Request By:
Janice Marshall
Clerk
Franklin Circuit Court
214 St. Clair Street
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Ann M. Sheadel, Director, Civil and Environmental Law Division
Maria Henson, Editorial Writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader, has appealed your denial of her request to receive copies of certain documents connected with domestic violence proceedings.
By letter addressed to you on October 10, 1990, Ms. Henson asked for copies of "EPO petitions, EPOs, DVOs and supporting documents in the Debby Wilhoite vs. R. F. Wilhoite case." This request was made pursuant to Kentucky's Open Records Act, KRS 61.870 to 61.884.
You responded to this request by letter on October 10, 1990, stating that you "cannot by rules of the Administrative Office of the Courts allow these cases to be open to the general public." You enclosed with your letter a copy of the relevant portion of the circuit clerk's manual written by the Administrative Office of the Courts.
By letter of October 10, 1990, Ms. Henson appealed your refusal to provide her with the requested material and asked this Office for an opinion that all records in domestic violence court proceedings are open to public inspection.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Pursuant to Kentucky's Open Records Act:
Each public agency, upon any request for records made under KRS 61.870 to 61.884, shall determine within three (3) days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) after the receipt of any such request whether to comply with the request and shall notify in writing the person making the request, within the three (3) day period, of its decision. An agency response denying, in whole or in part, inspection of any record shall include a statement of the specific exception authorizing the withholding of the record and a brief explanation of how the exception applies to the record withheld. The response shall be issued by the official custodian or under his authority, and it shall constitute final agency action.
KRS 61.880(1). The Franklin Circuit Court, as a public agency, is obligated to comply with this requirement.
Your response to Ms. Henson's request for information did not comply with this statutory requirement, because it did not include "a statement of the specific [statutory] exception authorizing the withholding of the record and a brief explanation of how the exception applies to the record withheld. " The statutory exceptions referred to in this requirement are listed in KRS 61.878(1). Because you have not given one of the reasons listed in KRS 61.878(1) as the basis for your decision to withhold the requested records, you have failed to comply with the requirements of the Open Records Act.
In order to comply with the requirements of the Act, you should immediately respond to Ms. Henson's request in one of two ways: (1) by providing Ms. Henson with access to the requested records; or (2) by providing Ms. Henson with a statement of the specific statutory exception authorizing the withholding of the records and a brief explanation of how the exception applies to the records withheld.
As required by statute, a copy of this opinion is being mailed to Maria Henson, who requested it. You have the right to initiate further proceedings in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882.