Opinion
Opinion By: Gregory D. Stumbo, 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 Donald Ray Hall's appeal of Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex's denials of nine open records requests submitted over a period of time from February 9, 2004, to October 15, 2004, 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 document 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.
EKCC denied Mr. Hall's final request on October 19, 2004. Mr. Hall initiated his appeal of this and EKCC earlier denials of his requests on November 24, 2004. Some thirty-six days elapsed between the date of the denial of his last request and the date the appeal was initiated. Obviously, an even greater period of time elapsed between the date of his earlier denials and the date on which he initiated this appeal. Mr. Hall's appeal is therefore untimely and we are foreclosed from rendering a decision in this appeal. We find that 02-ORD-54, 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.