Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; Michelle D. Harrison, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether the Administrative Office of the Courts violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in the disposition of James C. Puszczewicz's August 4, 2010, request for a copy of Jonathan T. Grell's "entire certified criminal record." 1 It is the decision of this office that the reasoning contained in 02-ORD-24 and 04-ORD-037 is dispositive of the question presented; a copy of each decision is attached hereto and incorporated by reference. Based upon the authorities referenced in those decisions, namely KRS 26A.200, 26A.200, and Ex Parte Farley, 570 S.W.2d 617 (Ky. 1978), this office finds that AOC is not bound by, and therefore cannot be said to have violated the provisions of the Open Records Act. 2 Although this office has encouraged AOC to consider that "policies of openness evinced by the Open Records Act should . . . be accepted as a matter of comity," 04-ORD-037, p. 6, relative to "records of the courts and judicial agencies that are of a non-deliberative nature," ultimately the decision of whether to release such documentation "rests with AOC and the courts per the referenced legal authorities." 05-ORD-266, p. 1. Simply put, "disputes relating to access to court records, including records of the Administrative Office of the Courts, must be resolved by the Court." 02-ORD-24, p. 4.
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.
James C. PuszczewiczCindra WalkerKelly Stephens
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 To clarify, even a public agency bound by the Act is not statutorily obligated to "certif[y] . . . the appropriate records . . . in such manner that the same may be introduced as evidence in a court of law. . . . Such a requirement does not exist in the Open Records Act." 03-ORD-207, p. 3.
2 In any event, upon receipt of Mr. Puszczewicz's appeal from this office AOC advised that its "Records and Statistics Division has no record of receiving the letter dated August 4, 2010," which Mr. Puszczewicz attached to his letter of appeal. Even assuming that AOC was bound by the Act, a factual dispute concerning the actual delivery and receipt of a request cannot generally be resolved in this forum. However, AOC Deputy General Counsel Kelly Stephens further advised this office that AOC staff "was later contacted via telephone by his office and responded that requests for criminal background checks may be [sent] to the Records Unit via the process outlined on the AOC website: http://courts.ky.gove/aoc/courtservices/recordsandstatistics/records.htm." Ms. Stephens also noted that "[b]ackground checks provided by the AOC are not certified records of arrest/adjudication/conviction, which can only be obtained from the circuit [court] clerk's office."