Opinion
Opinion By: Gregory D. Stumbo, Attorney General; Michelle D. Harrison, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
At issue in this appeal is whether the Lexington/Fayette Urban County Government, Division of Community Corrections, violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in denying the request of Winston Briscoe, an inmate at Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex, for "one copy of the Fayett[e] County Jail inmate rules" on the basis of KRS 197.025(2), 00-ORD-182, and 98-ORD-150. Upon receiving notification of Mr. Briscoe's appeal from this office, Keith Horn, Attorney Sr., responded on behalf of the LFUCG. As correctly observed by Mr. Horn:
KRS 197.025(2) provides, "KRS 61.872 to the contrary notwithstanding, the department shall not be required to comply with a request from any inmate confined in a jail or any facility or any individual on active supervision under the jurisdiction of the department, unless the request is for a record which contains a specific reference to that individual." (Emphasis added). Previous Attorney General [decisions] have recognized that KRS 197.025 applies to county jails (95-ORD-121) and specifically to the [Fayette County Detention Center] (00-ORD-153). Very recently, in 05-ORD-055, which addressed an open records appeal filed by an inmate of FCDC, the Attorney General opined:
Because Mr. Briscoe clearly falls within the parameters of KRS 197.025(2) as an inmate requesting records that do not contain a "specific reference" to him, Mr. Horn correctly argues that the LFUCG properly denied his request.
In 04-ORD-237, a prior appeal filed by Mr. Briscoe against Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex, this office held that EKCC had discharged its statutory duty by notifying Mr. Briscoe that no record existed which was responsive to his request in a timely and proper fashion, and, in the alternative, properly withheld the requested record on the basis of KRS 197.025(2) because the record does did contain a "specific reference" to him. Because this appeal presents no reason to depart from a long line of decisions to this effect, the same result necessarily follows. In our view, 05-ORD-143 and 04-ORD-076, copies of which are attached hereto and incorporated by reference, are controlling on the facts presented.
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 any subsequent proceeding.