Opinion
Opinion By: Gregory D. Stumbo,Attorney General;Amye L. Bensenhaver,Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether the Transportation Cabinet violated the Open Records Act in partially denying WHAS-11 reporter Mark Hebert's requests to inspect:
. all emails to/from Doug Doerting to/from Tim Hazlette, Dan Druen, Bill Nighbert, Otis Reed, Jim Adams, John Roach, Dick Murgatroyd, Clay Bailey, and Betty Hawkins since July 1, 2004;
. all emails to/from Dan Druen to/from Basil Turbyfill; and
. all emails to/from Dan Druen to/from Keith Hall.
In partially denying the first of these requests, 1 the Cabinet relied on KRS 61.878(1)(h), (i), and (j), explaining that the 187 emails withheld consisted of "information concerning investigative issues that would harm the agency or the individuals involved in a prospective law enforcement action or administrative adjudication, specifically personnel actions," and that the emails contained "preliminary recommendations, opinions, and correspondence which was not incorporated into a final decision. " In partially denying the second and third of these requests, 2 the Cabinet relied on KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j), explaining that the 86 emails withheld consisted of "preliminary recommendations, opinions, and correspondence which was not incorporated into a final decision. Having reviewed each of the disputed emails, we affirm the Cabinet's partial denial of Mr. Hebert's requests on the basis of KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j) 3 with the exception of twelve emails to which the exemptions do not extend protection. 4
In his letter of appeal, Mr. Hebert notes that the Attorney General "has consistently upheld state policy that state employee emails are public records and, therefore, fair game for open records requests." Citing 05-ORD-144, in which this office found that the Office of the Governor improperly withheld a number of emails "sent to[, or by,] volunteer Dave Disponett since Dec. 9, 2003," 5 he asks that this office "conclude that the Transportation Cabinet is required to turn over the requested email . . . ." Upon receipt of notification of Mr. Hebert's appeal, Assistant General Counsel for the Transportation Cabinet, Todd Shipp, elaborated on the bases for denial set forth in the Cabinet's original responses. He indicated that the records withheld:
contain preliminary recommendations, opinions, policy formulations, that have not or will not achieve final agency action. Further, the e-mails relate to personnel policy development in some instances and disciplinary actions. In each instance, the e-mails contain recommendations and opinions related to policy development.
The Attorney General has frequently noted that KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j) are intended to protect the integrity of the agency's decision-making process by encouraging the free exchange of opinions and ideas, and to promote informed and frank discussions of matters of concern to the agency. See e.g., 94-ORD-118 and 93-ORD-125.
On behalf of the Cabinet, Mr. Shipp asserted that "[t]his is exactly the central focus of the . . . emails at issue." 6 With the exception of the twelve emails discussed below, and identified in the index that follows this decision, we agree.
As Mr. Hebert correctly notes, it is well established, and apparently undisputed, that public employee email is a public record within the meaning of KRS 61.870(2), and subject to inspection under the Open Records Act if it is not otherwise exempt. See, e.g., 00-ORD-132, p. 7, citing 99-ORD-22; 99-ORD-206, and 00-ORD-16; see also, 02-ORD-160; 03-ORD-005; 04-ORD-059; 05-ORD-144; 05-ORD-210; 05-ORD-221. Thus, at page 7 of 00-ORD-132, this office opined:
[T]hese open records decisions were clearly premised on the recognition that email may be characterized as "documentation regardless of physical form or characteristics, which [is] prepared, owned, used, in the possession of or retained by a public agency. " KRS 61.870(2). This position finds support in the Governor's Office for Technology's 7 policy on Electronic Mail as a Public Record, . . . recognizing that "electronic mail, created or maintained by public agencies, meets the statutory definition of a public record in Kentucky," and referenced in GOT's 8 policy on Internet and Electronic Mail Acceptable Use . . . .
Like any public record governed by the Open Records Act, email may be excluded from public inspection under one or more of the exceptions codified at KRS 61.878(1)(a) through [(n)]. As the Kentucky Supreme Court has observed:
Beckham v. Board of Education of Jefferson County, Ky., 873 S.W.2d 575, 578 (1994).
A copy of 00-ORD-132 is attached hereto and incorporated by reference for the purpose of establishing the general guidelines governing access to email generated by public agency employees and officials.
Recently, this office has been called upon to adjudicate disputes relating to access to email associated with the state hiring investigation. 9 In the first of these decisions, the Attorney General determined that certain email directed to Dave Disponett, a volunteer in the Governor's Office who was assigned a state computer, did not enjoy protection under KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j). These nonexempt emails included "conversational-type communications such as jokes, poems, lunch inquiries, and [informational] commentary," "non-policy fact-based communications," and "communications to Mr. Disponett from individuals seeking assistance and some form of governmental action." In each case, we concluded that the records did not fall within the parameters of KRS 61.878(1)(i) or (j) "because they constitute[d] neither drafts, notes, or correspondence with private individuals, nor subjective expressions of opinion, . . . recommendation, " or policy formulation. 05-ORD-144, p. 8. A copy of that decision is attached hereto, and incorporated by reference, for purposes of contrast rather than comparison.
