Managing Kentucky Open Records Act Request Requirements
Kentucky Open Records Act requests can put pressure on public agencies when records live across paper files, email, text messages, collaboration tools, social media and video platforms. Agencies are expected to respond on time and maintain public trust while balancing operational challenges. For legal, records, compliance, and IT teams, the challenge is not just understanding the law. It’s about building a defensible process that works when requests are broad, deadlines are short, and communications are disjointed.
Key takeaways
-
Kentucky’s Open Records Act gives Kentucky residents the right to inspect nonexempt public records held by public agencies.
-
Agencies should respond in writing within five days, excluding weekends and legal holidays.
-
Kentucky Open Records Act exemptions are generally applied carefully, and nonexempt portions of records generally still subject to disclosure.
-
Digital communications can qualify as public records when they are prepared, owned, used, possessed or retained by a public agency.
-
Strong capture, retention, and search workflows can help agencies reduce backlogs and respond with more confidence.
What is the Kentucky Open Records Act?
The Kentucky Open Records Act is Kentucky’s public records law found in KRS 61.870 to 61.884. It gives Kentucky residents the right to inspect public records unless an exemption applies. Kentucky’s Attorney General explains that the Act recognizes the public interest in free and open examination of public records.
The law applies to public agencies, including many state and local government offices, departments, boards, commissions, courts, school boards, special districts, and other public bodies. It also defines public records broadly, covering books, papers, maps, photographs, recordings, software, and other documentation regardless of physical form, when prepared, owned, used, possessed, or retained by a public agency.
The Kentucky Open Records Act is not limited to paper files. A public record could be a memo, email, spreadsheet, database entry, recording, chat message or other record if it meets the statutory definition.
To see how other states are managing open records requests, use this interactive FOIA laws map for broader context. Agencies reviewing their internal processes should also explore recordkeeping technology to limit manual processes in state, local and education environments.
Common exemption categories include:
- Personal information where disclosure would be an unwarranted invasion of privacy
- Certain confidential or proprietary business records
- Some law enforcement and administrative investigation records
- Preliminary drafts, notes and recommendations
- Records made confidential by state or federal law
- Certain security-sensitive or infrastructure-related records
An exemption does not mean the whole record can be withheld. If a record contains both exempt and nonexempt material, the agency is required to separate the exempt material and make the nonexempt material available.
How to file a Kentucky Open Records Act request
The most efficient way to file an open records request is when the requester clearly identifies the records they want, and the agency has a consistent process for intake, review, and response.
Who can submit records requests?
Kentucky’s process is more limited than some states because formal Open Records Act rights are tied to Kentucky residency.
The main requirements are:
- Requests are available to residents of the Commonwealth, which includes Kentucky residents, certain businesses, people employed in Kentucky, property owners, authorized representatives and qualifying news-gathering organizations.
- A requester generally does not need to explain why they want the records, but an agency may determine whether the records will be used for a commercial purpose.
- The official custodian may require a written, signed application that includes the requester’s printed name and a description of the records requested.
- Requests may be delivered in person, mailed, faxed, or emailed to the agency’s official custodian.
- Agencies cannot require a specific form, but they are required to accept the standardized open records request form.
To simplify the process, agencies should make the custodian’s contact information, accepted submission methods, and request form easy to find.
Response timelines and obligations
Kentucky’s response window is short, so agencies need a process that moves quickly from intake to search to review. Agencies should account for the following:
- Whether to comply within five days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays.
- Written responses are required.
- A denial should always cite the specific exception and briefly explain how it applies to the record withheld.
- If the record is in active use, in storage or otherwise unavailable, the agency is responsible for explaining the delay and giving the earliest date the record will be available.
- For large requests, agencies may release records as they are gathered and reviewed, but they still need to meet the date provided in the agency’s response.
Fees should also be handled carefully. For noncommercial requests, agencies may charge reasonable copying fees based on actual reproduction costs, but not staff time. Commercial-use requests may allow broader cost recovery in some circumstances.
Electronic and digital records
Kentucky’s public records definition is format-neutral, which means digital records can be subject to the same access rules as paper records. The Attorney General’s guide specifically lists emails, databases, and other electronic records as examples of public records.
Digital records can include:
- Email and attachments
- Text messages and mobile communications
- Social media messages or posts
- Chat and collaboration platform content
- Video recordings and meeting files
- Databases, spreadsheets, and shared documents
For noncommercial requests, nonexempt records should be available in standard electronic or hard copy format when the agency maintains them electronically. Agencies are not required to convert paper records into an electronic format.
This is also where compliance risk tends to grow. If employees use text messages, chat tools, or personal devices for agency business, records teams may not know where responsive content exists. To learn more on how to manage this type of data, read government text archiving.
Tip
The biggest digital records risk is not always deletion. Often, it’s not knowing which systems hold the records in question.
