Request By:
Mr. Mim C. Clark
General Manager
Kentucky Retirement Systems
226 West Second Street
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
Mr. Gwen L. Jackson has appealed to the Attorney General under KRS 61.880 the alleged denial of access to certain public records in the custody of the Kentucky Retirement Systems. The records are described as follows:
"I request that the Office of the Attorney General, as stipulated in the Kentucky Revised Statutes, order the Teachers' Retirement System and the Kentucky Retirement System to provide the following information and data for each and every employee of the Division of Mental Health, Bureau for Health Services, Department for Human Resources as of May 1, 1980. Separate lists shall be provided for the State Employees' Retirement System, the County Employees' Retirement System and the shall be given by employee: (1) the total months of service credited, this includes any prior months of service, as of May 1, 1980; (2) the total dollar amount of employee contributions as of May 1, 1980; and (3) the total dollar amount of employer contributions as of May 1, 1980.
"An additional request is that the Department of Personnel be issued an order to provide both the Kentucky Retirement Systems and Teachers' Retirement System with the Social Security Nos. of all numbers of all employees referred to above."
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
It is our opinion that the above described records are exempt from the mandatory requirement of public inspection by KRS 61.878(1)(j) which exempts from mandatory public inspection public records or information the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted or otherwise made confidential by enactment of the General Assembly. The records in question are made confidential by KRS 61.661 which reads as follows:
"Each member's account shall be administered in a confidential manner and specific data regarding a member shall not be released for publication unless authorized by the member, however, the board may release member account information to the employer or to other state and federal agencies as it deems necessary."
We therefore conclude that the Kentucky Retirement Systems has acted in accordance with the Kentucky Open Records Law, KRS 61.870-61.884, in denying inspection of the records.
A copy of this opinion is being sent to the requester, Mr. Jackson, who has the right to petition the circuit court for injunctive or declaratory relief under KRS 61.880(5).