Request By:
Hon. Stanley A. Stratford
Assistant General Counsel
Cabinet for Human Resources
275 East Main Street
Frankfort, Kentucky 40621
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: Cicely D. Jaracz, Assistant Attorney General
Mr. Richard C. Stephenson, Attorney, has appealed to the Attorney General pursuant to KRS 61.880 your denial of his request to inspect certain documents in your possession as Assistant General Counsel of the Cabinet for Human Resources. Specifically, Mr. Stephenson requested to inspect ten (10) enumerated Commission Orders of the Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission.
Your denial was based on KRS 341.190. Specifically, you stated that much of the material requested, such as names, social security numbers, and employer information, is confidential pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(a), (i), and (j).
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
It is the opinion of the Attorney General that your denial was improper under Kentucky Open Records law.
The Commission's Order is a public record under KRS 61.870(2), and thus open to public inspection unless exempted by KRS 61.878. Commission decisions become final twenty (20) days after the date they are made in the absence of an appeal under KRS 341.440(3). Mr. Stephenson indicates in his appeal that the orders requested are final orders which are cited by the Commission as precedent in subsequent decisions. As evidence of a final agency action, KRS 61.878(1)(g) does not exempt the Commission Orders from public inspection. See OAG 83-352.
Your reliance on KRS 341.190, made applicable by KRS 61.878(1)(j), is misplaced. KRS 341.190 mandates confidentiality for communications from the employer or worker to the Commission. It does not address communications from the Commission to the employer or worker as is the case herein. Therefore, KRS 341.190 is inapplicable to the instant situation.
Therefore it is the opinion of this Office that you improperly denied Mr. Stephenson's request to inspect ten (10) Commission Orders under the Open Records law. As evidence of a final agency action, they are open to public inspection. KRS 61.878(1)(g) .