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 Letcher District/Circuit Court Clerk violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in the disposition of Carroll Paul Jackson's September 17, 2012, request for one copy of a specified emergency custody petition and one copy each of the recordings of the four related hearings conducted in 2008. Having received no written response, Mr. Jackson reiterated his original request in a letter dated October 15, 2012, in response to which Margaret S. Nichols, Letcher District/Circuit Court Clerk, advised Mr. Jackson that a court order was required for disclosure of the records because his parental rights were terminated. Mr. Jackson subsequently initiated this appeal.
Because records in the custody of district and circuit court clerks are properly characterized as court records, to which the Open Records Act does not apply, rather than public records within the meaning of KRS 61.870(2), the Attorney General has long recognized that district and circuit court clerks are not subject to the provisions of the Open Records Act per KRS 26A.200, 26A.220, and Ex Parte Farley, 570 S.W.2d 617 (Ky. 1978). Accordingly, the Letcher District/Circuit Court Clerk cannot be said to have violated the Act from a procedural standpoint in failing to issue a written response within three business days of receipt, as otherwise required under KRS 61.880(1), nor can the Clerk be said to have committed a substantive violation of the Act in ultimately denying the request. On this dispositive question, the analysis contained in 98-ORD-6, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated by reference, is controlling. "Simply stated, disputes relating to access to court records must be resolved by the court." 98-ORD-6, p. 2.
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:
Carroll Paul Jackson, # 230572Margaret S. Nichols