Request By:
Charles N. Coates
Records Custodian
City of Bowling Green
City Hall
Bowling Green, Kentucky 42101
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Carl T. Miller, Jr., Assistant Attorney General
Ms. Judy Wildman, City Editor, Daily News, Bowling Green, Kentucky has appealed to the Attorney General under KRS 61.880 your denial of inspection of certain public records in your custody. The records are described as "the resignation letters of former Bowling Green police officers, Sgt. Carlos Lobb, patrolmen Danny Jenkins and Bill O'Neal." The request was dated August 4, 1981 and was made on a form provided by the City of Bowling Green. In response to the request an "X" was placed by a sentence which reads: "The records requested are exempted by law from mandatory disclosure. " The response is signed by you as official custodian.
The form provided by the City of Bowling Green as filled in by the requestor reads, in part, as follows:
"The undersigned applicant hereby states under oath that he is a citizen of the Commonwealth of Kentucky; that his full legal name is Hunter Joseph Reigler; he presently resides at 1246 Center Street, Apt. 3 and that his residence phone number is 782-2747; his business phone is 843-4321 Daily News; that all the foregoing is true as of this 4th day of September, 1981 and that he hereby requests to inspect the following public records for his own personal use:
The resignation letters of former Bowling Green police officers Sgt. Carlos Lobb, and Patrolmen Danny Jenkins and Bill O'Neal.
Hunter J. Reigler, Applicant
Subscribed and sworn to before me by the above signed applicant on this 4th day of August, 1981.
Jennifer Wimple, Notary Public . . . ."
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
(1) First we must point out several serious defects in the Open Records request form provided by the City of Bowling Green:
(a) A person does not have to be a citizen of Kentucky to inspect records under the Kentucky Open Records Law. KRS 61.872(1) states that all public records shall be open for inspection "by any person" and, (2) "any person shall have the right to inspect public records during the regular office hours of the public agencies. The official custodian may require written application describing the records to be inspected."
(b) A person requesting to inspect public records does not have to state any reason for making the inspection. He does not have to show any special interest in the subject matter of the records. KRS 61.870 to 61.884(c). A person inspecting public records does not have to give any personal information such as his home address or telephone number.
(d) An application to inspect public records does not have to be under oath and certified by a notary public.
(e) A response denying inspection of a public record cannot properly be made by checking a statement on a form. KRS 61.880 provides, inter alia, as follows: "Any agency response denying, in whole or in part, inspection of any record shall include a statement of the specific exception authorizing the withholding of the records and a brief explanation of how the exception applies to the record withheld."
(2) It is the opinion of the Attorney General that the response made by you does not comply with the Kentucky Open Records Law either in form or in substance. You did not cite any specific exemption in KRS 61.878 and did not give any explanation as to how any exemption in the statute applies to the requested records. You placed an "X" by "The record requested are exempted by law from mandatory disclosure" but you did not cite any statute or state how the statute exempted the record.
You may have the belief that the letters of resignation are exempted by KRS 61.878(1)(a) which reads as follows:
"Public records containing information of a personal nature where the public disclosure thereof would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."
It is our opinion that this exemption applies only to matters which have no connection whatsoever with the public business. A police officer is employed by the public and any matter having to do with such employment is the public's business. In OAG 78-133 we said that the public was entitled to know the reason for the demotion of a state policeman when the policeman admitted the charges against him and accepted the demotion voluntarily. In that opinion we held that KRS 61.878(1)(a), the privacy exemption, applies only to matters entirely unrelated to the performance of public employment.
In summary, it is the opinion of the Attorney General that you wrongfully withheld inspection of the requested records, that you did not make a proper response and that the form used by the City of Bowling Green is in violation of the Open Records Law.
You have the right to challenge this opinion by bringing an action in the circuit court within thirty days. KRS 61.880(5). A copy of this opinion is being sent to the requester as directed by statute.