Request By:
[NO REQUESTBY IN ORIGINAL]
Opinion
Opinion By: A. B. Chandler III, Attorney General; Thomas R. Emerson, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
This matter comes to the Attorney General as an appeal by Steve Monroe in connection with his request to the Commonwealth's Attorney of the Eighth Judicial Circuit for access to documents.
In a request to the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney Mr. Monroe made the following request: "As per plea agreement of July 1, 1996, please send me the blood results of my 5th D.U.I. of February 13, 1996."
In his letter of appeal to this office, received October 7, 1996, Mr. Monroe maintained that his request had, in effect, been denied.
In response to the "Notification of Receipt of Open Records Appeal" sent by this office to both Steve Monroe and the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, dated October 8, 1996, this office on October 14, 1996 received a letter from Christopher H. Hancock, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney. Mr. Hancock stated in part that his office has no record of receiving the letter in question from Steve Monroe, the plea agreement did not mention providing blood test results, his office has never received the blood alcohol results in this case, and, pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(h), records of a Commonwealth's Attorney are specifically exempted from accessibility under the Open Records Act.
For the reasons set forth in Mr. Hancock's letter, specifically KRS 61.878(1)(h), providing in part that "records or information compiled and maintained by county attorneys or Commonwealth's Attorneys pertaining to criminal investigations or criminal litigation shall be exempted from the provisions of KRS 61.870 to 61.884 and shall remain exempted after enforcement action, including litigation, is completed or a decision is made to take no action," the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney properly denied Steve Monroe's request for a document relating to his prosecution and conviction for a criminal offense. See 96-ORD-187 and 96-ORD-77, copies of which are enclosed and incorporated by reference.
A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it 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 shall be notified of any action filed in circuit court, but the Attorney General shall not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceeding.