Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; James M. Herrick, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
At issue in this appeal is whether the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in the disposition of Bruce M. Tyler's letter of September 7, 2011. We find no violation of the Act.
Mr. Tyler sent his September 7 letter as apparently a duplicate of a previous letter to which he had received no response. Addressed "To Whom It May Concern," Mr. Tyler's letter stated:
This is a simple request for information based on the Kentucky [O]pen Records Act. Attorney Aubrey Williams worked for the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights. Please send me the day, month year [ sic ] hired and the same for when he left the Commission and his job title and why he left. Thanks in advance.
Having received no reply, Mr. Tyler appealed to the Attorney General. His appeal was received in this office on June 10, 2013.
On June 17, 2013, Assistant General Counsel Keith D. Duerr responded to the appeal on behalf of the Commission. He pointed out that Mr. Tyler's request was for information, not for records, and argues that it therefore did not come under the purview of the Act. We agree.
Requests for information are outside the scope of open records law and an agency is not obligated to honor a request for information under the law. 02-ORD-88; KRS 61.870 et seq. The Kentucky Open Records Act addresses requests for records, not requests for information. 03-ORD-028. At page 2 of 95-ORD-131, the Attorney General observed:
Requests for information, as distinguished from records, are outside of the scope of the open records provisions. See, e.g., OAG 89-77. Our position is premised on the notion that "[o]pen records provisions address only inspection of records . . . [and] do not require public agencies or officials to provide or compile specific information to conform to the parameters of a given request.
Accordingly, we find no violation of the Open Records 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.
Distributed to:
Mr. Bruce M. TylerMr. John J. JohnsonKeith D. Duerr, Esq.