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 the Jefferson Circuit Court Clerk is not bound by the provisions of the Kentucky Open Records Act, and therefore did not violate the Act by imposing a ten dollar copying fee for eighteen records responsive to Chris Hawkins' August 7, 2015, request for records relating to the Commonwealth of Kentucky's criminal action against him. We have attached a copy of a document captioned "Civil Filing Fees & Payment Options" that appears on the Kentucky Court of Justice's website, verifying the appropriate fees for records of the courts obtained from the courts. The reasonable fee provision of the Open Records Act, KRS 61.874(3) does not apply to records at the courts and judicial agencies. We believe that 98-ORD-6, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated by reference, is controlling.
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.