AG: Louisville Guilty of Violating Open Records Law

The University of Louisville was complicit in repeatedly violating the Kentucky Open Records Act according to the state attorney general.

According to an opinion released by the attorney general’s office and reported on by the Louisville Courier Journal, the university failed to provide the Courier Journal with some records in a timely fashion and other records were not provided at all, including personnel files from former basketball coach Rick Pitino and athletic director Tom Jurich.

Attorney General Gordon Slone also concluded that the university redacted the destinations of recruiting trips because it might identify the recruits and would be a violation of student privacy. However, Slone ruled that the privacy laws don’t apply because the recruits weren’t yet students at Louisville.

Joel Christopher, Courier Journal executive editor, called the ruling a win for Kentucky taxpayers. "We will continue to aggressively seek access to public information that allows people to make informed judgments about how their university operates,” Christopher said.

Among a list of violations, Slone also found that the university wrongly cited a privacy exemption when it refused to release the names of people who sent in comments for and against lacrosse coach Kellie Young who was fired in November over a matter involving an injured player. 

Courier Journal lawyer Michael Abate said that the university contended that when someone writes to the university, their name is private, which Abate said is “just not true.”

A spokesman for the university said the school had just received a copy of the opinion and was in the process of reviewing it. Louisville can appeal the ruling.