In 05-ORD-210, we affirmed the Office of the Governor's denial of access to an email "from Kathy Harmon to Pam Ritter at the Governor's Office for Local Development . . . and to Basil Turbyfill dated January 26, 2005," because it "contained recommendations and opinions relating to personnel policy development" and therefore qualified for exclusion under KRS 61.878(1)(j). We rejected, in part, the Governor's Office's reliance on KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j) to shield from disclosure an email "from Cordell Lawrence at GOLD to Mr. Turbyfill, and to Dan Waits and Ms. Ritter" because that email "was devoid of recommendation, opinion, or policy formation" and could not properly be characterized as "a draft, note, or correspondence with private individuals." 05-ORD-210, p. 5. Similarly, in 05-ORD-221 we affirmed only in part the Office of the Governor's denial of a request for emails exchanged by Keith Hall, Daniel Groves, and Cissy Musselman, determining that that portion of the email which contained an opinion could properly be withheld. Copies of these decisions are also attached hereto and incorporated by reference, 10 and in particular the analysis of those portions of the emails deemed exempt, for purposes of comparison as opposed to contrast. 11
In each of these decisions we examined the disputed emails, produced for in camera inspection pursuant to KRS 61.880(2)(c), "through the prism of the Kentucky Open Records Act and not in light of [prior] or subsequent disclosures through other legal mechanisms." 05-ORD-144, p. 5. Fundamental to the decisions was the recognition that, based on the limited facts before us and the time constraints imposed by KRS 61.880(2), we were "unable to trace each [email] to its conclusion, or determine what role the email played" in the final disposition of the matters to which it pertained. Thus, in 05-ORD-144 we observed:
Although a number of these emails were no doubt adopted as the basis of final action relative to appointments, hirings, retentions, and/or reinstatements, and therefore forfeited their preliminary characterization, 12 this office is not equipped to make such a determination on the limited record on appeal. While we acknowledge that our decision shifts responsibility back to the [agency], thereby "letting the fox decide the best way to guard the henhouse," 13 . . . we know of no viable alternative. If any of these emails culminated in the decision to appoint, hire, retain, or reinstate, the [agency] must make them available for inspection.
05-ORD-144, p. 7.
Extending this analysis to the instant appeal, we again note that a number of the disputed emails may have been adopted as the basis of final action relative to hirings, transfers, disciplinary action, dismissals, and other legal actions, and/or policy development and implementation. Because we cannot trace each of these emails to their conclusion, it is incumbent on the Transportation Cabinet to ascertain whether the matters to which the disputed email relate have been resolved, and if so, whether the opinions and recommendations they contain were adopted "as part of [the Cabinet's] final action. " City of Louisville v. Courier-Journal ad Louisville Times, Ky. App., 637 S.W.2d 658, 659 (1982) accord,
Kentucky State Board of Medical Licensure v. Courier-Journal and Louisville Times, Ky. App., 663 S.W.2d 953, 958 (1983) ("[O]nce notes or recommendations are adopted by the Board as part of its action, the preliminary characterization is lost, as is the exempt status" );
University of Kentucky v. Courier-Journal and Louisville Times, Ky. 830 S.W.2d 373, 378 (1992) ("[M]aterials that were once preliminary in nature lose their exempt status once they are adopted by the agency as part of its action"). Under separate cover, we have returned the disputed emails to the Transportation Cabinet, each 14 bearing a numeric designation, in red ink, in the upper left corner corresponding to the index which appears at the conclusion of this decision. Although the emails may be characterized as exempt, per KRS 61.878(1)(i) and/or (j), on that index, the Cabinet must now examine them in light of the referenced authorities, and permit Mr. Hebert to inspect them where those emails have, in fact, forfeited their preliminary characterization.
Having so concluded, we turn now to the nature of the disputed emails. Although we cannot disclose the specific content of those records, by virtue of KRS 61.880(2)(c), we can generally describe the emails as falling squarely within the parameters of KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j) insofar as they represent internal, predecisional communications between and among officials and employees of the Cabinet containing the opinions and recommendations of these individuals relative to the hiring of applicants for employment in the Cabinet and the retention, transfer, discipline, and/or dismissal of Cabinet employees. A narrow category of the disputed email consists of communications relating to policy development and implementation. An ever narrower category consists of draft documents submitted for review and comment. Only twelve of the disputed emails, identified as nonexempt in the attached index, cannot properly be characterized as "preliminary drafts [or] notes," within the meaning of KRS 61.878(1)(i), or "preliminary memoranda in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended, " within the meaning of KRS 61.878(1)(j). As the Cabinet correctly observes, in discussing the purpose underlying these exemptions, the Attorney General has consistently recognized that KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j) are "intended to protect the integrity of the agency's decision-making process by encouraging the free exchange of opinions and ideas, and to promote informed and frank discussion of matters of concern to the agency." 00-ORD-139, p. 6, citing 94-ORD-118 and 93-ORD-125; see also, 99-ORD-206 (affirming denial of email communications in which opinions were expressed, but which were not adopted into final agency action, on the basis of KRS 61.878(1)(j)). With respect to such records, we find that "the public's right to know [under the Open Records Act] is subservient to . . . the need for governmental confidentiality. " Beckham, above at 578. To the extent that the disputed emails consist almost entirely of interagency communications in which opinions are expressed and policies formulated or recommended, we conclude that the Transportation Cabinet properly withheld these records.
