Request By:
Ms. Georgia Lutcavish
Acting Executive Director
Office of Personnel Management
Cabinet for Human Resources
Frankfort, Kentucky 40621
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Amye B. Majors, Assistant Attorney General
Mr. Paul F. Fauri has appealed to the Attorney General pursuant to KRS 61.880, your failure to respond in a timely fashion to an open records request submitted to the Cabinet for Human Resources Office of Personnel on September 24, 1991. In a letter dated October 1, 1991, Mr. Fauri advised this office that he had not yet received a response to his request, and asked that we review the Cabinet's actions to determine if you acted consistently with the Open Records Act.
On October 2, 1991, this office received a copy of the Cabinet's response, as required by KRS 61.880(2). Presumably, Mr. Fauri received a copy of the letter on the same day. We do not address the propriety of that response, denying in part Mr. Fauri's request. Mr. Fauri may submit a separate appeal if he believes the requested documents were improperly withheld.
To the extent, however, that the Cabinet failed to respond to the open records request within three days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays) , as required by KRS 61.880(1), it did not act consistently with the Open Records Act.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
KRS 61.880(1) contains specific guidelines for an agency response to a request under the Open Records Act. That statute provides:
Each public agency, upon any request for records made under KRS 61.870 to 61.884, shall determine within three (3) days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) after the receipt of any such request whether to comply with the request and shall notify in writing the person making the request within the three (3) day period, of its decision. An agency response denying, in whole or in part, inspection of any record shall include a statement of the specific exception authorizing the withholding of the record and a brief explanation of how the exception applies to the record withheld. The response shall be issued by the official custodian or under his authority, and it shall constitute final agency action.
In addition, KRS 61.880(2) requires that a copy of the written response denying inspection be forwarded immediately to the Office of the Attorney General.
Your response to Mr. Fauri's request was deficient, under the Open Records Act, to the extent that you did not reply in writing within three working days. Some four workdays elapsed between the date of the request and the date of the written response. We urge you to review the relevant provisions to insure that future responses conform to the Open Records Act.
As required by statute, a copy of this opinion will be sent to the requesting party, Mr. Paul F. Fauri. The Cabinet may challenge it in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5).