Request By:
Timmy Martin, # 118925
Hopkins County Jail
2250 Laffoon Trail
Madisonville, KY 42431Hon. John R. Cunningham
Graves County Attorney
101 East South Street, Suite 6
Mayfield, KY 42066Randy Haley, Jailer
Graves County Jail
103 East South Street
Mayfield, KY 42066
Opinion
Opinion By: Gregory D. Stumbo, Attorney General; James M. Herrick, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether the Graves County Jail violated the Open Records Act in the disposition of Timmy Martin's July 5, 2005, request for copies of medical records pertaining to him. For the reasons that follow, we find that the Graves County Jail's response was in compliance with the Act.
In his July 5 request, Mr. Martin stated the following:
I was housed at the Graves County Restricted Custody Center in 1999 and released in 2000. ? I would like a copy of my medical records, from being housed at your facility?
The Graves County Jail has provided with its response to this appeal a copy of a letter dated July 10, 2005, from Randy Haley, Jailer, to Timmy Martin, stating in part:
After checking our records, we show you being here in 1999. We have no medical records on you. We have looked in all files for any medical records on you but there are none found.
Mr. Martin initiated an open records appeal on July 27, 2005, claiming that the Jail had failed to respond to his request. The Jail's response, submitted by John R. Cunningham, County Attorney, simply recites that Mr. Martin was informed that the Graves County Jail had no medical records on him in its possession.
We find no violation of the Open Records Act. A public agency cannot afford a requester access to a record that it does not have or that does not exist. 99-ORD-98. The agency discharges its duty under the Open Records Act by affirmatively so stating. 99-ORD-150. In general, it is not our duty to investigate in order to locate documents which the public agency states do not exist.
The Kentucky Open Records Act was substantially amended in 1994. The General Assembly recognized "an essential relationship between the intent of [the Act] and that of KRS 171.410 to 171.740, dealing with the management of public records. . . ." KRS 61.8715 . Although there may be occasions when, under the mandate of this statute, the Attorney General requests that the public agency substantiate its denial by explaining why no record was generated, we do not believe that this appeal warrants additional inquiries. A search of the Jail's files was promptly conducted and no medical records on Mr. Martin were found to exist. The question presented in this appeal is factual, and not legal, in nature.
Assuming the letters from Mr. Martin and Mr. Haley were mailed on or about the dates indicated, the Graves County Jail was presumptively in compliance with the statutory response time of three (3) working days, so that there has been neither a procedural nor a substantive violation of the Open Records Act. The Jail's actions were therefore fully in compliance with the 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 proceedings.