We hasten to note that these emails are different in kind from the emails at issue in 05-ORD-144. Much of the email in dispute in the latter decision consisted of informational and reference material of a transitory nature, devoid of meaningful value to the agency for documenting policy, establishing guidelines or procedures, or certifying transactions. The emails to which Mr. Hebert seeks access are more closely analogous to those emails, or portions of emails, which the Attorney General characterized as exempt in 05-ORD-210 and 05-ORD-221 because they "contained recommendations and opinions relating to personnel and policy development." 05-ORD-210, p. 4. It is for this reason that, with the exception of the twelve emails noted in the attached index, we affirm the Transportation Cabinet's disposition of Mr. Hebert's request.
A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it 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 in circuit court, but should not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceeding.
Mark HebertWHAS 11520 West Chestnut StreetLouisville, KY 40202
Tim Hazlette, CommissionerDepartment of Administrative ServicesTransportation Cabinet200 Mero Street W4-26-02Frankfort, KY 40622
J. Todd ShippAssistant General CounselOffice of Legal ServicesTransportation Cabinet200 Mero Street W6-20-01Frankfort, KY 40622
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 The record on appeal does not reflect how many emails were disclosed to Mr. Hebert in response to this request.
2 See note 1, above.
3 In paraphrasing the language of KRS 61.878(1)(i), the Cabinet omits critical reference to that portion of the statute requiring that the correspondence withheld consist of "correspondence with private individuals. " Virtually none of the emails produced by the Cabinet for this office's in camera inspection, per KRS 61.880(2)(c), were directed to, or received from, private individuals. Instead, they consist of communications exchanged by public employees and officials. That portion of KRS 61.878(1)(i) is therefore inapposite.
4 An index of the disputed emails, reflecting their status as exempt or nonexempt public records, appears at the conclusion of this decision.
5 This office's decision in 05-ORD-144 was appealed to the Franklin Circuit Court on July 29, 2005, Case No. 05-CI-1015.
6 Mr. Shipp did not elaborate on the Cabinet's argument that the disputed email are shielded from disclosure by operation of KRS 61.878(1)(h). In light of our decision that KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j) generally authorize nondisclosure of the majority of the email, we do not address the applicability of KRS 61.878(1)(h) to those records except to note that the Cabinet's invocation of the exception is deficient insofar as it fails to articulate the specific nature of the harm occasioned by premature disclosure of particular emails.
7 Now, the Commonwealth Office of Technology.
8 See note 7, above.
9 We have previously emphasized that in our role of open records dispute mediator, "[w]e strive to maintain absolute [independence and] impartiality in discharging [the statutory] duty" with which we are charged by KRS 61.880(2). 05-ORD-185, p. 4. The fact that it is the Office of the Attorney General that is conducting the investigation has no bearing on the outcome of this, or any other, open records decision.
10 This office has not been notified that the Office of the Governor appealed this decision to circuit court as required by KRS 61.880(3).
11 A fourth appeal arising from a request for emails relating to the state hiring investigation, and consisting of "all emails sent to and from the state government email address of sadie@ky.gov since Dec. 9, 2003," was inconclusive due, in large measure, to that office's refusal to permit the Attorney General to conduct an in camera inspection of the disputed email based on a claim of executive privilege. At page 8 of 05-ORD-185 of that decision, we concluded that "the Office of the Governor ha[d] not met its burden of proof in sustaining the denial of the request," and directed the production of the emails. This office has not been notified that 05-ORD-185 is on appeal to circuit court as required by KRS 61.880(3).
12 See analysis at page 4 of 05-ORD-144 and pages 4 through 6 of 05-ORD-221 relative to a preliminary document's forfeiture of its preliminary status upon adoption as the basis of agency action.
13 Citing, John Cheves, "Fletcher Aides Leave Plentiful Trail of Email, " Lexington Herald-Leader, June 5, 2005.
14 In many cases, the emails furnished to this office for in camera inspection appear to be duplicative. This accounts for the discrepancy in the number of emails identified by the Cabinet as responsive to Mr. Hebert's request and the number of emails that appear on the attached index. Duplicative emails have not been separately indexed, but should be treated as exempt or nonexempt based on the characterization of the emails they duplicate.