Request By:
Ms. Rita Campbell
Records Officer
Blackburn Correctional Complex
3111 Spurr Road
Lexington, Kentucky 40511
Opinion
Opinion By: Chris Gorman, Attorney General; Amye B. Majors, Assistant Attorney General
Mr. Karl Rudolph, an inmate at Blackburn Correctional Complex, has appealed to the Attorney General, pursuant to KRS 61.880, your denial of his January 10, 1992, request to inspect all transfer recommendation and authorization forms in his institutional file from February 12, 1991, to present.
You denied Mr. Rudolph's request in a letter dated January 13, 1992. Although you did not cite the specific exception to the Open Records Act authorizing nondisclosure, you relied on KRS 197.025, which provides:
KRS 61.884 and 61.878 to the contrary notwithstanding, no inmate confined in a jail or any facility under the jurisdiction of the Corrections Cabinet shall have access to any records relating to himself or any other inmate if the disclosure is deemed by the warden and treatment staff to constitute a threat to the security of the inmate, any other inmate, correctional staff, or the institution.
In his letter of appeal to this Office, Mr. Rudolph notes that Blackburn's offender's records policy (BCC 06-02-02) mandates release of transfer recommendations and authorizations. He asks that we review your denial of his request to determine if your actions were consistent with the Open Records Act. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that you properly denied Mr. Rudolph's request.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
KRS 61.878(1)(j) exempts from public inspection, in the absence of an order of a court of competent jurisdiction, "Public records or information the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted or otherwise made confidential by enactment of the general assembly." Although you did not invoke this exception, which incorporates KRS 197.025 into the Open Records Act, you cited the latter provision. KRS 61.880(1) states:
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.
We urge you to review this provision in its entirety to insure that future responses conform to the Open Records Act.
This technical error notwithstanding, we concur with you in your view that KRS 197.025 authorizes nondisclosure of the requested records. In a conversation with the undersigned on February 4, 1992, Ms. Susan Alley, a staff attorney for the Corrections Cabinet, explained that regardless of offender's records policies, facilities operating under the jurisdiction of the Cabinet may invoke this provision when, in the exercise of their discretion, they conclude that release of a record may constitute a threat to the security of the inmate, another inmate, or the staff of the institution. She indicated that in many instances transfer recommendation or authorization forms may, for example, refer to conflicts with other inmates. Release of such information could compromise the security of the facility. We therefore conclude that you properly denied Mr. Rudolph's request. We trust that in the future you will cite the Open Records exception authorizing nondisclosure, and briefly explain how the exception applies to the records withheld pursuant to KRS 61.880(1).
As required by statute, a copy of this opinion will be sent to the requesting party, Mr. Karl Rudolph. Both you and Mr. Rudolph may challenge it by initiating an action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5).