Request By:
Thomas Neal Jackson, # 157939
Kentucky State Reformatory
3001 West Highway 146
LaGrange, KY 40032Roger Schott
Laurel Circuit Court Clerk
Judicial Annex II
103 South Broad Street
P.O. Box 1798
London, KY 40743-1798
Opinion
Opinion By: Gregory D. Stumbo, Attorney General; Michelle D. Harrison, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
At issue in this appeal is whether the Laurel Circuit Court Clerk violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in denying the request of Thomas Neal Jackson for a copy of "the complete record for Case No. 00-CR-00126." Because records in the custody of circuit court clerks are court records, the Attorney General has long recognized that circuit court clerks are not bound by the provisions of the Open Records Act. Accordingly, it is the decision of this office that the Laurel Circuit Court Clerk did not violate the Open Records Act in denying Mr. Jackson's request. In our view, 98-ORD-6, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated by reference, is controlling.
A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating an action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882. Pursuant to KRS 61.880(3), the Attorney General should be notified of any action in circuit court, but should not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceeding.