Request By:
Honorable Linda G. Cooper
Deputy General Counsel
Commonwealth of Kentucky Corrections Cabinet
State Office Building
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: David L. Armstrong, Attorney General; By: Cicely D. Jaracz, Assistant Attorney General
Ms. Anne Pardue, reporter for The Louisville Courier-Journal, has appealed to the Attorney General pursuant to KRS 61.880 your denial of her request to inspect certain records in your custody. Specifically, Ms. Pardue requested to inspect the following:
A copy of a proposal made for a prison near St. Mary, Ky., that was submitted by Milton Thompson and Cliff Todd.
You denied Ms. Pardue's request based on KRS 61.878(1)(d) which exempts from public inspection:
(d) The contents of real estate appraisals, engineering or feasibility estimates and evaluations made by or for a public agency relative to acquisition of property, until such time as all of the property has been acquired.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
It is the opinion of the Attorney General that your denial was proper under the Open Records law.
According to the Corrections Cabinet, the proposal in question is an offer by private industry to sell private property to the Cabinet for the purpose of converting the property into a prison. The Corrections Cabinet has informed this office that before private property can be purchased, the feasibility of using state-owned property must first be studied. At this time, although a recommendation has been made to the Governor, no decision has been made concerning the proposal.
KRS 61.878(1)(d) excludes from public inspection (except upon court order) "[t]he contents of real estate appraisals, engineering or feasibility estimates and evaluations made . . . for a public agency relative to acquisition of property. " The proposal herein appears to be such an appraisal, estimate, or evaluation relative to the acquisition of property. As such, it is our opinion that this document is exempted from public inspection.
As directed by statute, a copy of this opinion is being sent to the requestor, who may initiate further proceedings pursuant to KRS 61.880(5).