Request By:
Mr. Roscoe Croley
School Business Administrator/Treasurer
Whitley County Board of Education
P.O. Box 358
Williamsburg, Kentucky 40769
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
Mr. Curtis L. Meadors has appealed to the Attorney General pursuant to KRS 61.880 your denial of his request to inspect and copy records and documents of the school board.
In a letter to you dated October 28, 1987, Mr. Meadors advised that he would be in your office on November 5, 1987, to inspect all certified employees' payroll check stubs issued during June, July, and August of 1987. He further stated that upon completion of the inspection he might ask to have some copies made.
You responded to Mr. Meadors in a letter dated November 2, 1987, and advised him in part that, "All certified employees payroll check stubs are delivered to the employee and a copy is not retained by this office." In addition, you stated that, "The information contained on payroll check stubs is information of a personal nature and public disclosure would constitute an invasion of personal privacy. "
Mr. Meadors' letter of appeal to the Attorney General asks this office to review his request and to state whether your response to him was consistent with the provisions of the Open Records Act.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Mr. Meadors' letter to you of October 28, 1987, specifically concerned an inspection of all certified employees' payroll check stubs for a particular three month period. You responded in part that the payroll check stubs of all certified employees are given to the employees and copies are not retained by your office. Thus the specific records in the form requested do not exist at this time as far as the Board of Education is concerned.
It is, therefore, the opinion of the Attorney General that, technically, your response to the request to inspect and copy documents under the Open Records Act (KRS 61.870 to KRS 61.884) was correct in that you do not have the precise documents requested and thus you cannot make available that which you do not have. See OAG 83-111 and OAG 86-65 (pp. 2-3), copies of which are enclosed.
Mr. Meadors was obviously requesting to inspect the documents in question to obtain in part information relative to salaries of certified employees. The second paragraph of your letter states that information contained on payroll stubs is information of a personal nature and public disclosure would constitute an invasion of personal privacy. We must take exception to that statement to the extent that it relates to the gross salaries of employees of a public agency.
This office has concluded that the salaries of officers and employees of public agencies are matters in which the public has an interest and are subject to public disclosure. See OAG 76-717, copy enclosed. We have also concluded that such information as employees' social security numbers is not subject to public inspection. Information on payroll vouchers and check stubs such as amounts withheld for taxes, insurance, retirement, credit union deposits, savings bonds, charitable contributions and annuities also may be withheld from public inspection. See OAG 82-233, a copy of which is enclosed.
Thus a proper request for information pertaining to only the salaries of officers and employees of a public agency should be honored as that information is available in some format and within the range of material in which the public has a legitimate interest.
As required by statute a copy of this opinion is being sent to the requesting party, Mr. Curtis L. Meadors. A copy is also being sent to the attorney for the Whitley County Board of Education, Richard C. Ward, Esq. Either or both of the parties involved has the right to challenge this opinion in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5).