WBRZ - Baton Rouge

BATON ROUGE - The Louisiana attorney general says personal emails written by government officials on government computers are exempt from public disclosure.

The ruling by Attorney General Buddy Caldwell does not carry the force of law, but such rulings are generally abided by unless a court rules otherwise.

The opinion was requested by Robert Barham, secretary of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

Caldwell said Thursday that the state public records law does not cover "emails of a purely personal nature" that have "no relation to any function of a public office."

Caldwell noted that court rulings in eight other states have found that personal emails are exempt from public disclosure.