Request By:
Mr. C. William Schmidt
Assistant Secretary
Kentucky State Board of Medical Licensure
3532 Ephraim McDowell Drive
Louisville, Kentucky 40205
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
You have requested an opinion of the Attorney General as to whether disciplinary action taken by the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure is public information which can be given to a local newspaper.
The Kentucky State Board of Medical Licensure is established by KRS 311.530 for the purpose of governing the practice of medicine and osteopathy. Under KRS 311.595 the Board may put a licensee on probation or suspend or revoke a license. There is nothing in said statute which makes the Board's hearing or actions confidential.
Subject Board is a "public agency" within the meaning of the Kentucky Open Records Law, KRS 61.870 - 61.884. The official actions of the Board are therefore subject to public disclosure to any citizen. We find no exemption either in KRS Chapter 311 or in the Open Records Law. Of course, preliminary records such as complaints, charges and personal correspondence would be exempt under KRS 61.878(1)(g).