Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; Amye L. Bensenhaver, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
This matter having been presented to the Attorney General in an open records appeal, and the Attorney General being sufficiently advised, we find that Appalachian Regional Health Care, Inc., a private, nonprofit corporation that owns and operates Williamson ARH Hospital along with several other hospitals, presents uncontested evidence that it does not meet the definition of a "public agency" under KRS 61.870(1)(h). Accordingly, it is not obligated to afford John Rogers access to records responsive to his October 3, 2011, request for a list of Williamson ARH Hospital's expenditures from January 1, 2011, to August 31, 2011.
Mr. Rogers specifically requested "a list of expenditures of your company, including check number, date, amount and payee for all checks written from January 1, 2011 to August 31, 2011, . . . includ[ing] checks written to consultants, salaried individuals, and organizations." After receiving his request, ARH advised Mr. Rogers by telephone that it "is not a 'public agency' as defined in KRS 61.870(1)." Several months later, Mr. Rogers initiated this appeal.
KRS 61.870(1)(h) defines "public agency" as 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." In correspondence directed to this office, ARH provided an affidavit from its Chief Operating Officer, Joseph Grossman, in which he attested that ARH does not derive 25% of its funds expended in the Commonwealth of Kentucky from state or local authority funds within the meaning of KRS 61.870(1)(h). Mr. Rogers' request and subsequent appeal provide no basis upon which to dispute Mr. Grossman's affidavit. Therefore, under the principles enunciated in 09-ORD-033 (copy attached) , we find that ARH is not a public agency pursuant to KRS 61.870(1)(h) or any other definition of the term found at KRS 61.870(1). It was not obligated to comply with Mr. Rogers' request under the Open Records Act. See also 11-ORD-197 (copy attached) and authorities cited therein.
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.
Distributed to:
John RogersTheodore T. Myre, Jr.Jerry W. HaynesRick King
Footnotes
Footnotes