Request By:
Mr. Charles J. Cronan, IV
Stites, McElwain & Fowler
3400 First National Tower
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Robert F. Stephens, Attorney General; By: Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
As attorney for the Southern Ohio College, Inc., you have appealed to the Attorney General, as provided by KRS 61.880, the denial of your request to inspect and copy a record allegedly in the custody of the Kentucky Board for Proprietary Education. The record in question is described as "a transcript of the tape covering that portion of the Board's April 27, 1979 meeting pertaining to Southern Ohio College." The Board denied your request stating that the taping of regular board meetings is done at the discretion of the agency and solely to assist the Secretary in writing up the official minutes of action taken by the Board.
In responding to your request, the Board should have stated the specific exception authorizing the withholding of the record. KRS 61.880 (1). However, the Board did explain its reason for withholding the record and we believe that the record is exempt under KRS 61.878(1)(g), "preliminary drafts and notes."
The definition of "public records" includes "tapes." We believe, however, that written notes, shorthand notes or tape recordings made in a meeting for the purpose of preparing the minutes are only preliminary records and may therefore be withheld from public inspection. Actions taken by a public agency or board must be recorded in the minutes and the minutes will become official after they have been approved at the next meeting of the Board. The Board members, of course, can challenge the Secretary's draft of the minutes of the meeting and it is for the majority of the Board to decide whether to accept the draft and make it official, or order a revision.
You have already been furnished a copy of the Secretary's draft of the minutes of the meeting of April 27, 1979. We note that the next quarterly meeting of the Board will be August 3, 1979; the Board members have been furnished a copy of the draft and will take action on it in the next meeting.
In summary, we do not believe that the public is entitled to inspect or copy the tape recording of the Board has standing of the Board meeting or that a member of the public has standings to challenge the accuracy of the Board minutes.
As provided by KRS 61.880, we are sending a copy of this opinion both to you and to the Board for Proprietary Education. You have the right to challenge this opinion in the circuit court as provided by KRS 61.880(5).