How to use the Kentucky Open Records Act to hold the powerful accountable.

1. Be A Watchdog
How to use the Kentucky Open
Records Act to hold the powerful
accountable

2. What is a public agency?
• State and local government
officers, departments and legislative bodies;
• County and city governing bodies, school
district boards, special district boards and
municipal corporations;
• State or local government agencies created by
statute or other legislative acts;

3. What is a public agency?
• Bodies that receive at least 25% of their funds
from state or local authority (excluding funds
from a state or local contract that is competitively
bid);
• An entity where the majority of its governing
body is appointed by a public agency;
• Boards, commissions, committees, etc., that are
established, created and controlled by public
agencies;
• Interagency bodies of two or more public
agencies.

4. What is a public record?
• All
books, papers, maps, photographs, cards, tape
s, discs, diskettes, recordings, software, or
other documentation regardless of physical
form or characteristics, which are
prepared, owned, used, in the possession of
or retained by a public agency.
• This includes emails, databases and other
records electronically generated or stored.

5. You have the upper hand!
• The General Assembly finds and declares that
the basic policy of KRS 61.870 to 61.884 is that
free and open examination of public records
is in the public interest and the exceptions
provided for by KRS 61.878 or otherwise
provided by law shall be strictly construed,
even though such examination may cause
inconvenience or embarrassment to public
officials or others.

6. Your right to inspect
• All public records shall be open for inspection
by any person, except as otherwise provided
by KRS 61.870 to 61.884, and suitable facilities
shall be made available by each public agency
for the exercise of this right.
• You must be permitted to conduct onsite
inspection of the records during the agency’s
regular office hours, and the agency cannot
restrict your hours of access.

7. What do you have to do?
• The official custodian may require written
application, signed by the applicant and with
his name printed legibly on the
application, describing the records to be
inspected. The application shall be hand
delivered, mailed, or sent via facsimile to the
public agency.
• This law was written before email. Not all
agencies accept emailed requests.

8. Can I take notes?
• Upon inspection, the applicant shall have the
right to make abstracts of the public records
and memoranda thereof, and to obtain copies
of all public records not exempted by the
terms of KRS 61.878. When copies are
requested, the custodian may require a
written request and advance payment of the
prescribed fee, including postage where
appropriate.

9. Can I get records in the mail?
• The public agency shall mail copies of the public
records to a person whose residence or principal
place of business is outside the county in which
the public records are located after he precisely
describes the public records which are readily
available within the public agency. If the person
requesting the public records requests that
copies of the records be mailed, the official
custodian shall mail the copies upon receipt of all
fees and the cost of mailing.

10. How long do they have?
• Each public agency, upon any request for
records made under KRS 61.870 to
61.884, shall determine within three (3)
days, excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal
holidays, after the receipt of any such request
whether to comply with the request and shall
notify in writing the person making the
request, within the three (3) day period, of its
decision.

11. Can I get them electronically?
• Nonexempt public records used for
noncommercial purposes shall be available for
copying in either standard electronic or
standard hard copy format, as designated by
the party requesting the records, where the
agency currently maintains the records in
electronic format. Agencies are not required
to convert hard copy format records to
electronic formats.

12. What do I have to pay?
• The public agency may prescribe a reasonable
fee for making copies which shall not exceed
the actual cost of reproduction, including the
costs of the media, but not including the cost
of staff required. If a public agency is asked to
tailor the format, it may at its discretion
provide the requested format and recover
staff costs as well as any actual costs incurred.
• You cannot be charged for inspecting records.

13. What if they’re busy?
• If the application places an unreasonable
burden in producing public records or if the
custodian has reason to believe that repeated
requests are intended to disrupt 20 other
essential functions of the public agency, the
official custodian may refuse to permit
inspection of the public records or mail copies
thereof. However, refusal under this section
shall be sustained by clear and convincing
evidence.

