Request By:
Mr. Roger Cole, Commissioner
Department of Administrative Services
Transportation Cabinet
State Office Building
Frankfort, Kentucky 40622
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
John J. O'Hara, Esq., on behalf of his client, John Stephenson, has appealed to the Attorney General your denial of his request to inspect certain records of the Transportation Cabinet relating to John Stephenson. The records requested are described by Mr. O'Hara as: (1) Copies of any and all telephone slips bearing the name John Stephenson between May 1 and June 25, 1984; (2) Any and all telephonic records showing calls made from the office of Commissioner of Motor Vehicle Regulations to Mr. Adkins of A of I, either by long distance or watts line; (3) Any and all telephonic records showing calls made from the Office of Director of Motor Carriers to Mr. Adkins of A of I or A & I, either by long distance or watts line; (4) Any and all internal interoffice memoranda initiated in the office concerning the A of I or A & I incident from May 1, 1984 through June 25, 1984; (5) A copy of the calendar of the secretary of John Stephenson, Commissioner of Motor Vehicle Regulations, for the months of May and June 1984; (6) A copy of John Stephenson's calender for the months of May and June 1984.
In your letter of September 19, 1984 to Mr. O'Hara you informed him that since he did not define telephone "slips" you could not make a determination as to what he wanted. You further said that if telephone "slips" refer to messages, they would be considered an abbreviated form of interoffice memoranda unavailable under the Open Records Law.
As to the telephone records you advised Mr. O'Hara that the Transportation Cabinet Central Office has different phone numbers for each division or office but does not have separate extensions for each person. Thus, calls made by the Director or Commissioner as individuals are not available. Furthermore, telephone calls listed on K.A.T.S. printouts do not state the person or firm called. The records sought, therefore, are not available and not compiled as requested and need not be furnished. Finally, the request relative to the telephone records is a blanket request as specific time periods are not designated.
In connection with the request for internal interoffice memoranda you cited KRS 61.878(1)(h) as excluding that material from Mr. O'Hara's inspection.
Finally, as to the requests to inspect the secretary's calendar and Mr. Stephenson's calendar, you advised Mr. O'Hara that such calendars are not public records under KRS 61.870(2) and that Mr. Stephenson's calendar is probably in his custody and control.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
The records of the Transportation Cabinet are public records pursuant to KRS 61.870 and open to public inspection. However, the inspection of public records is subject to the limitations set forth in KRS 61.872 and 61.878.
The request to inspect never specifically identified the nature of a telephone "slip." We, therefore, are of the opinion that you properly denied the request to inspect telephone "slips" as the request lacked the specificity required under the Open Records Law. See OAG 83-386 and, more particularly, OAG 76-375, copies of which are enclosed, where we said that if a person cannot describe the records he seeks to inspect with specificity there is no requirement that copies of the records be delivered to him. Furthermore, if your statement is correct that the telephone "slips" requested may be some kind of interoffice memoranda, rather than the normal telephone business records, then they would be properly excluded from public inspection pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(h). See also OAG 79-162, copy enclosed.
The requests to inspect any and all telephonic records showing calls made from the office of the Commissioner of Motor Vehicle Regulations to Mr. Adkins of A of I and any and all telephonic records showing calls made from the Office of Director of Motor Carriers to Mr. Adkins of A of I or A & I were properly denied under the Open Records Law. The records sought are not available and the information and data relative to telephone calls are not compiled in such a manner as to be in the form requested by Mr. O'Hara.
You informed the requesting party that records of calls made by the Director or the Commissioner as individuals are not available as the telephone records do not list that kind of information. Furthermore, K.A.T.S. printouts do not state the persons called. Telephone calls listed on the K.A.T.S. printout we examined revealed the following information: the telephone number from which the call was made; the date and time of the call; the location called; the telephone number called; the number of minutes the call consumed; and, the cost of the call.
In OAG 76-375, at page two, we said that a person does not have a right to require a list to be made from public records if the list described does not already exist. If the list exists and is not otherwise confidential by law a person may inspect the list and secure a copy of it. Furthermore, in OAG 81-333, copy enclosed, we said in part that, "The purpose of the Open Records Law is not to provide information but to provide access to public records which are not exempt by law." The telepone records kept by the Transportation Cabinet (K.A.T.S. printouts of calls) do not contain the material sought by the requesting party and under the Open Records Law a public agency is only required to make available for inspection those public records it actually has collected and compiled.
The request to inspect any and all internal interoffice memoranda was properly denied under the Open Records Law. KRS 61.878(1)(h) states that among the public records excluded from the application of KRS 61.870 to 61.884 and subject to inspection only upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction are preliminary recommendations, and preliminary memoranda in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended. See OAG 82-263, copy enclosed, dealing with KRS 61.878(1)(h) and the exemption of intra-office memoranda and inter-office communications of a preliminary nature.
The requests to inspect the calendar of the secretary of John Stephenson and the calendar of John Stephenson were properly denied. In OAG 78-626, copy enclosed, we dealt in some depth with the right to inspect the appointment calendars of persons in public agencies. We concluded that such records were exempt from public inspection under the provisions of KRS 61.878(1)(a)(g) and (h). See also OAG 82-280, copy enclosed where we said that a public record is either open to public inspection by any person or it may be withheld from inspection by every member of the public under one of the exceptions set forth in KRS 61.878.
As required by statute, a copy of this opinion is being sent to the requesting party who has the right to challenge it in court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5).