Request By:
Ms. Ann Wilson
Calloway Circuit Court Clerk
Courthouse
Murray, KY 42071
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; V. Lynne Schroering, Assistant Attorney General
Charles Harding, an inmate at Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex, appeals the decision by the Calloway Circuit Clerk to charge a ten cents per page reproduction fee for copies of his closed files.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
You were correct in agreeing to supply Mr. Harding copies of his closed files and charging a ten cents per page reproduction cost.
Mr. Harding mistakenly refers to KRS 31.200 as a provision requiring the circuit court to provide him with free copies of his files. KRS 31.100 et seq. are statutes covering the district public advocate and local programs for providing counsel for indigents. KRS 31.200(3) provides that expenses incurred in the representation of needy persons confined in a state correctional institution shall be borne by the state Department of Public Advocacy.
The Calloway County Circuit Clerk was correct in charging a reasonable fee of ten cents per page for a copy of Mr. Harding's closed files. This issue was addressed by the
Kentucky Court of Appeals in Friend v. Rees, Ky.App., 696 S.W.2d 325, 326 (1985). In that case the court noted that a public agency is authorized to prescribe reasonable fees for making copies of public records. KRS 61.876(1)(c) and KRS 61.874(2). The Friend court found ten cents a copy was reasonable.
Friend v. Rees, 696 S.W.2d at 326. See also OAG 89-43.
Pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) a copy of this opinion will be sent to the requesting party, Charles Harding. Both you and Mr. Harding ding have the right to challenge this opinion in circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5).