Request By:
Ms. Shirley Brown, Clerk
City of Frankfort
315 West Second Street
P. O. Box 697
Frankfort, KY 40602Mr. George Parsons
1377 Corral Way
Frankfort, KY 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Albert B. Chandler III, Attorney General; Ryan M. Halloran, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
This is an appeal by Mr. George Parsons of the City of Frankfort denying his request for "copies of agendas for the (City Commission) meetings and copies of any ordinances or directives to be considered at the meetings". The City denied Mr. Parsons' request because it considered it a "standing request" not protected under either the Open Meetings or the Open Records laws. We agree with the position of the City. On January 11, 2002, under the Open Meetings law, Mr. Parsons requested "advanced notice of all covered city government meetings". He also requested under the Open Records Act "copies of agendas for the meetings and copies of any ordinances or directives to be considered at the meetings". On January 16, 2002, the City responded by letter to Mr. Parsons informing him of the schedule for meetings and of the type of meetings conducted. The rest of his requests were denied as "standing requests under OAG 91-78 and OAG 92-30". By letter dated January 18, 2002, Mr. Parsons appealed the denial to the Attorney General. In its reply to Mr. Parsons the City pointed out that it has promulgated an ordinance which specifies in advance the schedule for meetings. This is in compliance with KRS 61.820 which requires that cities enact an ordinance setting out the schedule for meetings. We find that this satisfies not only the law, but Mr. Parsons' request for "advance notice of meetings". Mr. Parsons' request for copies of the agendas and of any ordinances or directives to be considered at the meetings we deem to be a standing request of the type which is not protected by the Open Records Act. 95-ORD-43 and 99-ORD-110. The problem with a standing request is that it requires the public agency to produce records which do not exist at the time of the request, and attempts to bind the agency to produce records when they are created without a time limit. Nothing in either the Open Records Act or the Open Meetings Act places an obligation on public agencies to comply with standing requests. The law only covers existing records. KRS 61.870(2) and 99-ORD-110. Accordingly, the City was correct in denying Mr. Parsons' request insofar as it requested records which did not exist.
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.