Opinion
Opinion By: Andy Beshear,Attorney General;Amye L. Bensenhaver,Assistant Attorney General
Open Meetings Decision
Bryan Reinhardt appeals the handling of his November 25, 2015, request for employment records which he submitted to Todd County Standard, Inc., D/B/A Quality Web Printing ("Quality"). Having received no response to his request, Mr. Reinhardt initiated this appeal on December 5, 2015.
"Quality's" owner, Michael C. Finch, responded to Mr. Reinhardt's open records appeal upon receipt of the Attorney General's notification of that appeal. Mr. Finch explained that he did not respond to the request:
because my company is a privately-owned business which does not receive any funds from state or local authorities. My wife and I own 100% of the stock for the Todd County Standard, Inc., (D/B/A Quality Web Printing), which is an S Corp. We print privately-owned community newspapers and other products printed on newsprint.
We do not print any products for any city, county or state government offices in Kentucky, nor do we receive any city, county, or state funding from Kentucky. We do print one quarterly publication for the City of White House, TN, which results in gross revenue of just over $ 2,500 which is less than 1% of our yearly gross sales.
Based on the ky.gov web site pertaining to the Open Records Act, it does not appear to me that we are subject to Open Records requests.
Todd County Standard, Inc., D/B/A Quality Web Printing is a private for profit corporation. Such corporations, if they fall within the parameters of KRS 61.870(1) at all, fall within the parameters of KRS 61.870(1)(h). That statute defines "public agency" as:
Any body which, within any fiscal year, derives at least twenty-five percent (25%) of its funds expended by it in the Commonwealth of Kentucky from state or local authority funds. However, any funds derived from a state or local authority in compensation for goods or services that are provided by a contract obtained through a public competitive procurement process shall not be included in the determination of whether a body is a public agency under this subsection[.]
In his letter to this office, Mr. Finch states that "Quality" does not derive any funding from state or local government or fall within any other definition of "public agency" in KRS 61.870(1). Mr. Reinhardt's request and subsequent appeal provide no basis on which to dispute Mr. Finch's statement. Because it is not a public agency for open records purposes, "Quality" was not obligated to comply with Mr. Reinhardt's request under the Open Records Act. Compare 14-ORD-003 (determining that Bluegrass Industrial Foundation, Inc., is a public agency under KRS 61.870(1)(h) because it derives over 25% of its funds expended by it in Kentucky from state/local funds and must, therefore, comply with the Open Records Act) .
Either party may appeal this decision 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.