Opinion
Opinion By: Gregory D. Stumbo, Attorney General; James M. Ringo, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether the Frankfort Police Department violated the Open Records Act in denying C. O.'s request for the "police report and all paper work pertaining to my minor child [name omitted] and allegations regarding sexual assault by [name omitted]" and "interview tapes if available."
Responding to C. O.'s request on behalf of the Department, Ramona Wells Newman, City Clerk, denied the request, advising:
. . . Pursuant to KRS 610.320(3), the requested records may not be made available to you because they concern juveniles. Furthermore, KRS 61.878(1)(a) exempts from release public records containing information of a personal nature where the public disclosure thereof would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
In her letter of appeal, C. O. stated that her minor child was the victim and that there "were insinuations regarding as to whether I was the birth mother several times by the agencies."
After receipt of notification of the appeal and a copy of the letter of appeal, Robert C. Moore, counsel for the City, provided this office with a response to the issues raised in the appeal. Elaborating on the City's initial response, Mr. Moore explained:
The City of Frankfort received a request from [C. O.] for a copy of the police report and all paperwork pertaining to her minor child, [name omitted], and allegations regarding sexual assault by [name omitted], including interview tapes if available. The records requested by [C. O.] were not made available for inspection by her due to the provisions of KRS 610.320, which generally provide that all law enforcement and court records regarding children who have not reached their eighteenth birthday shall not be open to public scrutiny by the public. Additionally, [C. O.] did not provide the City with any information establishing the she is [the juvenile victim's] mother. The requested records were also withheld from review pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(a), which exempts from release public records containing information of a personal nature where the public disclosure thereof would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. Since the information requested concerned a juvenile, the determination was made that the requested records contained information of a personal nature where the public disclosure thereof would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy of the juvenile.
Pursuant to KRS Chapter 610, et seq., juvenile court records are generally deemed to be confidential and cannot be disclosed to the public. However, juvenile records may be disclosed to certain persons, including the victim and his parent or legal guardian. See, for example, KRS 610.340 and KRS 610.070. In the instant appeal, the Department advised in its response to this office that [C. O.] did not provide the City with any information establishing that she is the victim's mother or legal guardian. The juvenile victim at issue here has a last name different than C. O. Until C. O. can establish that she is a parent or legal guardian of the juvenile victim entitled to access to the requested records under KRS Chapter 610 or other relevant statutes, we conclude that the Department properly denied access to the requested records. Accord, 01-ORD-178; 04-ORD-173; 04-ORD-228 (Absent conclusive proof of maternity or paternity, requester not entitled to records the disclosure of which is conditioned on proof of parenthood). We do not address the issue as to whether or not C. O. is entitled to the requested records. Redress of this issue must be presented to the courts for resolution. We strongly encourage C. O. to proceed to a final resolution of this issue in the court before which this matter is pending.
A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating 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.