Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has upheld the Georgetown-Scott County Regional Airport's response to an open records request regarding drainage and environmental impacts on an adjacent property owner's land.

In a decision issued February 12, Tonya Hughes Simpson challenged the airport's position that it did not possess records beyond those already provided in response to her December 2025 request. Simpson sought documents related to stormwater outfalls, drainage infrastructure, environmental testing, and any Division of Water enforcement actions connected to impacts on her property at 6324 Paris Pike in Georgetown.

Simpson argued the airport should have conducted a more extensive search, noting that the Georgetown-Scott County Regional Airport covers 285 acres near Georgetown and that a stormwater construction project in 2022 should have generated additional records. She also referenced an alleged prior enforcement action from approximately 2006 involving stormwater complaints.

The Attorney General disagreed, finding the airport's search was adequate under Kentucky law. The decision turned on how narrowly Simpson had worded her original request. The airport explained that the 2022 stormwater improvements project, known as the RSA Improvements Project, affected the northern portion of the airport property and had no connection to Simpson's property on the southern side. Therefore, records related to that construction were not responsive to her specifically tailored request, which sought only documents concerning discharge "toward or affecting" her parcel.

The decision clarifies that in open records disputes, once a public agency asserts records do not exist, the requester bears the burden of making a preliminary showing that the records actually should exist. Simpson's claims did not meet that threshold, the Attorney General determined, particularly without legal authority or factual support beyond her own assumptions about what records must logically exist.