Opinion
Opinion By: Albert B. Chandler III, Attorney General; James M. Ringo, 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 the Commonwealth's Attorney for the Twentieth Judicial District did not violate the Open Records Act in the disposition of Joseph Charlie Hill's request for a copy of "the letter that the Kentucky 20th Commonwealth Attorney Clifford R. Duvall wrote to the Kentucky Attorney General Office declining to prosecute any Allegations of Crimes Documented to the aforesaid Commonwealth Attorney Office by Joseph Charlie and Priscilla Y. Hill." Pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(h), "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." We believe that 00-ORD-116, 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 proceedings.
Joseph Charlie HillP.O. Box 81Argillite, KY 41121
Clifford R. DuvallCommonwealth's Attorney201 Harrison StreetP.O. Box 378Greenup, KY 41144