Request By:
Mr. Durward W. Maynard
Attorney
Greater Kentucky Building
225 So. Fifth Street
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
Mrs. Suzanne Darland, Assistant Editor, Scripps-Howard Press Company, has appealed to the Attorney General under KRS 61.880 the denial of inspection of certain records in the custody of the St. Matthews Volunteer Fire Association. The records are described as "the Association's budget for the present fiscal year, as well as for 1979-80 and 1978-79." As attorney for the St. Matthews Volunteer Fire Association you denied the request to inspect the records by a letter dated November 22, 1980 and stated as your reason for the denial that the Association is not a public agency within the meaning of KRS 61.870(1) in that the Association is not created by state or local authority in any branch of government and does not derive at least 25 percent of its funds from state or local authority.
In OAG 80-292 we stated that we had inspected the Articles of Incorporation of the St. Matthews Volunteer Fire Association on file in the Office of the Secretary of State and found that it is a non-stock, non-profit corporation organized under KRS 273.161-273.390 and, therefore, was not a public agency subject to the Kentucky Open Meetings Law, KRS 61.805-61.850. However, we pointed out in that opinion that a non-profit corporation could be subject to the Kentucky Open Records Law, KRS 61.870-61.884, if it received at least 25 percent of its funds from state or local authority. KRS 61.870(1).
Mrs. Darland sent with her letter of appeal a copy of a contract dated June 6, 1980 between the City of St. Matthews and the St. Matthews Volunteer Fire Association, Inc. providing for fire fighting services to the City by the Association for the period beginning July 1, 1980 to June 30, 1981 for the sum of $128,407.36 at $10,700.61 per month "at the rate of .07 cents per $100 of assessed valuation." In another letter, dated July 10, 1980, to Albert Haeberlin, president of the Association, Mrs. Darland implied that the Association has similar contracts with Beechwood Village, Windy Hills, Richlawn, Cherrywood Village, Rolling Fields, Fairmeade, Woodlawn Park, Brownsboro Village, Maryhill Estates, Druid Hills, Bellewood, and other small cities. In your letter to Mrs. Darland of November 22, 1980, you apparently agreed that such contracts exist but stated:
"The municipalities with whom the Association contracts cannot be considered as 'local authorities' in any branch of government. They are municipal corporations."
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
It is the opinion of the Attorney General that if the St. Matthews Volunteer Fire Association, Inc. receives as much as 25 percent of its funds from municipal corporations, such as the citie named above, by contract or otherwise, it is subject to the Kentucky Open Records Law and any person so requesting is entitled to inspect its records.
In OAG 76-648 we said:
"As far as open records are concerned, it is apparently the policy of the legislature that wherever public funds go, public interest follows."
Apparently the funding of the St. Matthews Volunteer Fire Association, Inc. is derived mainly from contracts from municipalities without bidding and without any competition involved. We believe that this makes the use of its funds a matter of public stewardship. In any event, it brings the Corporation under the strictures of the Open Records Law.
We cannot agree with your assertion that a municipal corporation is not a "local authority" . A city is a local branch of government and, therefore, preeminently fits within the definition of a local authority. And the Association is a non-stock, non-profit corporation without competition in its field and we can see no justification for keeping its records secret from the public.
In summary, it is the opinion of the Attorney General, upon the facts and assumptions stated herein, that the St. Matthews Volunteer Fire Association, Inc. is a public agency under the Kentucky Open Records Law and its records are subject to public inspection under KRS 61.870-61.884.
A copy of this opinion is being sent to the requester as directed by statute.