Request By:
Mrs. Ann T. Trimble
Shelby Circuit Court Clerk
Box 28
Shelbyville, Kentucky 40065
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
Thomas Scanlan, the "agent for Paul J Moore, Sr.," has appealed to the Attorney General pursuant to KRS 61.880 your denial of Mr. Moore's request to furnish him copies of various documents concerning a court case in which he is involved and with which he is concerned.
In letters to you dated July 6, and July 30, 1987, Paul J. Moore, Sr. requested that you furnish him copies of "all the proceedings, indictment, motions, the arraignment, hearings, trial transcript and evidence presented in this case, as well as the pre-sentence investigation."
You responded to Mr. Moore in a letter dated August 3, 1987, and you referred in part to an order of the Shelby Circuit Court, entered July 20, 1987, which provides in part as follows:
"The record reflects that there is no pending motion before the Court and it is therefore held that the defendant is not entitled to a copy of this record at this stage of the proceedings.
"Nothing in this order shall be construed to restrict the defendant from reviewing and having access to the records that are presently recorded in the proper court, nor shall the defendant or his properly authorized agent be denied the right to copy the records; however, the defendant is not entitled to have the Clerk copy the record for him at this stage in the proceedings."
In his letter of appeal to this office Mr. Scanlan maintains that he is entitled to copies of the court records and that you have not allowed him to make copies of the records in question.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
KRS 61.878(1)(j) provides that, "Public records or information the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted or otherwise made confidential by enactment of the General Assembly" are excluded from the application of the Open Records Act and subject to inspection only upon an order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
KRS 26A.200 states in part that all records which are made by or generated for or received by any agency of the Court of Justice or by any other court or agency or officer responsible to such court shall be the property of the Court of Justice and subject to the control of the Supreme Court. KRS 26A.220 reads as follows:
"All public officers, public agencies, or other persons having custody, control or possession of court records by statute or otherwise shall be subject to the direction of the Supreme Court with regard to such records and no such officer, agency, or person shall fail to comply with any rule, regulation, standard, procedure, or order issued by the Chief Justice or his designee."
In Ex Parte Farley, Ky., 570 S.W.2d 617, 624 (1978) the Supreme Court of Kentucky said in part as follows:
"On its face, the Open Records Law, KRS 61.870 - 61.884, incl. (Ch. 273, Acts of 1976), appears to apply. Whether its provisions conflict with or are harmonious with KRS 26A.200 - 26A.220, incl. (Ch. 22, Acts of 1976 Ex. Sess.), we need not decide, because we are firmly of the opinion that the custody and control of the records generated by the courts in the course of their work are inseparable from the judicial function itself, and are not subject to statutory regulation. "
In OAG 85-105, copy enclosed, we concluded that the documents requested to be inspected and copied are court records and, therefore, not subject to the terms and provisions of the Open Records Act. Furthermore, in OAG 78-262, copy enclosed, at page three, we said that the General Assembly has clearly placed in the hands of the Chief Justice the handling and regulation of the records of the courts.
In conclusion, it is the opinion of the Attorney General that the documents which the requesting party seeks to inspect and copy are court records and, therefore, not subject to the terms and provisions of the Open Records Act.
As required by statute a copy of this opinion is being sent to the appealing party, Thomas Scanlan, who has the right to challenge it in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5).