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 although the Lincoln County Health Department's original disposition of Marvin Phipps' November 3, 2006, request was deficient, insofar as the Department failed to notify Mr. Phipps that the records identified in his request do not reside in its custody and to provide him with the name and location of the official custodian of those records, this error was subsequently corrected and the Department's legal obligations discharged when this information was communicated to Mr. Phipps and his request forwarded to the custodial agency. 1 This was confirmed in a December 4, 2006, letter directed to the undersigned from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. We find that 96-ORD-98 and 06-ORD-267, copies of which are attached hereto and incorporated by reference, are dispositive of the issue on appeal. The Department, working in concert with the Cabinet in this regard, has now properly notified Mr. Phipps to whom his request should be directed, 2 per KRS 61.872(4), and Mr. Phipps may exercise his rights under the Act by submitting his request to Bluegrass Mental Health-Mental Retardation Board, Inc. and Mrs. Gooch if Bluegrass Mental Health has not acted upon the forwarded request.
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.
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 KRS 61.872(4) provides:
If the person to whom the application is directed does not have custody or control of the public record requested, that person shall notify the applicant and shall furnish the name and location of the official custodian of the agency's public records.
2 That individual is identified as:
Mrs. Lone Gooch
Fort Logan Comprehensive Care Center
Bluegrass Mental Health-Mental Retardation Board, Inc.
110 Somerset Street
Stanford, KY 40484