Request By:
Mr. Larry Michalczyk
Commissioner
Department for Social Services
Cabinet for Human Resources
275 East Main Street
Frankfort, Kentucky 40621
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Amye B. Majors, Assistant Attorney General
Mr. Jim Paxton, editor of The Paducah Sun , has appealed to the Attorney General pursuant to KRS 61.880 your denial of his April 9, 1991, request to inspect and copy various documents in the possession of the Department for Social Services. These documents are identified as:
- Notifications and other documents sent to the Department in October, 1990, regarding an incident of alleged detention of a student at Lone Oak Middle School;
- The report and findings of an investigation conducted by the Department beginning in November, 1990.
You denied Mr. Paxton's request in a letter dated May 15, 1991, relying on KRS 61.878(1)(j) and KRS 620.050(4). You advised Mr. Paxton that KRS 620.050(4) prohibits the release of information obtained by the Department in the course of an investigation into an incident of alleged child abuse or neglect, except under certain enumerated circumstances, or to certain identified persons.
Mr. Paxton asks that we review your denial of his request to determine if your response was consistent with the Open Records Act. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that your actions were proper.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
It is the opinion of the Attorney General that your denial of Mr. Paxton's request was correct under the Open Records Act. KRS 61.878(1)(j) exempts from mandatory disclosure:
Public records or information the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted or otherwise made confidential by enactment of the General Assembly.
KRS 620.050(4) insures the confidentiality of information gathered by the Cabinet for Human Resources in cases of reported dependency, neglect and abuse, and establishes certain circumstances under which persons to whom such information may be made available. It provides:
(4) All information obtained by the cabinet or its delegated representative, as a result of an investigation made pursuant to this section, shall not be divulged to anyone except:
(a) Persons suspected of causing dependency, neglect or abuse, provided that in such cases names of informants shall be withheld unless ordered by the court;
(b) The custodial parent or legal guardian of the child alleged to be dependent, neglected or abused;
(c) Persons within the cabinet with a legitimate interest or responsibility related to the case;
(d) Other medical, psychological, educational, or social service agencies, corrections personnel or law enforcement agencies, including the county attorney's office, that have a legitimate interest in the case;
(e) A non-custodial parent when the dependency, neglect or abuse is substantiated; or
(f) Those persons so authorized by court order.
This statute clearly requires that the Cabinet for Human Resources and the Department for Social Services withhold from all persons information acquired as a result of an investigation conducted pursuant to KRS 620.050 unless the requesting party can demonstrate that he or she satisfies one of the requirements set forth in KRS 620.050(4)(a) through (f). Mr. Paxton has not demonstrated that he falls under any of the statutorily recognized classifications or that his particular situation warrants the release of the requested material.
This Office has consistently held that both the Cabinet and the Department are strictly prohibited from releasing information gathered in an investigation, except as otherwise provided in KRS 620.050(4). OAG 87-82; OAG 88-4. Accordingly, it is our opinion that you properly denied Mr. Paxton's request.
As required by statute, a copy of this opinion will be sent to the requesting party, Mr. Jim Paxton, who has the right to challenge it in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5).