Request By:
Walter Minton
William T. Petrey, DMD
Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; James M. Ringo, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
This matter comes to the Attorney General on appeal from the actions of William Todd Petrey, DMD, relative to the open records request of Walter Minton for copies of his dental records.
In his letter of appeal, Mr. Minton indicated that he had not received a response to his request. Subsequent to the initiation of the appeal, the undersigned contacted Dr. Petrey and was advised that he has a private practice of dentistry and confirmed that his practice did not derive at least twenty-five percent (25%) of its funds expended by it in the Commonwealth of Kentucky from state or local authority funds.
For the reasons that follow, it is the conclusion of this office that Dr. Petrey's private practice of dentistry is not a "public agency" as defined by KRS 61.870(1) and its records are exempt from public inspection under the Open Records Act.
This office has consistently recognized that a private company or corporation comes within the purview of the Open Records Act only if it derives at least 25% of its funds from state or local authority funds. 92-ORD-1114; OAG 88-61; OAG 81-377. Those opinions were premised on the following definition of "public agency" set out in KRS 61.870(1)(h):
Any body which derives at least twenty-five percent (25%) of its funds expended by it in the Commonwealth of Kentucky from state or local authority funds.
Since Dr. Petrey's private practice of dentistry does not derive at least twenty-five (25%) of its funds expended by it in the Commonwealth from state or local funds, his private office does not fall within the definition of a "public agency" to which the Open Records Act applies. Accordingly, Dr. Petrey is not subject to the provisions of the Open Records Act and his actions relative to Mr. Minton's open records request would not constitute a violation of the Act.
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.