mr. Mark Nadler, City/State Editor, The Lexington Herald, stating that you were denying the request on the basis of the exemption to the mandatory Open Records requirement provided by KRS 61.878(1)(a), which exempts public records containing information of a personal nature where the public disclosure thereof would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
It is the opinion of the Attorney General that the described records are public records which are not exempt from the mandatory disclosure requirement of KRS 61.870-61.884 and that your denial of inspection of said records was contrary to the Open Records Law.
We do not believe that the privacy exemption applies to coroner's reports and investigatory files. A deceased person has no personal privacy rights and the personal privacy rights of living individuals do not reach to matters concerning deceased relatives. In OAG 78-28 we stated that when the coroner holds an inquest the inquest verdict and testimony when filed with the circuit clerk becomes a public record and is subject to the Open Records Law.
In summary, it is our opinion that the request to inspect the described records was wrongfully denied and the records should be immediately made available for inspection. It should be noted that any inspection of an investigatory file is subject to KRS 61.878(1)(g).
A copy of this opinion is being sent to the requester as directed by statute.