AG Opinion: Arena Authority Violated Open Records Act

The Kentucky Attorney General’s office says the Louisville Arena Authority is in partial violation of the state’s Open Records Act.In mid-April, Don Sherry sought access to personal information of employees of two subcontractors on the Louisville Arena project.Sherry wanted the information because arena contract provisions require the use of local workers, including women and minorities, and the payment of prevailing wages.While the attorney general’s office says the Arena Authority properly denied personal information like social security numbers and dates of birth, it improperly denied information like employees' names, home zip codes, gender, race and pay rates.The authority argued release of the data would violate privacy rights, but the AG’s office says the public’s interest in insuring the contract provisions on the partially publicly-funded arena are enforced outweigh any privacy concerns.Any party aggrieved by the opinion may appeal to circuit court.A spokesperson says the Arena Authority will not have any comment until they have a chance to review the opinion.