Request By:
Ms. Sharon Weisenbeck, RN
Executive Director
Kentucky Board of Nursing Education and Nurse Registration
Suite 430
4010 Dupont Circle
Louisville, Kentucky 40207
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
Ms. Margaret Van Meter, Clinical Editor, RN Magazine, has appealed to the Attorney General as provided by KRS 61.880 concerning the refusal of the Kentucky Board of Nursing to supply RN Magazine a list of the names and addresses of currently licensed registered nurses and licensed practical nurses in Kentucky.
Ms. Van Meter sent with her letter of appeal copies of correspondence with you concerning this matter starting in August, 1980 and continuing until March of 1981. In sum, the correspondence indicates that the Kentucky Board of Nursing has persistently refused to sell RN Magazine a list of the names and addresses of licensed nurses in Kentucky. By letter dated January 12, 1981, you advised Ms. Van Meter that the Board had adopted a policy, effective October, 1980, as follows:
"Names and addresses of licensees will be released to groups, agencies or organizations who meet one of the criteria:
1. The recruitment of licensees residing in the area of the requesting health care facility.
2. Assessment of continuing education needs of nurses residing in the area served by the requesting institution.
3. Advertisement of continuing education programs/offerings by a Board approved provider.
4. Recruitment of potential students or assessments of education needs in areas served by the requesting institution.
5. Collection of manpower data for reporting and planning by the state and national governmental agencies and state and national organizations.
6. Other requests to be considered on an individual basis by the board."
Ms. Van Meter was informed that since RN Magazine did not, in the opinion of the Board of Nursing, meet any one of the criteria set out in the policy it would not be sold a list of nurses.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
It is the opinion of the Attorney General that the policy of the Kentucky Board of Nursing as to the release of the names and addresses of licensed nurses as stated above is not in conformity with the Kentucky Open Records Law, KRS 61.870-61.884.
The Open Records Law requires that all public agencies, state and local, shall allow inspection and copying of public records in their custody, with the exception of certain types of documents named in KRS 61.878, without regard to the person who is making the request or the purpose for which the person wants to inspect the records. An agency cannot adopt a policy allowing inspection and copying of records for certain purposes and denying it for other purposes. It is the content of the record itself which makes it either mandatorily accessible to public inspection and copying or exempt from the mandatory requirement.
In OAG 78-497 we said that the Kentucky Board of Nursing could adopt a policy either making available or refusing to make available a list of the names of newly licensed nurses. We said that -- "a public agency may withhold from public inspection records containing information of a personal nature where the disclosure thereof would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. KRS 61.878(1)(a)." We pointed out that we considered that the home addresses of state employees came under the privacy exemption and implied that the home addresses could also be refused under the privacy exemption. Our concluding remark was, however, "the names of licensed nurses and their work addresses cannot be withheld from the public." We have never at any time said that an agency can adopt a policy stating for what purpose a public record can be inspected. If a record is made available to one member of the public for one purpose, it must be made available to the public generally for any purpose. The purpose of licensing professions, such as nursing, is to protect the public, and the public is entitled to know who the licensees are. The public is also entitled to know the address of each licensee and if the only address which the board has for a licensee is a home address, the privacy exemption will not apply to that licensee. (The analogy between a licensee and a state employee as to home address breaks down if the licensee does not have a work address on file with the board. Cf. OAG 76-717).
In summary, it is the opinion of the Attorney General that the Kentucky Board of Nursing should make available to the public, including RN Magazine, the names and addresses of all licensed nurses as contained in the records of the Board without regard for the purpose for which the records are requested.
The agency has the right to challenge this opinion in the circuit court within 30 days for injunctive or declaratory relief as provided by KRS 61.880(5). The requester is being sent a copy of this opinion, as directed by statute.