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 Hopkins County Attorney Robert P. Moore violated the Open Records Act in denying Stacey Dillingham's March 30, 2002 request for "a copy of the police report entered by Madisonville City Police Officer Scott Troutman, on or about August 18, 2000, concerning pending charges brought by [Ms. Dillingham] against South Main Pawn Shop, 1111 S. Main Street, Madisonville, Kentucky, under KRS 226.050 . . . ." In addition, Ms. Dillingham asked that Mr. Moore "provide[] a written explanation as to why [his] office refused to take action in this matter." For the reasons that follow, we affirm Mr. Moore's denial of Ms. Dillingham's request.
In a response dated April 5, 2002, 1 Mr. Moore advised that his denial was based on KRS 61.878(1)(h), authorizing county attorneys to withhold "records or information . . . pertaining to criminal investigations or criminal litigation . . . after enforcement action, including litigation, is completed or a decision is made to take no action." He suggested that Ms. Dillingham direct her open records request to the Madisonville Police Department. With reference to her request that he explain, in writing, why he refused to prosecute the criminal action against the proprietors of South Main Pawn Shop, Mr. Moore again refused to comply, indicating that "the Open Records Act pertains only to records and documents and not requests for information." Shortly thereafter, Ms. Dillingham initiated this appeal arguing that "the exemption provided by KRS 61.878(1)(h)] shall not be used to delay or impede the exercise of rights granted by KRS 61.870 to 61.884." While we acknowledge that this language appears in KRS 61.878(1)(h), we do not believe that it invalidates the statutory shield from public disclosure of protected records which the exemption otherwise erects.
KRS 61.878(1)(h) authorizes nondisclosure of:
Records of law enforcement agencies or agencies involved in administrative adjudication that were compiled in the process of detecting and investigating statutory or regulatory violations if the disclosure of the information would harm the agency by revealing the identity of informants not otherwise known or by premature release of information to be used in a prospective law enforcement action or administrative adjudication. Unless exempted by other provisions of KRS 61.870 to 61.884, public records exempted under this provision shall be open after enforcement action is completed or a decision is made to take no action; however, 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 exemptions provided by this subsection shall not be used by the custodian of the records to delay or impede the exercise of rights granted by KRS 61.870 to 61.884.
(Emphasis added.) In 93-ORD-137 this office undertook an analysis of KRS 61.878(1)(h), noting that in amending the provision in 1992, the General Assembly "clearly intended to afford permanent protection to the records of the [county and] Commonwealth's Attorney which relate to criminal investigations or criminal litigation." 93-ORD-137, p. 2. "In other words," the Attorney General concluded, "these records are forever exempt from public inspection under the Open Records Law." Id., see also 96-ORD-77, p. 2 ("No matter what the stage or status of the proceedings, the [county and] and Commonwealth's Attorney may invoke the exception set forth in KRS 61.878(1)(h) relative to such activities and endeavors and withhold those materials from public inspection" ); Skaggs v. Redford, Ky., 844 S.W.2d 389, 390 (1993) ("[A]s we construe the statute, the [county and] Commonwealth Attorney's records . . . were already exempt under the obvious intention of the statute as it stood prior to amendment [and t]he amendment is nothing more than a clarification of the obvious"). Our analysis in this open records appeal is confined to KRS 61.878(1)(h), and its application to the requested record in the hands of the Hopkins County Attorney, not in the hands of the Madisonville Police Department. 96-ORD-106; 00-ORD-116.
Although a police incident report in the hands of the generating law enforcement agency is a record customarily made available to the public upon request 2 (see, for example, 99-ORD-110 and authorities cited therein), the same record in the hands of the county or Commonwealth's Attorney charged with prosecuting the criminal conduct alleged is permanently shielded from disclosure by KRS 61.878(1)(h). Whatever the rationale underlying the exemption, the protection it extends to records compiled and maintained by county attorneys or Commonwealth's attorneys pertaining to criminal investigations or criminal litigation is absolute regardless of whether enforcement action is completed or a decision is made to take no action. Mr. Moore's reliance on KRS 61.878(1)(h) in denying Ms. Dillingham access to the police incident report containing her allegations against the proprietors of South Main Pawn Shop was therefore justified. Although he was not obligated to do so, Mr. Moore suggested an alternative avenue by which Ms. Dillingham could obtain a copy of the report, namely by submitting her open records request to the Madisonville Police Department. Having done so, he discharged his duty under the Open Records Act.
Mr. Moore was also justified in his refusal to furnish Ms. Dillingham with a written explanation of the reasons he declined to prosecute her claim. As he correctly observes, the Open Records Act does not require him to provide information but instead governs access to existing public records. The Act has never been construed to require the creation of a record. See, 95-ORD-48, 96-ORD-139; 97-ORD-56. Instead, the Act requires disclosure of nonexempt "books, papers, maps, photographs, cards, tapes, discs, diskettes, recordings, software, or other documentation regardless of physical form or characteristics, which are prepared, owned, used in the possession of or retained by a public agency." KRS 61.870(2) (emphasis added). Mr. Moore does not currently maintain a written explanation of the reasons he failed to prosecute Ms. Dillingham's claim and has no legal obligation to create one. Accordingly, we affirm his denial of this portion of her request.
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.
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 By way of explanation for the apparent delay in issuing a response, Mr. Moore indicated that he received Ms. Dillingham's request, which was postmarked April 3, 2002, on April 5.
2 The Attorney General has recognized that a law enforcement agency may, on occasion "feel it necessary to withhold certain information from public inspection in order to protect [an] . . . officer or an informant, " but has generally ruled that "records of [a] law enforcement agency showing complaints received from citizens and other incidences occurring in its daily operations are open to public inspection. " OAG 77-102, p. 2.