Request By:
IN RE: Pat N. Miller/Augusta Public Schools
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 actions of the Augusta Public Schools relative to Mr. Pat N. Miller's request for copies of documents in its custody. Those records are identified as Mr. Mark L. Wallace's complete payroll records for 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991, as well as Mr. Wallace's federal W-2 withholding statements for 1986, 1989, and 1992. Mr. Miller, who is the Executive Secretary of the Teachers' Retirement System of Kentucky, indicates that he requested these records on November 16, December 10, and December 29, 1992, and again on January 19, 1993. On each of these occasions the Augusta Public Schools failed to respond. This prompted Mr. Miller to submit a formal open records request on February 4, 1993. His February 4 request was also ignored. This appeal followed.
We are asked to determine if the Augusta Public Schools violated the Open Records Act by failing to respond to Mr. Miller's requests. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that the Augusta Public Schools' actions constitute a violation of the Act.
KRS 61.880(1) sets forth procedural guidelines for agency response to an open records request. 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 action.
Mr. Miller first submitted a request for records on November 16, 1992. To date, the Augusta Public Schools has failed to respond. Over three and one half months have thus elapsed since the date of his initial request.
The Augusta Public Schools violated the Open Records Act to the extent that it failed to advise Mr. Miller, in writing, and within three working days of his request, whether it intended to honor his request. The Augusta Public Schools should immediately issue a written response to Mr. Miller.
The Augusta Public Schools may challenge this decision by initiating action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882.