Request By:
Mr. Ed Burtner
Winchester City Manager
City Hall
Winchester, Kentucky 40391
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; By: Cicely D. Jaracz, Assistant Attorney General
Mr. Randy Lee Fox has appealed to the Attorney General pursuant to KRS 61.880 your denial of his request to inspect certain records in your custody as Winchester City Manager. Specifically, Mr. Fox requested to inspect the following records:
(1) A report on the Memorial Park fire made by Fire Chief Robert Monroe to the city manager and city commission;
(2) A report on the Seminole Trail fire made by Fire Chief Robert Monroe to the city manager and city commission;
(3) Resumes of the fire chief, assistant fire chiefs, and city manager.
You denied inspection of (1) and (2) based on KRS 61.878(1)(h), which exempts from public inspection those public records which constitute preliminary memoranda in which opinions are expressed. Denial was also based on KRS 61.878(1)(a) as public inspection would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
You also denied inspection of (3) based on KRS 61,878(1)(a).
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
It is the opinion of the Attorney General that your denial was proper under the Open Records law.
Regarding items (1) and (2), KRS 227.370(1) provides that the "chief of the fire department of a city . . . is authorized to inspect all property for the purpose of . . . determining the cause or origin of any fire loss . . ." Furthermore subsection (2) provides that a
"written report of each inspection shall be made and kept on file in the office of the chief of the fire department. Reports of investigations of fire losses conducted by a fire department may, in the discretion of the chief of the fire department, be withheld from the public."
The reports of the two above-mentioned fires can therefore be withheld from the public pursuant to KRS 227.370. This is authorized by KRS 61.878(1)(j), which exempts from inspection those public records which disclosure is made confidential, prohibited, or restricted by the general assembly.
Additionally, the reports are exempted from public inspection pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(h) as "preliminary memoranda in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended." The Winchester fire department is controlled by the Winchester city commission. See KRS 95.430. The city manager is the executive agent of the commission. See KRS 89.560, 89.570. The reports from the fire chief to the city manager thus constitute intra-office memoranda and are exempt from inspection pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(h).
Regarding item (3), inspection was properly denied pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(a). Resumes of the fire chief, assistant fire chiefs, and city manager are personnel records and, as such, contain personal information, disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
Your denial of inspection of the three items was therefore proper under the Open Records law. As directed by statute, a copy of this opinion is being sent to the requestor, who may initiate further proceedings pursuant to KRS 61.880(5).