Request By:
Hon. Neil J. Welch
Secretary
Department of Justice
State Office Building
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Carl Miller, Assistant Attorney General
The State Journal has appealed to the Attorney General pursuant to KRS 61.880 the denial by you of the request made by Carleton L. West to inspect certain public records pertaining to the Department of Corrections. The records are described as Bureau of Corrections Evaluation Committee Report, and your letter of denial was dated July 2, 1981.
In denying inspection of the records, you stated the following: "The basis for the denial is KRS 61.878(f) which exempts from inspection records of law enforcement agencies that were compiled in the process of detecting and investigating statutory or regulatory violations since disclosure of the information at this time would be a premature release of information which may be used in a prospective law enforcement or administrative adjudication." You have sent a copy of the record to this office for our review in issuing this opinion.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
It is the opinion of the Attorney General that the document titled "Bureau of Corrections Evaluation Committee Report" is not exempt from mandatory disclosure under the Open Records Law, KRS 61.870-61.884. Although the report points out some deficiency in the management and operation of the Bureau of Corrections, it cites no individual as being responsible for any breach of the law and makes no recommendation of any criminal investigation or prosecution. Therefore, we find that the document is not exempt under KRS 61.878(1)(f) or any other provision of KRS 61.878(1).
A copy of this opinion is being sent to the requester as directed by statute.