Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; Amye L. Bensenhaver, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
Art Anderson appeals the disposition of his request for records relating to a named attorney by the Kentucky Supreme Court, the Kentucky Bar Association, and the Administrative Office of the Courts. The decision whether to release records of the courts rests exclusively with the Court. See KRS 26A.200 26A.220; 02-ORD-24; 04-ORD-037; 05-ORD-266; 08-ORD-033; 11-ORD-099; 12-ORD-023. Based on the holding in Ex parte Farley, 570 S.W.2d 617 (Ky. 1978), and the analysis found in 02-ORD-24 and 08-ORD-033, we find that records of the Court and these judicial agencies are not subject to statutory regulation and that they are not governed by the requirements of the Open Records Act. 1 The Court and these judicial agencies cannot, therefore, be said to have violated the Act in the disposition of Mr. Anderson's request. "[D]isputes relating to access to court records, including records of the Administrative Office of the Courts [and the Kentucky Bar Association], must be resolved by the Court." 02-ORD-24, p. 4. We find no violation of the provisions of KRS 61.870 to KRS 61.884.
Either party may appeal this decision 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.
Distributed to:
Art AndersonJay R. GarrettJohn D. MeyersMarc Theriault
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 Although not required by the Open Records Act to do so, the Court and these judicial agencies undertook efforts to locate the requested records but were unable to do so because they lacked sufficient information about the attorney.