Attorney general issues open-government opinions

The Kentucky Attorney General's office issued three opinions on open government issues last week. For full texts, see Links of Interest below.

1. 09-ORD-011 (Boone County)
Decision adopting 07-ORD-188 and 07-ORD-190 regarding the statutory obligations of a public agency upon receipt of a request for nonexistent records or those which the agency does not possess; a public agency such as the Boone County Fiscal Court is not required to produce records which do not exist nor must a public agency "prove a negative." In the absence of a prima facie showing that additional records exist in the custody of the Fiscal Court, its denial must be affirmed in accordance with Bowling v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, Ky., 172 S.W.3d 333, 340-41 (2005), and prior decisions of this office.

2. 09-ORD-012 (Franklin County)
Cabinet for Health and Family Services - Department of Medicaid Services committed both procedural and substantive violations of the Open Records Act in denying request for audited cost reports for named facility for 1998, 1999, and 2000, and related documentation, on the basis of KRS 61.872(6), KRS 61.878(1)(h), and KRS 61.878(1)(i) and (j).

3. 09-ORD-013 (Daviess County)
Former employer of inmate did not violate Open Records Act where requested records did not exist.