Request By:
Ms. Shirley Justice
Director
Division for Administration and Financial Management
Cabinet for Human Resources
275 East Main Street
Frankfort, Kentucky 40621
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
Mr. Jerry D. Rowlett has appealed to the Attorney General pursuant to KRS 61.880 your denial of his request to inspect certain records in your custody. He described the documents in question as records pertaining to the unemployment insurance claims of two specifically named persons for a designated time period.
In a letter to the manager of the Department for Employment Services Office in Bowling Green, dated July 3, 1986, Mr. Rowlett made the following request:
"Particularly, I am formally requesting to inspect and copy the lay-off slips and approval or denial notices for unemployment compensation as part of unemployment records of Daniel H. Bevis, SSAN 289-36-5767, and James D. Eskridge, SSAN 401-60-2791, for the weeks of 12-23-84 and 12-30-84. The lay-off slips were issued from the General Motors (Corvette Plant) in Bowling Green, Kentucky.
In your reply to Mr. Rowlett, dated July 9, 1986, you advised him as follows:
"As the records custodian, the documents requested by you are in my keeping. I regret to inform you, however, that we are unable to release any documents pertaining to the unemployment insurance claims of Mr. Bevis or Mr. Eskridge, as such documents are deemed confidential and not subject to release per KRS 341.190."
Mr. Rowlett, in his letter of appeal to this office dated July 28, 1986, maintained that you acted improperly in denying his request to inspect and copy the records in question.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
In your letter of denial you referred to KRS 341.190 and subsection (3) of that statute states as follows:
"All letters, reports, communications, and other matters, written or oral, from employer or worker, to the secretary for human resources or any of his agents, representatives, or employes, or to the commissioner, or to any board or official functioning under this chapter, which have been written, sent, or made in connection with the requirements and administration of this chapter, shall be absolutely privileged and shall not be the subject matter or basis for any suit for slander or libel in any court, but no employer or employe, or his representative, testifying before the commission, the secretary for human resources or any duly authorized representative thereof, shall be exempt from punishment for perjury. Information thus obtained shall not be published or be open for public inspection except to public employes in the performance of their duties, in any manner revealing or indicating the employing unit's identity, but any claimant at a hearing before the commission, the secretary for human resources or his duly authorized representative, shall be supplied with information from such records to the extent necessary for the proper presentation of his claim."
Under the above-quoted statutory provisions the Cabinet for Human Resources has no discretion relative to the release of documents included within the statute's coverage. Such material is "absolutely privileged" and "shall not be published or be open for public inspection" except to public employees in the performance of their duties.
KRS 61.878(1)(j) provides that among the public records which are excluded from public inspection under the Open Records Act, in the absence of a court order authorizing inspection, are those described as, "Public records or information the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted or otherwise made confidential by enactment of the General Assembly."
The General Assembly by the enactment of KRS 341.190 (3) has clearly prohibited the disclosure of the records with which Mr. Rowlett is concerned. It is therefore the opinion of the Attorney General that the Cabinet for Human Resources acted within the provisions of the Open Records Act when it denied the request to inspect and copy records pertaining to the unemployment insurance claims of two individuals as such records are excluded from public inspection pursuant to KRS 341.190(3) and KRS 61.878(1)(j).
As required by statute a copy of this opinion is being sent to the requesting party, Mr. Jerry D. Rowlett, who has the right to challenge it in circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5).