Opinion
Opinion By: Gregory D. Stumbo, 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 Jason Sanders' appeal of Blackburn Correctional Complex's (BCC) actions relative to his September 13, 2005, request for copies of "all information, Incident Reports Statements, Medical Records, Confidential informant's Statements, Pictures, concerning the incident between me, Jason Sanders 127986, and Larry Bailey on the date of August 31, 2005, 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.
BCC responded to Mr. Sanders' request on September 14, 2005. Mr. Sanders initiated his appeal of BCC response by letter dated December 13, 2005. Some one hundred days elapsed between the date of BCC's denial and the date Mr. Sanders initiated this appeal. Mr. Sanders' appeal is therefore untimely, and we are foreclosed from rendering a decision. 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.