Request By:
In Re: Michael McDaniel/Floyd County Circuit Court Clerk's Office
Opinion
Opinion By: Chris Gorman, Attorney General; Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
OPEN RECORDS DECISION
This matter comes to the Attorney General as an apparent appeal by Michael McDaniel, on behalf of Michael Burchett, as a result of his attempts to obtain copies of various documents from the Floyd County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.
Evidently a request was made by Mr. McDaniel to the Circuit Court Clerk's Office for copies of various records and documents involving Michael Burchett. Apparently the circuit judge directed that certain steps be taken before the records would be made available. Mr. McDaniel states in part in his letter to the Attorney General that, "I am afraid that there will be some other excuse or delay presented preventing Mr. Burchett from gaining the requested documents and records even after filing the motion as ordered."
Not only is this apparent appeal premature in that the request for documents has been neither rejected nor ignored but this office has consistently concluded that records of the court system are not governed by the terms and provisions of the Open Records Act. In Ex Parte Farley, Ky., 570 S.W.2d 617, 624 (1978), the Kentucky Supreme Court said "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." See also
York v. Commonwealth, Ky. App., 815 S.W.2d 415 (1991); KRS 26A.200 and KRS 26A.220; and OAG 91-45, OAG 91-193, and 93-ORD-128.
We, therefore, conclude that the Floyd County Circuit Court Clerk's Office did not violate the terms and provisions of the Kentucky Open Records Act as KRS 61.870 through KRS 61.884 are not applicable to the records of the court system. Such records are subject to the control and direction of the Kentucky Supreme Court.
Mr. McDaniel may challenge this decision by initiating action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882. Pursuant to KRS 61.880(3) , the Attorney General should be notified of any action filed in the circuit court, but he shall not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceedings.