Request By:
Marvin W. PhippsTeresa C. Reed
Lincoln Circuit Court Clerk
Lincoln County Courthouse
101 East Main Street
Stanford, KY 40484
Opinion
Opinion By: Gregory D. Stumbo, Attorney General; Michelle D. Harrison, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
At issue in this appeal is whether the Lincoln Circuit Court Clerk violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in failing to respond upon receipt of the request submitted by Marvin W. Phipps on November 20, 2006 for the case history in Phipps v. Reed . Because records in the custody of circuit court clerks are properly characterized as court records, which are not governed by the Open Records Act, rather than public records within the meaning of KRS 61.870(2), the Attorney General has consistently recognized that circuit court clerks are not subject to the provisions of the Open Records Act; accordingly, the Lincoln Circuit Court Clerk cannot be said to have violated the Act in failing to respond upon receipt of Mr. Phipps' request as otherwise required by KRS 61.880(1). In our view, 98-ORD-6 and 04-ORD-051, copies of which are attached hereto and incorporated by reference, are controlling on the facts presented.
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.