Request By:
In Re: Charles Maggard/Hon. Samuel C. Long, Morgan Circuit Court
Opinion
Opinion By: Chris Gorman, Attorney General; Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
OPEN RECORDS DECISION
This matter comes to the Attorney General as a purported appeal by Charles Maggard as a result of his attempts to persuade the Morgan Circuit Court to order the release to him of various documents apparently in the custody of the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex.
It appears that the Morgan Circuit Court entered an order dismissing Charles Maggard's claim and he is attempting to invoke the provisions of the Open Records Act (KRS 61.870 to KRS 61.884) as justification and authority for the Attorney General to review what transpired in the circuit court.
While there are provisions and procedures to properly bring a denial of a request to obtain public records from a public agency before the Attorney General, none of the requirements of KRS 61.880 have been followed in this situation. There are also procedures to directly appeal a denial of a request to the circuit court (KRS 61.882) and provisions whereby a decision of the Attorney General may be appealed to the circuit court. See KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882. There are, however, no provisions permitting the Attorney General to review a decision or ruling of the circuit court on any matter pertaining to the Open Records Act.
We, therefore, conclude that there is nothing for this office to review under the Open Records Act as we have no authority to review a decision or ruling of the circuit court. No valid appeal under the Kentucky Open Records Act has been presented by Charles Maggard to the Attorney General.
Charles Maggard may challenge this decision by initiating action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882. Pursuant to KRS 61.880(3), the Attorney General should be notified of any action filed in the circuit court, but he shall not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceedings.