{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-61.878","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 61.878","heading":"Certain public records exempted from inspection except on order of court --","body":"Restriction of state employees to inspect personnel files prohibited.\n(1) The following public records are excluded from the application of KRS 61.870 to\n61.884 and shall be subject to inspection only upon order of a court of competent\njurisdiction, except that no court shall authorize the inspection by any party of any\nmaterials pertaining to civil litigation beyond that which is provided by the Rules of\nCivil Procedure governing pretrial discovery:\n(a) Public records containing information of a personal nature where the public\ndisclosure thereof would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal\nprivacy;\n(b) Records confidentially disclosed to an agency an d compiled and maintained\nfor scientific research. This exemption shall not, however, apply to records the\ndisclosure or publication of which is directed by another statute;\n(c) 1. Records confidentially disclosed to an agency or required by an agency\nto be disclosed to it, generally recognized as confidential or proprietary,\nwhich if openly disclosed would permit an unfair commercial advantage\nto competitors of the entity that disclosed the records;\n2. Records confidentially disclosed to an agency or requi red by an agency\nto be disclosed to it, generally recognized as confidential or proprietary,\nwhich are compiled and maintained:\na. In conjunction with an application for or the administration of a\nloan or grant;\nb. In conjunction with an application for or the administration of\nassessments, incentives, inducements, and tax credits as described\nin KRS Chapter 154;\nc. In conjunction with the regulation of commercial enterprise,\nincluding mineral exploration records, un patented, secret\ncommercially valuable plans, appliances, formulae, or processes,\nwhich are used for the making, preparing, compounding, treating,\nor processing of articles or materials which are trade commodities\nobtained from a person; or\nd. For the grant or review of a license to do business.\n3. The exemptions provided for in subparagraphs 1. and 2. of this\nparagraph shall not apply to records the disclosure or publication of\nwhich is directed by another statute;\n(d) Public records pertaining to a prospe ctive location of a business or industry\nwhere no previous public disclosure has been made of the business' or\nindustry's interest in locating in, relocating within or expanding within the\nCommonwealth. This exemption shall not include those records pertai ning to\napplication to agencies for permits or licenses necessary to do business or to\nexpand business operations within the state, except as provided in paragraph\n(c) of this subsection;\n(e) Public records which are developed by an agency in conjunction w ith the\nregulation or supervision of financial institutions, including but not limited to\nbanks, savings and loan associations, and credit unions, which disclose the\nagency's internal examining or audit criteria and related analytical methods;\n(f) The contents of real estate appraisals, engineering or feasibility estimates and\nevaluations made by or for a public agency relative to acquisition of property,\nuntil such time as all of the property has been acquired. The law of eminent\ndomain shall not be affected by this provision;\n(g) Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer a\nlicensing examination, examination for employment, or academic\nexamination before the exam is given or if it is to be given again;\n(h) Records of law en forcement agencies or agencies involved in administrative\nadjudication that were compiled in the process of detecting and investigating\nstatutory or regulatory violations if the disclosure of the information could\npose an articulable risk of harm to the ag ency or its investigation by revealing\nthe identity of informants or witnesses not otherwise known or by premature\nrelease of information to be used in a prospective law enforcement action or\nadministrative adjudication. Unless exempted by other provisions  of KRS\n61.870 to 61.884, public records exempted under this provision shall be open\nafter enforcement action is completed or a decision is made to take no action;\nhowever, records or information compiled and maintained by county attorneys\nor Commonwealth's attorneys pertaining to criminal investigations or criminal\nlitigation shall be exempted from the provisions of KRS 61.870 to 61.884 and\nshall remain exempted after enforcement action, including litigation, is\ncompleted or a decision is made to take no a ction. The exemptions provided\nby this subsection shall not be used by the custodian of the records to delay or\nimpede the exercise of rights granted by KRS 61.870 to 61.884;\n(i) Preliminary drafts, notes, correspondence with private individuals, other tha n\ncorrespondence which is intended to give notice of final action of a public\nagency;\n(j) Preliminary recommendations, and preliminary memoranda in which opinions\nare expressed or policies formulated or recommended;\n(k) All public records or information th e disclosure of which is prohibited by\nfederal law or regulation or state law;\n(l) Public records or information the disclosure of which is prohibited or\nrestricted or otherwise made confidential by enactment of the General\nAssembly, including any information acquired by the Department of Revenue\nin tax administration that is prohibited from divulgence or disclosure under\nKRS 131.190;\n(m) 1. Public records the disclosure of which would have a reasonable\nlikelihood of threatening the public safety by exposin g a vulnerability in\npreventing, protecting against, mitigating, or responding to a terrorist act\nand limited to:\na. Criticality lists resulting from consequence assessments;\nb. Vulnerability assessments;\nc. Antiterrorism protective measures and plans;\nd. Counterterrorism measures and plans;\ne. Security and response needs assessments;\nf. Infrastructure records that expose a vulnerability referred to in this\nsubparagraph through the disclosure of the location, configuration,\nor security of critical systems, including public utility critical\nsystems. These critical systems shall include but not be limited to\ninformation technology, communication, electrical, fire\nsuppression, ventilation, water, wastewater, sewage, and gas\nsystems;\ng. The following records whe n their disclosure will expose a\nvulnerability referred to in this subparagraph: detailed drawings,\nschematics, maps, or specifications of structural elements, floor\nplans, and operating, utility, or security systems of any building or\nfacility owned, occu pied, leased, or maintained by a public\nagency; and\nh. Records when their disclosure will expose a vulnerability referred\nto in this subparagraph and that describe the exact physical\nlocation of hazardous chemical, radiological, or biological\nmaterials.