14. What records are exempt?
• (a) Records containing information of a
personal nature is disclosure would constitute
a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy;
• (b) Records confidentially disclosed to an
agency and compiled and maintained for
scientific research;

15. What records are exempt?
• (c) Records confidentially disclosed to an
agency or required by an agency to be
disclosed to it, generally recognized as
confidential or proprietary, which if openly
disclosed would permit an unfair commercial
advantage to competitors of the entity that
disclosed the records;

16. What records are exempt?
• (d) Public records pertaining to a prospective
location of a business or industry which has
not previously disclosed that it is interested in
locating, relocating or expanding in Kentucky;
• (e) Records developed by an agency in
conjunction with the regulation or supervision
of financial institutions which reveal the
agency’s internal examining or audit criteria;

17. What records are exempt?
• (f) Real estate appraisals, engineering or
feasibility estimates and evaluations made by or
for a public agency in the course of acquiring
property, until all of the property has been
acquired;
• (g) Test questions, scoring keys, and other
examination data used to administer a licensing
examination, examination for employment, or
academic examination before the exam is given
or if it is to be given again;

18. What records are exempt?
• (h) Records of law enforcement agencies or
agencies involved in administrative
adjudication if disclosure of the records would
harm the agency by premature release. Such
records may be inspected after enforcement
action is completed or a decision is made to
take no action, unless they were compiled and
maintained by a county or commonwealth’s
attorney;

19. What records are exempt?
• (i) and (j) Preliminary documents, including
drafts, notes, correspondence with private
individuals, recommendations, and
memoranda in which opinions are expressed
or policies formulated;
• (k) and (l) Public records that are prohibited
from disclosure by state or federal law;

20. What records are exempt?
• (m) Records the disclosure of which would
have a reasonable likelihood of threatening
the public safety by exposing a vulnerability in
preventing, protecting against, mitigating, or
responding to a terrorist act. This is limited to
eight precisely described categories of
records;

21. What records are exempt?
• (n) Records having historic, literary, artistic or
commemorative value that are accepted by
the archivist of a public university, museum or
government depository from a donor other
than a public agency if nondisclosure is
requested in writing by the donor.
• Records of the courts and the General
Assembly are not subject to the Open Records
Act.

22. What if a record contains exempt info?
• Public agencies cannot withhold a public
record because it contains both protected and
unprotected information. Agencies must mask
the protected information and release the
unprotected information to you

23. What do they have to tell me?
• An agency response denying, in whole or in
part, inspection of any record shall include a
statement of the specific exception
authorizing the withholding of the record and
a brief explanation of how the exception
applies to the record withheld.

24. What if I don’t like their decision?
• Try writing a letter that explains why the
agency is wrong and asks the agency to
reconsider its decision.
• If that doesn’t work, appeal to the Attorney
General or file a lawsuit in Circuit Court.

25. How do I appeal?
• If a complaining party wishes the Attorney
General to review a public agency’s denial of a
request to inspect a public record, the
complaining party shall forward to the
Attorney General a copy of the written
request and a copy of the written response
denying inspection. If the public agency
refuses to provide a written response, a
complaining party shall provide a copy of the
written request.

26. How long does an appeal take?
• The Attorney General shall review the request
and denial and issue within twenty (20)
days, excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal
holidays, a written decision stating whether
the agency violated provisions of KRS 61.870
to 61.884.

27. Where do I get more info?
• The law:
http://kypress.com/site/index.php?id=37
• KPA Reporter’s Pocket Guide:
http://kypress.com/site/index.php?id=38
• KPA hotline: (502) 540-2300
http://kypress.com/site/index.php?id=40

28. Can I get help writing a request?
• Student Press Law Center letter generator
http://www.splc.org/legalassistance/foiletter.
asp
• Reporters Committee for Freedom of the
Press letter generator
http://www.rcfp.org/foia

29. Are those records online?
• Kentucky Open Door
http://opendoor.ky.gov/Pages/default.aspx
• Kentucky Registry of Election Finance
http://kref.ky.gov/
• Kentucky court dockets
http://kcoj.kycourts.net/dockets/
• Kentucky sex offender registry
http://kspsor.state.ky.us/

30. Are those records online?
• Kentucky prison online lookup
http://corrections.ky.gov/communityinfo/Page
s/KOOL.aspx
• Federal court records
http://www.kywd.uscourts.gov/
• Student loan default rates for every school
http://www2.ed.gov/offices/OSFAP/defaultma
nagement/cdr.html

31. Are those records online?
• Financial info for university sports teams
http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/
• University graduation rates and other metrics
http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/
• Graduation rates for college athletes
http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/newmedia/public/rat
es/index.html