Request By:
[NO REQUESTBY IN ORIGINAL]
Opinion
Opinion By: CHRIS GORMAN, ATTORNEY GENERAL; AMYE B. MAJORS, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL
OPEN RECORDS DECISION
This matter comes to the Attorney General as an apparent appeal by Kenny Roy Miller relative to his attempts to obtain copies of various documents from the Warren County Circuit Court Clerk's Office.
A request was made by Mr. Miller to the Circuit Court Clerk's Office for copies of specific documents and the Clerk's office has not or will not furnish the items requested.
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 regulation." See also, York v. Commonwealth, Ky App., 815 S.W.2d 415 (1991); KRS 26A.200 and KRS 26A.220; and 94-ORD-59 and 94-ORD-2.
We therefore conclude that the Warren County Circuit Court Clerk's Office did not violate the terms and provisions of the Kentucky Open Records Act inasmuch 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. We assume that the clerk will honor her obligation to furnish Mr. Miller with copies of all available records to which he is entitled in an expeditious manner.
Mr. Miller 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 must be notified of any action filed in the circuit court, but may not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceedings.