Request By:
Sharon M. Weisenbeck, MS, RN
Executive Director
Kentucky Board of Nursing
4010 Dupont Circle, Suite 430
Louisville, Kentucky 40207
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General as to whether the Kentucky Board of Nursing must make available to the public the home address of each nurse licensed by the Board. In your letter you state the following:
"Inasmuch as the Board does not hold records of addresses other than the home address of licensees, the Board has permitted licensees to request that their names and addresses not be released to any requesting party not otherwise covered in the statutes. The Board of Nursing has honored these requests when submitted in writing due to concern expressed by licensees that the release of home addresses was an invasion of their privacy.
"Because the office maintains only home addresses on licensees, the Board of Nursing requests an opinion on whether or not withholding the release of names and addresses of those licensees who make such a request is in compliance with the Open Records Law. "
It is our opinion that the address of a person licensed to practice a profession is not a matter of personal privacy which may be withheld from public disclosure under KRS 61.878(1)(a) or any other exemption provided in the Open Records Law, KRS 61.870-61.884. See OAG 82-394, copy attached.
The purpose for licensing a profession is to protect both the public and the profession by assuring that persons who hold themselves out as qualified to practice the profession meet certain minimum standards of training and qualification. A license is in the nature of a special privilege, entitling the licensee to do something that he would not be entitled to do without the license. 51 Am.JUR.2D. Licenses and Permits, § 1, p. 7. City of Louisville v. Sebree, Ky., 214 S.W.2d 248. A license is, therefore, a public document which must identify the licensee to the public and, we believe, the minimum identification should be the name and address of the licensee. When the only address furnished by the licensee is his home address, it should be made available to the public. If a licensee furnishes the Board a business address or a post office box number, it would be sufficient to give that address to the public instead of the home address. We consider that the crucial factors are identification and general location of the licensee and that these factors override any privacy interest the licensee may have in his private life.