Request By:
Mr. Robert W. Keats
Legal Counsel
Louisville and Jefferson County
Metropolitan Sewer District
400 South Sixth Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Cicely D. Jaracz, Assistant Attorney General
As attorney for the Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD), you have requested the Attorney General to issue an opinion pertaining to the Kentucky Open Meetings law. Specifically your question concerns whether MSD, a public agency governed by the Open Meetings Law, may go into closed session pursuant to KRS 61.810(6) for the purpose of discussing the acceptance of the resignation of a MSD official.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
It is the opinion of the Attorney General that MSD may not go into closed session to discuss the acceptance of the resignation of a MSD official under the Kentucky Open Meetings law.
KRS 61.810(6) provides that a public agency may go into closed session for:
Discussions or hearings which might lead to the appointment, discipline, or dismissal of an individual employe, member or student without restricting that employe's, member's, or student's right to a public hearing if requested, provided that this exception is designed to protect the reputation of individual persons and shall not be interpreted to permit discussion of general personnel matters in secret.
KRS 61.810(6) therefore expressly limits the discussion of personnel matters in closed session to those specifically dealing with an individual's appointment, discipline, or dismissal. The purpose of a closed session for those three matters is to protect the reputation of the individual involved. It is our opinion that the legislature specifically intended to close discussions only of these three subjects due to the potential for reputational damage. Closed discussions of other matters, such as resignation, are expressly precluded by KRS 61.810(6) which prohibits the "discussion of general personnel matters in secret. "
OAG 80-426, which states "[t]he accepting of a resignation and the appointment of an interim director (are) matters of personnel which are exempt from the Open Meetings requirement by KRS 61.810(6)" is overruled insofar as it is interpreted to allow the discussion of a resignation in closed session. However, the appointment of an interim director is expressly allowed in closed session.
It is therefore the opinion of this office that MSD cannot discuss in closed session whether to accept the resignation of an individual MSD official. KRS 61.810(6) provides for closed session only to discuss appointment, discipline, or dismissal of an individual in order to protect his reputation. Any other personnel matters are prohibited as subjects for closed meetings pursuant to KRS 61.810(6) as they constitute discussion of general personnel matters in secret.