Request By:
David Johnson, # 84003
200 Road to Justice
P.O. Box 636
West Liberty, KY 41472John H. Walker
Cabinet for Health Services
275 East Main Street
Frankfort, KY 40601Ken Spach
Cabinet for Health Services
275 East Main Street
Frankfort, KY 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Albert B. Chandler III, Attorney General; Amye L. Bensenhaver, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether the Cabinet for Health Services violated the Open Records Act in the disposition of David Johnson's September 28, 2001 request for:
The names and addresses of all persons whose duties pertain to the implementation and enforcement of KRS 211 . . ., any and all policies [CHS] has promulgated pertaining to implementation of KRS 211, and documents that reflect [CHS] has inspected or reviewed correctional facilities.
Having received no response to his request, Mr. Johnson initiated this open records appeal on November 26, 2001.
In a response directed to this office following commencement of Mr. Johnson's appeal, CHS Assistant General Counsel John H. Walker advised that CHS had no record of receipt of Mr. Johnson's request. This being the case, Mr. Walker indicated that CHS had elected to treat Mr. Johnson's letter as "an initial request for information" and to respond accordingly. He furnished us with a copy of CHS's response to Mr. Johnson in which he explained:
By reference to "KRS 211," it is assumed you mean the Confinement Facilities Health Act, KRS 211.920 to 211.945. This law is implemented through the local health departments in which jurisdictions the confinement facility is located. The Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex is located in the Gateway District Health Department's jurisdiction. Personnel associated with the Gateway District typically conduct any inspection of the facility. Attached please find a copy of 902 KAR 9:010, an environmental health regulation applicable to confinement facilities. This regulation contains the policies adopted by the Cabinet in inspection of facilities. I have asked that a copy of the most recent inspection report for the East Kentucky Correctional Complex be obtained. As soon as it is received, it will be forwarded to you. I expect this process to take approximately seven (7) days. Mr. Ken Spach, Branch Manager of the Environmental Health Branch of the Department for Public Health located at 275 East Main Street HS 2E-B, Frankfort, Kentucky 40621, is the manager of that branch within the central office in Frankfort who assists local health departments in the implementation of the confinement facilities health act.
Mr. Walker suggested that if Mr. Johnson wished to refine his request, CHS would process the request "in accordance with the law and provide copies of materials at the designated fee of ten (10) cents per page." Having reviewed the record on appeal, we affirm CHS's disposition of Mr. Johnson's request.
We begin by noting that the Attorney General is not equipped to resolve a factual dispute concerning the actual delivery and receipt of Mr. Johnson's September 28 open records request. Although he maintains that the request was mailed to CHS, Mr. Johnson offers no proof of receipt. Mr. Walker, on the other hand, asserts that the request did not reach the Department for Public Health and that CHS has no record of receipt. If, in fact, Mr. Johnson's request did not reach CHS, that agency cannot be faulted for its failure to respond.
Only one substantive issue must be addressed in this appeal, all other issues having been resolved by disclosure of the requested records consisting of the applicable regulations and most recent inspection report. Turning to that issue, we find that the Cabinet for Health Services was not obligated to honor Mr. Johnson's request for information consisting of the names and addresses of "all persons whose duties pertain to the implementation and enforcement of KRS 211." The Attorney General has long recognized that "[t]he purpose of the Open Records Law is not to provide information, but to provide access to public records which are not exempt by law." OAG 79-547, p. 2. On this basis, we have consistently held that public agencies are not statutorily obligated to honor requests for information as opposed to requests for public records. For example, in 93-ORD-51 this office held that the Open Records Act:
was not intended to provide a requester with particular "information," or to require public agencies to compile information to conform to the parameters of a given request. See, e.g., OAG 76-375; OAG 79-547; OAG 81-335, OAG 86-51; OAG 87-84; OAG 89-77; OAG 89-81; OAG 90-19. Rather, the Law provides for inspection of reasonably identified records.
93-ORD-51, p. 3. Mirroring this view, in OAG 87-84 we observed:
Public agencies are not required by the Open Records Act to gather and supply information independent of that which is set forth in public records. The public has a right to inspect public documents and to obtain whatever information is contained in them but the primary impact of the Open Records Act is to make records available for inspection and copying and not to require the gathering and supplying of information.
OAG 87-84, p. 3. These decisions were premised on the language of the statutes themselves, including KRS 61.871 (providing that "free and open examination of public records is in the public interest"), KRS 61.872(1) (providing that "[a]ll public records shall be open for inspection by any person"), and KRS 61.872(2) (providing that "[a]ny person shall have the right to inspect public records ") (emphasis added).
The Cabinet for Health Services' refusal to honor Mr. Johnson's request for information therefore did not constitute a violation of the Open Records Act. CHS has indicated that it will process any properly framed open records request submitted by Mr. Johnson in accordance with the law. The Open Records Act does not require more.
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 proceedings.
2001
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