Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has ruled that the Henderson County Fiscal Court did not violate the state's Open Records Act when it provided a requester with available documents and referred her to the Board of Zoning Adjustment for additional records.

In a decision issued July 16, the Attorney General's office found the Fiscal Court complied with Kentucky law by providing Theresa Ewing with all documents in its possession related to a zoning appeal and directing her to the proper custodian of remaining records. The case centered on Ewing's April 20 request for materials related to an appeal before the Henderson County Board of Zoning Adjustment, including documents, photos, meeting video, transcript and final disposition from an April 13 hearing.

The Deputy County Judge/Executive responded four days later with copies of documents the Fiscal Court possessed and explained that the Board of Zoning Adjustment, not the Fiscal Court, held custody of other requested materials. The response included contact information for the Board's records custodian.

Ewing appealed, arguing the Fiscal Court should have conducted a more thorough search because it had access to the Board's records through its role as the appointing authority.

The Attorney General found that "an agency's 'access' to digital records, without more, does not mean that the public agency is the custodian of such records." Under Kentucky law, the Fiscal Court was required only to provide records within its own possession and refer the requester to the proper custodian, which it did.

The Board subsequently provided Ewing with approved meeting minutes and the final disposition. While the Board noted it does not make video recordings of meetings, it offered to provide an audio recording on a USB drive.

The decision clarifies that public agencies are responsible only for records directly in their custody, not records they can access through other entities, even if they appoint members to those bodies.