What are the penalties for non-compliance?
A request that seems simple may require searches across email, mobile devices, shared drives, video platforms, and department-managed tools.
Common challenges include:
- Relying on manual searches where teams may miss records or duplicate work.
- Employees use of text or chat for public business, responsive records may sit outside the agency’s normal archive.
- If social media, meeting recordings and shared files are owned by different departments, records teams may struggle to coordinate review.
- Whether retention policies vary by channel, agencies may not know whether records should still exist.
- When requests are broad or unclear, agencies may need to clarify scope while still meeting response obligations.
Broad requests can be especially difficult. The Attorney General’s guide notes that whether a request is unreasonably burdensome depends on factors like the number of records, time period, physical location, electronic format, and redaction requirements.
For public sector teams, the goal is not just faster production. It’s defensible production. Agencies need to know what was searched, who searched it, which systems were included, and why any records were withheld or redacted.
Agencies should know where official communications live, how long they are retained, who can search them, and how they can be exported when a request arrives. Learn from public sector tech failures, and start building FOIA-proof archives.
Challenges of managing Kentucky open records compliance
Managing open records compliance has become increasingly difficult as public sector communication expands across digital channels, cloud platforms, and decentralized systems. Even organizations with established retention policies may struggle to locate, review, and produce records quickly enough to meet statutory timelines.
Organizations that manage records across multiple departments or communication systems may require coordination between legal, compliance, IT, and operational teams when identifying responsive records. Requests involving video, mobile communications, or large datasets often add additional complexity.
Common operational challenges include:
- Searching across siloed systems
- Preserving mobile and text communications
- Managing large video and multimedia files
- Applying exemptions consistently
- Redacting sensitive information accurately
- Responding within statutory deadlines
- Tracking records across third-party platforms
These challenges become more significant when agencies rely on collaboration tools, remote work technologies, or personal devices not originally designed with public records compliance in mind.
For organizations operating in regulated or high-visibility environments, inconsistent retention practices and fragmented communication oversight may increase legal exposure, operational disruption, and reputational risk. Building centralized governance and defensible records management practices can help organizations improve response consistency while supporting transparency obligations.
Kentucky Open Records Act summary
The Kentucky Open Records Act gives Kentucky residents access to nonexempt public records held by public agencies. For agencies, the most important obligations are timely written responses, careful exemption review, reliable redaction, and the ability to search across both traditional and digital records.
| Regulatory Element | Details |
|---|---|
| Law Name | Kentucky Open Records Act |
| Statute Citation | KRS 61.870 to 61.884 |
| Governing Body | KY Attorney General, courts |
| Response Deadline | 5 business days |
| Fee Structure | Actual copy costs |
| Covered Entities | Public agencies |
| Key Exemptions | Privacy and legal records |
| Penalty Provisions | Fees, costs, misdemeanor |
| Electronic Records | Included if retained |
| Appeal Process | AG review or court |
Frequently asked questions
No. Kentucky agencies are not required to compile information or create a new record in response to an open records request. However, if existing records contain the information requested, the agency must process the request for those records unless an exemption applies.
If the agency that receives the request does not have custody or control of the record, it should notify the requester and provide the name and location of the appropriate records custodian when known. This helps redirect the request instead of leaving the requester without a next step.
Yes, but the standard is high. An agency may refuse a request that creates an unreasonable burden or appears intended to disrupt essential agency functions, but that refusal must be supported by clear and convincing evidence. The Attorney General’s guide notes that agencies may invite requesters to narrow broad requests, but that does not pause the agency’s response obligation.
Not automatically. A public agency may provide online access to electronic records, but the statute treats that as discretionary. If an agency agrees to provide online access, it may require a contract, license, or other agreement and may charge allowed access-related fees.
Share this post!
- Managing Kentucky Open Records Act Request Requirements - June 3, 2026
- Iowa Open Records Law Request Requirements - June 2, 2026
- Ohio Public Records Act Request Requirements - June 2, 2026
Smarsh Blog
Our internal subject matter experts and our network of external industry experts are featured with insights into the technology and industry trends that affect your electronic communications compliance initiatives. Sign up to benefit from their deep understanding, tips and best practices regarding how your company can manage compliance risk while unlocking the business value of your communications data.
Ready to enable compliant productivity?
Join the 6,500+ customers using Smarsh to drive their business forward.
More Resources
Subscribe to the Smarsh Blog Digest
Subscribe to receive a monthly digest of articles exploring regulatory updates, news, trends and best practices in electronic communications capture and archiving.
Smarsh handles information you submit to Smarsh in accordance with its Privacy Policy. By clicking "submit", you consent to Smarsh processing your information and storing it in accordance with the Privacy Policy and agree to receive communications from Smarsh and its third-party partners regarding products and services that may be of interest to you. You may withdraw your consent at any time by emailing [email protected].
FOLLOW US