Opinion
Opinion By: Chris Gorman, Attorney General; Amye B. Majors, Assistant Attorney General
OPEN RECORDS DECISION
This matter comes to the Attorney General on appeal from the Edgewood Fire Protection District's actions relative to Mr. Wood A. Gorman's July 23, 1992, request to inspect the rate calculation worksheet, including numerical figures, used by the District in setting its tax rate. Mr. Gorman indicates that as of July 30, 1992, he had received no response to his request.
We begin by noting that although Mr. Gorman's request was not formally denied, we must treat the District's failure to respond as a denial. Moreover, because we have been presented with no evidence to the contrary, we must assume that the District is a taxing district created pursuant to Chapter 75 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes, and is subject to the Open Records Act. OAG 77-291. It is therefore required to comply with the procedural requirements of KRS 61.880(1), which 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.
The District's failure to respond to Mr. Gorman's request within three days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, constitutes a violation of the Open Records Act. The District is directed to release the requested record to Mr. Gorman forthwith.
The Edgewood Fire Protection District and Mr. Gorman may challenge this decision by initiating action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882.