Kentucky's Attorney General has dismissed an appeal seeking surveillance video from a criminal case, ruling that circuit court records are exempt from the state's Open Records Act.

The decision, dated April 30, 2026, involved Wayne Murphy's request to the Greenup Circuit Court Clerk for video surveillance from King's Daughters Medical Center related to his criminal case. After the clerk denied his request in March 2026, Murphy appealed to the Attorney General's Office.

The Attorney General's office determined it had no authority to compel the release of the records. Under Kentucky law, case records cannot be obtained from a court or court clerk through an open records request. The ruling cited a 1978 Kentucky Supreme Court decision in Ex Parte Farley, which found that applying the Open Records Act to judicial records would violate the separation of powers.

The Office of Circuit Court Clerk in each county is the starting point for requesting copies of court records from cases in that county. However, those requests fall outside the state's Open Records Act framework. The Kentucky courts have instead established their own policies and procedures for accessing records.

Murphy has 30 days from the decision date to appeal to Greenup Circuit Court if he wishes to challenge the dismissal. The Attorney General's office noted that the Greenup Circuit Court Clerk stated it did not receive Murphy's original request.

The case illustrates the limited authority of Kentucky's Attorney General in disputes involving judicial branch records. While the state's Open Records Act generally requires public agencies to respond to records requests within three business days, Kentucky courts operate under separate rules established by the judicial branch.