\n2. As used in this paragraph, \"terrorist act\" means a criminal act intended\nto:\na. Intimidate or coerce a public agency or all or part of the civilian\npopulation;\nb. Disrupt a system identified in subparagraph 1.f. of this paragraph;\nor\nc. Cause massive dest ruction to a building or facility owned,\noccupied, leased, or maintained by a public agency.\n3. On the same day that a public agency denies a request to inspect a public\nrecord for a reason identified in this paragraph, that public agency shall\nforward a copy of the written denial of the request, referred to in KRS\n61.880(1), to the executive director of the Kentucky Office of Homeland\nSecurity and the Attorney General.\n4. Nothing in this paragraph shall affect the obligations of a public agency\nwith respect to disclosure and availability of public records under state\nenvironmental, health, and safety programs.\n5. The exemption established in this paragraph shall not apply when a\nmember of the Kentucky General Assembly seeks to inspect a public\nrecord identified in this paragraph under the Open Records Law;\n(n) Public or private records, including book s, papers, maps, photographs, cards,\ntapes, discs, diskettes, recordings, software, or other documentation regardless\nof physical form or characteristics, having historic, literary, artistic, or\ncommemorative value accepted by the archivist of a public uni versity,\nmuseum, or government depository from a donor or depositor other than a\npublic agency. This exemption shall apply to the extent that nondisclosure is\nrequested in writing by the donor or depositor of such records, but shall not\napply to records the disclosure or publication of which is mandated by another\nstatute or by federal law;\n(o) Records of a procurement process under KRS Chapter 45A or 56. This\nexemption shall not apply after:\n1. A contract is awarded; or\n2. The procurement process is cancel ed without award of a contract and\nthere is a determination that the contract will not be resolicited;\n(p) Client and case files maintained by the Department of Public Advocacy or any\nperson or entity contracting with the Department of Public Advocacy for the\nprovision of legal representation under KRS Chapter 31;\n(q) Except as provided in KRS 61.168, photographs or videos that depict the\ndeath, killing, rape, or sexual assault of a person. However, such photographs\nor videos shall be made available by the public agency to the requesting party\nfor viewing on the premises of the public agency, or a mutually agreed upon\nlocation, at the request of;\n1. a. Any victim depicted in the photographs or videos, his or her\nimmediate family, or legal representative;\nb. Any involved insurance company or its representative; or\nc. The legal representative of any involved party;\n2. Any state agency or political subdivision investigating official\nmisconduct; or\n3. A legal representative for a person under investigation for, charged with,\npled guilty to, or found guilty of a crime related to the underlying\nincident. The person under investigation for, charged with, pled guilty\nto, or found guilty of a crime related to the underlying incident or their\nimmediate family shall not be permitted to have access to the\nphotographs or videos;\n(r) Records confidentially maintained by a law enforcement agency in\naccordance with a wellness program, including an early intervention system,\nas described in KRS 15.409; and\n(s) Communications of  a purely personal nature unrelated to any governmental\nfunction.\n(2) No exemption in this section shall be construed to prohibit disclosure of statistical\ninformation not descriptive of any readily identifiable person.\n(3) No exemption in this section sha ll be construed to deny, abridge, or impede the\nright of a public agency employee, including university employees, an applicant for\nemployment, or an eligible on a register to inspect and to copy any record including\npreliminary and other supporting docume ntation that relates to him or her. The\nrecords shall include but not be limited to work plans, job performance, demotions,\nevaluations, promotions, compensation, classification, reallocation, transfers, lay -\noffs, disciplinary actions, examination scores, and preliminary and other supporting\ndocumentation. A public agency employee, including university employees,\napplicant, or eligible shall not have the right to inspect or to copy any examination\nor any documents relating to ongoing criminal or administrat ive investigations by\nan agency.\n(4) If any public record contains material which is not excepted under this section, the\npublic agency shall separate the excepted and make the nonexcepted material\navailable for examination.\n(5) The provisions of this sect ion shall in no way prohibit or limit the exchange of\npublic records or the sharing of information between public agencies when the\nexchange is serving a legitimate governmental need or is necessary in the\nperformance of a legitimate government function.\n(6) When material is made available pursuant to a request under subsection (1)(q) of\nthis section, the public agency shall not be required to make a copy of the recording\nexcept as provided in KRS 61.169, and the requesting parties shall not be limited in\nthe number of times they may view the material.","path":["KRS Chapter 61"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56330","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:49:16Z","sha256":"41d33ee595b78c0c54506e86af2f3320d090b73b941a06a2136b0cd3c579dddc","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-61.876","next":"us-ky/krs-61.880"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}