Request By:
Ewing L. Hardy III
Vice President
Real Estate Title Service Corporation
Suite 311
Kentucky Home Life Building
Louisville, Kentucky 40202
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Carl T. Miller, Jr., Assistant Attorney General
You have appealed to the Attorney General under KRS 61.880 the denial of a copy of certain public records in the custody of John S. Crafton, Property Valuation Administrator of Spencer County, Kentucky. The records are described as aerial photographs, lists of owners, and any available deed sources of all real estate located in Spencer County.
In denying your request to copy said described records, Mr. Crafton relied upon KRS 133.045(2) and OAG 78-549. Mr. Crafton also consulted certain officials in the Department of Revenue before denying your request. The Kentucky Open Records Law exempts, inter alia:
"Public records or information, the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted or otherwise made confidential by enactment of the General Assembly." KRS 61.878(1)(j).
Accordingly, Mr. Crafton correctly cited KRS 133.045(2) which reads as follows:
"The tax rolls shall be available to the public at reasonable times, other than that provided in subsection (1), and in a manner not unduly interfering with proper operation of the custodian's office and as long as inspection of the roll or disclosure of information contained therein would not be detrimental to public interest or used for commercial or business purposes unrelated to property valuation or assessment."
In your letter you stated that the Real Estate Title Service Corporation is engaged solely in the business of title searches for attorneys and surveyors and that your use of the records you want to copy will not be for a commercial or business purpose unrelated to property valuation and assessment.
It is our opinion, however, based upon the facts you state, that the use you would make of the records would be for a business purpose. In OAG 79-220 we responded to a title insurance company that it was not entitled to reproduce by microfilm, computer tape, or any other reproduction device copies of tax records to be sold to private business interests engaged in the searching and reporting of real estate titles. We said in that opinion:
"The wording of the statute indicates that the purpose of opening the tax rolls to public inspection is for the taxpayers to be able to compare the tax assessments of different parcels of real estate."
We are still of that opinion.
Since it is our opinion that KRS 133.045 is the controlling statute and that your intended use of the tax records and maps is for a business purpose, Mr. Crafton, Property Valuation Administrator of Spencer County, properly denied your request to copy said records.
Under KRS 61.880(5) you have the right to challenge this opinion and the denial of the records by an action in the circuit court of the district where the public record is maintained.
As directed by statute, we are sending a copy of this opinion to the public agency involved.