Employee Records & Files
There are two principle sources of information pertaining to your employment in state government. Your official personnel file, which is maintained by the Personnel Cabinet, and your agency personnel file, maintained by your agency. Both of these files may be inspected and copied upon a written request made under KRS 18A.020. Please remember that state resources such as mail, e-mail, and fax should not be used to request records.
Kentucky’s Open Records Law (KRS 61.870 to 61.884) requires that all records of public agencies are public records open to public inspection, except as limited by KRS 61.878. In order to inspect an agency record, you must comply with appropriate request procedures established by the agency and authorized under KRS 61.876. A written response to your Open Records Act request is due within three working days of the day it is received.
If you request to see a public record under the Open Records Act and you are denied access to it, the agency withholding the record must give you specific reasons in writing why it is denying the information to you. If you believe the requested information is being withheld unlawfully, you may request the Attorney General to review the denial. The Attorney General will issue a written opinion to the denying agency stating whether or not the denial was consistent with the law. An employee may also appeal denial of access to his own employment-related records by appeal to the Personnel Board or by filing a lawsuit. All requests must identify the specific records being sought within the file. General requests for "any and all records" or "The Personnel File" may not be honored.
As a courtesy and in order to protect personal and private information from disclosure, the Personnel Cabinet makes reasonable efforts to notify an employee when it receives an Open Records request from a third party to inspect and copy records in the employee’s file.
For more information on "Records or Personnel Cabinet Subject to open Records Law/Employees’ Access to Personnel Files" please refer to KRS 18A.020.
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