Request By:
Hon. Jean Bailey
Rowan County Clerk
Rowan County Courthouse
Morehead, Kentucky 40351
Opinion
Opinion By: FREDERIC J. COWAN, ATTORNEY GENERAL; Gerard R. Gerhard, Assistant Attorney General
By letter of October 13, 1989, Sue H. Trent has appealed what she indicates is your refusal to provide salary figures of your deputy clerks, and individual travel expense amounts, for each of the calendar years 1978 through 1988.
FINDINGS IN BRIEF
Although request was for "information" rather than to inspect "records," the County Clerk failed to act consistent with Open Records provisions by failing to respond in writing, as required by KRS 61.880, to a request styled as under Open Records law. Salary and travel expense information is subject to public scrutiny; while the County Clerk is not required to compile information, records that might reveal information sought, where reasonably identified, must be made available for inspection, subject to exceptions set forth in KRS 61.878.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
By letters of September 12, 1989, and September 27, 1989, to you, and apparently by a written request tendered to your office on October 10, 1989, Sue H. Trent requested "the following information":
1) individual salaries paid to deputy clerks for the calendar years 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1988
2) individual travel expenses for the calendar years 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1988.
Ms. Trent signed as a Candidate, Office of County Clerk.
Ms. Trent's October 18, 1989 letter of appeal to this office indicates you have refused to provide her with the salary figures of your deputy clerks, and have refused to provide her with individual [travel] expense amounts, and further, that you have declined to acknowledge receipt of her requests.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
KRS 61.880(2) provides in part for the Attorney General to, upon request of one denied inspection of public records, issue a written opinion stating whether an agency ". . . acted consistent with provisions of KRS 61.870 to 61.884."
KRS 61.880(1) provides, in substance and in part, that a public agency, upon receiving a request to inspect public records, shall determine within three working days whether to comply with the request. The agency is to notify the requester, within that three day period, of its decision.
If an agency denies, in whole or in part, inspection of a record, its response must include a statement of the specific exception, among those set forth in KRS 61.878, authorizing withholding of the record, together with a brief explanation of how the exception applies to the record withheld.
A copy of the written response denying inspection is to be forwarded immediately by the agency to the Attorney General. KRS 61.880(2).
In the instant case, a request was made for certain "information." Kentucky's Open Records provisions are not intended to provide a requester with particular "information," nor to require public agencies to compile information to conform to the parameters of a given request. See, for example, OAG 76-375, copy attached. Kentucky's Open Records provisions do provide for inspection of reasonably identified records, unless exceptions are taken pursuant to specific statutory provisions. The request here, technically, appears to be a request for specific information to be provided, rather than a request to inspect reasonably described records. Taken literally, the request asks that salary and travel expense information be compiled for each of the calendar years 1978 through 1988.
While the request here involved is one for information , rather than to inspect records , and thus does not technically conform to Open Records provisions, we believe the proper response was for you to promptly respond in writing to the request. Your response should have stated that while Open Records provisions did not require a public agency to compile information, records that might yield the information sought would be made available for inspection during normal office hours. Parts of records withheld, such as the home address of an employee, or a social security number, should have been explained in a manner consistent with KRS 61.880. See for example, OAG 86-75, copy enclosed.
We believe you failed to act consistent with Open Records provisions in failing to make a written response to a request styled as being under Open Records law. KRS 61.880(1), OAG 86-75.
You should promptly contact the requester and advise her that records that may supply the information she seeks will be made available during normal business hours of your office. While you are not required under Open Records provisions to compile information for a requester, you must make reasonably identified records available for inspection.
If inspection of any record is denied, you must state, in writing, the basis for your denial, in a manner consistent with KRS 61.880 and KRS 61.878. While this office has said in the past that records disclosing salaries of public employees are subject to inspection by the public, we have noted that such records may contain personal information within the meaning of KRS 61.878(1)(a) (e.g., home address, social security number, etc.,). Such information may be masked or covered. See for example, OAG 82-233, copy attached.
For your information, a copy of Kentucky's Open Records provisions is enclosed with this opinion.
Both you and Ms. Trent may have rights, pursuant to KRS 61.880(5), to appeal the findings of this opinion.
As required by statute, a copy of this opinion is being sent to Sue H. Trent.