Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; Amye L. Bensenhaver, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
This matter having been presented to the Attorney General in an open records appeal, and the Attorney General being sufficiently advised, we find that Marina Village Dock Owners Association is not a public agency as defined at KRS 61.870(1) of the Open Records Act, is not governed by the Act, and cannot be said to have violated the Act in failing to respond to Kaven Rumpel's September 2010 requests for its financial and operational records. Instead, the Association is registered as a condominium association and organized for the purpose of managing privately owned boat docks. It receives no state or local authority funds, its governing body is neither comprised of, nor appointed by, public agencies or officials, and it does not owe its existence to any state or local statute, executive order, ordinance, resolution, or other legislative act. Its records are not accessible under the Kentucky Open Records Act.
Resolution of the question on appeal turns on whether Marina Village Dock Owners Association is a public agency as broadly defined at KRS 61.870(1)(a) through (k). In 99-ORD-152, this office addressed a similar issue in a different factual context and concluded that the entity whose records were sought was not a public agency. The legal analysis set forth in that open records decision is directly controlling. A copy of 99-ORD-152 is attached hereto and incorporated by reference. Because it does not owe its existence to state or local legislative action, is not governed by public officials or agencies or persons appointed by public officials or agencies, and derives no funding from state or local authorities, the Association is not a public agency within the meaning of KRS 61.878(1)(a) through (k) and its failure to respond to Kaven Rumpel's request did not violate the Open Records Act.
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.
Kaven RumpelRoger WilliamsRichard N. Bush