Request By:
[NO REQUESTBY IN ORIGINAL]
Opinion
Opinion By: Albert B. Chandler III, Attorney General; James M. Ringo, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
This matter having been presented to the Attorney General in an open records appeal and the Attorney General being sufficiently advised, we find the Luther Luckett Correctional Complex properly relied upon KRS 197.025(1), incorporated into the Open Records Act by operation of KRS 61.878(1)(1), and KRS 61.878(4), in masking a portion of Mr. Burton's request for his psychiatric and psychological evaluations.
KRS 197.025(1) provides that no person, including any inmate under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections, shall have access to any records if the disclosure is deemed by the commissioner of the department or his designee to constitute a threat to the security of the inmate, any other inmate, correctional staff, the institution, or any other person.
KRS 61.878(4) provides: "if any public record contains material which is not excepted under this section, the public agency shall separate the excepted and make the nonexcepted material available for examination."
Mr. Burton was provided 22 pages of documents from his medical file, with some of the information blocked out from the requested records upon a determination that the redacted information was of a nature to constitute a threat to the security of the inmate, any other inmate, and or the facility. We believe that 97-ORD-134, and in particular the discussion at pages one through three of that decision is controlling. A copy of the decision is attached hereto 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 should be notified of any action in circuit court, but should not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceeding.