Opinion
Opinion By: Albert B. Chandler III, Attorney General; Amye L. Bensenhaver, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
This matter having been presented to the Attorney General, and the Attorney General being sufficiently advised, we find that Tony M. Harris's appeal of Kentucky State Penitentiary's November 26, 2002, denial of Mr. Harris's November 22, 2002, request for an unredacted copy of the form completed by Tracy Edwards, and containing an apparently false entry that prompted Deputy Warden of Security William E. Henderson to suspend visitation, is time-barred. KRS 197.025(3) provides:
KRS 61.880 to the contrary notwithstanding, all persons confined in a penal facility shall challenge any denial of an open record with the Attorney General by mailing or otherwise sending the appropriate documents to the Attorney General within twenty (20) days of the denial pursuant to the procedures set out in KRS 61.880(2) before an appeal can be filed in a Circuit Court.
Kentucky State Penitentiary denied Mr. Harris's request on November 26, 2002. Mr. Harris initiated his appeal of this denial on December 26, 2002. Some thirty-one days elapsed between the date of the denial and the date the appeal was initiated. This portion of his appeal is therefore untimely, and we are foreclosed from rendering a decision on the issue raised. 1 We find that 02-ORD-54 and 02-ORD-110, copies of which are attached hereto and incorporated by reference, are controlling.
Turning to the remaining issue on appeal, we affirm KSP's denial of Mr. Harris's December 17, 2002 request for a blank copy of the form Ms. Edwards completed on the basis of KRS 197.025(2) , incorporated into the Open Records Act by operation of KRS 61.878(1)(l). Elaborating on KSP's position, Department of Corrections Staff Attorney Emily Dennis explained, in a letter dated January 10, 2003:
KRS 61.878(1)(l) exempts from disclosure public records or information the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted or otherwise made confidential by enactment of the General Assembly. KRS 197.025(2) states that ". . . the department shall not be required to comply with a request for any record from any inmate confined in a mail or any facility or any individual on active supervision under the jurisdiction of the department, unless that request is for a record which contains a specific reference to that individual." 2 Clearly, a blank form does not contain a specific reference" to an individual, and to require the Department to provide blank copies of forms to inmates upon request would result in unnecessary copy costs and a waste of staff time.
We agree and find that 98-ORD-150, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated by reference, is controlling.
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.
Tony M. Harris # 85110Kentucky State PenitentiaryP.O. Box 5128 / Cell # 6Eddyville, KY 42038
Steve DurhamKY Department of CorrectionsOffice of General Counsel2439 Old Lawrenceburg RoadP.O. Box 2400Frankfort, KY 40602-2400
Emily DennisKY Department of Corrections2439 Old Lawrenceburg RoadP.O. Box 2400Frankfort, KY 40602-2400
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 After Mr. Harris initiated his appeal, KSP furnished him with a redacted copy of the form completed by Tracy Edwards after masking her mailing address, telephone number, driver's license number, social security number, and date of birth pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(a), and staff notes pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(i).
2 KRS 197.025(2) previously authorized correctional facilities to withhold records from inmates unless the records "pertain[ed] to that [inmate] ." The provision has since been narrowed to require that the requested record "contain a specific reference to the [requesting inmate] ," further curtailing the inmate's right of access. To the extent that 98-ORD-150 does not reflect this amendment, it is hereby modified.