Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman ruled that Louisville Metro Government violated the Open Records Act by failing to adequately explain how a privacy exemption applied to requested documents, though the agency properly withheld medical records from a woman seeking records about her deceased mother's elder abuse investigation.

Jane Dentinger requested all records concerning her mother that were investigated by Elder Abuse in connection with events on February 1, 2003, and September 17, 2004. Louisville Metro eventually provided 739 pages of documents after verifying Dentinger's identity as the daughter, but withheld medical notes while citing KRS 61.878(1)(k), a statute that exempts records "the disclosure of which is prohibited by federal law or regulation or state law."

However, the agency "merely cited the statutory provision without explanation," Coleman determined in the decision issued June 11. Kentucky law requires public agencies to "include a statement of the specific exception authorizing the withholding of the record and a brief explanation of how the exception applies."

On appeal, Metro changed course and cited KRS 61.878(1)(a) instead, which protects "information of a personal nature where the public disclosure thereof would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy." The Attorney General upheld Metro's withholding of 215 pages of medical records, finding that federal health privacy law and Kentucky statute establish protections for medical information that should be available only to personal representatives of a patient's estate, such as an executor or administrator.

Because Dentinger was not her mother's executor, administratrix or other authorized representative, Metro properly considered her status in determining she could not access the medical records, Coleman concluded. Under federal health law and state statute, such personal representatives "stand in the shoes" of the deceased for privacy purposes, making them the appropriate parties to receive sensitive medical information.