Opinion
Opinion By: Gregory D. Stumbo, Attorney General; James M. Ringo, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether actions of the Logan County Detention Center in responding to the open records request of Bryan Reinhardt violated the Open Records Act. We find the Detention Center did not violate the Act.
In his letter of appeal Mr. Reinhardt acknowledges that, in response to a previous open records request, the Detention Center provided him with 171 records, but complains that the records were not separated and arranged in the manner he requested. As a result he stated that he resubmitted a new request to "obtain 'certified records' properly [arranged] by jacket no. and booking nos. that apply to the same jacket number by arrest dates accordingly."
After receipt of notification of the appeal and a copy of the letter of appeal, Bill Jenkins, Jailer, Logan County Detention Center, provided this office with a response to the issues raised in the appeal. In his response, Mr. Jenkins advised in relevant part:
Please find enclosed my response to Bryan Reinhardt's complaint of not providing records that he is requesting. My staff provided him hundreds of records and photocopies of documents that he requested while he was here in jail. I also went to the Logan County Circuit Court Clerk's office and obtained copies of his court records that I personally paid $ 30.50 of my own funds to obtain. In April, I sent him 171 pages of his records that he requested.
We are asked to determine whether the actions of the Detention Center violated the Open Records Act. For the reasons that follow, we find no violation of the Act.
A requester cannot require the agency to compile the requested records in a certain format. OAG 91-12. If the public agency elects not to provide records in a manner asked for by a requester, we have held that what the requester gets is what the agency has and in the format in which the agency has it. OAG 91-12. A public agency is not required to create a document that does not already exist or re-arraign its records to satisfy a request. 98-ORD-151. 98-ORD-199. We believe this precedent is dispositive of the question presented. Accordingly, we find no violation of the Open Records Act in this regard. The Detention Center complied with the Act by providing Mr. Reinhardt with copies of the requested records.
Next, we address Mr. Reinhardt's request that the requested records be certified. In 03-ORD-207, we denied such a request:
It is not, however, incumbent on the Fiscal Court to "certif[y] . . . the appropriate records . . . in such manner that the same may be introduced as evidence in a Court of Law . . . ." Such a requirement does not exist in the Open Records Act.
Accordingly, the failure of the Detention Center to provide Mr. Reinhardt with certified copies of the requested records did not violate the Open Records Act.
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.
Bryan L. Reinhardt, 173109 D-1Northpoint Training CenterP.O. Box 479Burgin, KY 40310
Bill JenkinsLogan County Jailer304 West Third StreetRussellville, KY 42276
Tom NoeLogan County Attorney317 W. 4th StreetP.O. Box 608Russellville, KY 42276-0608