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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 in an open records appeal, and the Attorney General being sufficiently advised, we find that Terry Frazier's June 3, 2003 appeal of Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex's May 12, 2003 denial of Mr. Frazier's May 8, 2003 request for "copies of everything [he] received in the month of Aug. 2001 from the Ky. Bar Association" is statutorily barred by operation of KRS 197.025(3). 1 We believe that 03-ORD-007, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated by reference, is dispositive of this matter. Some twenty-four days elapsed between the date on which EKCC issued its denial and the date on which Mr. Frazier initiated this appeal. His appeal is therefore untimely, and we are foreclosed from rendering a decision on the issue raised.

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.

Footnotes

Footnotes

1 KRS 197.025(3) thus 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.

LLM Summary
The decision finds that Terry Frazier's appeal regarding the denial of his request for records from the Kentucky Bar Association by the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex is untimely. The appeal was filed twenty-four days after the denial, exceeding the statutory limit of twenty days as established by KRS 197.025(3). Consequently, the Attorney General is foreclosed from rendering a decision on the issue raised. The decision cites 03-ORD-007, which addresses similar procedural and timeliness issues in open records appeals, to support its conclusion.
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Requested By:
Terry Frazier
Agency:
Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex
Type:
Open Records Decision
Lexis Citation:
2003 Ky. AG LEXIS 72
Cites:
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