Opinion
Opinion By: Gregory D. Stumbo,Attorney General;Amye L. Bensenhaver,Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether the Hart County Fiscal Court violated the Open Records Act in the disposition of Randy Skaggs' June 12, 2006, request for financial and operational records relating to implementation of KRS 258.195 1 for the period from June 2005 through May 2006. Those records were specifically identified as:
1. Records or documentation indicating, referring to, or pertaining to your county's "animal control officer"
a. the name of the animal control officer and the length of time of his or her employment
b. the animal control officer's weekly, monthly, or annual financial compensation
c. hours per week worked as an animal control officer and whether part-time or full-time
d. animal control officer's employment by the county in another department or job capacity
e. animal control officer's accreditation or certification and training programs attended.
f. specific types of lists, records, and reports kept weekly, monthly, and yearly which address or pertain to stray or unwanted dogs and cats and owner relinquished animals (just a few sample copies, not for the entire year)
g. animal control officer's vehicle type and whether furnished by the county or is privately owned by the animal control officer
h. Number of dogs euthanized by gunshot, date, and reason why
2. Records or documentation indicating, referring to, or pertaining to your county's "animal control shelter"
a. printed and published location of the animal shelter including the street address and telephone number (telephone directory listing would be satisfactory) and photographs of facility if available
b. ownership of the animal shelter by the county, privately owned business, individual, or nonprofit organization (and their pertinent names, mailing address, and telephone number)
c. copies of all contractual agreements between county and nonprofit organization, shelter owner, or operator if not county owned
d. name of the part-time or full-time director or manager of the animal shelter and the number of animal shelter employees and whether part-time or full-time
e. itemization of total annual operating costs and expenditures (including all salaries) plus yearly budget ( from June, 2005 through May, 2006 )
f. printed and published hours of operation (copy of)
g. method of euthanization utilized and amount spent per year ( from June, 2005 through May, 2006 ); receipts too
h. number of animals (dog, cats, puppies, and kittens) euthanized per month and total for the entire year ( from June, 2005 through May, 2006 )
i. method of disposal of dead animals
3. Records or documentation indicating, referring to, or pertaining to your county's "application for financial help"
a. letter of application to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture's Animal Control Advisory Board for a grant with which to construct an animal shelter or improve upon the existing one[.]
Mr. Skaggs agreed to prepay reasonable copying charges not to exceed ten cents per page and the cost of postage.
The Hart County Fiscal Court responded to Mr. Skaggs' request by providing him with brief written responses to his requests and one document, a "dog complaint" form, but no other supporting documentation. For this reason, we find that the fiscal court's disposition of Mr. Skaggs' request constituted a partial violation of the Open Records Act. We further find that because no exception exists for financial and operational records documenting compliance with a statutory mandate relating to animal control, the requested records must be mailed to Mr. Skaggs without delay. If no additional responsive records exist, the fiscal court must immediately issue a written notification so advising Mr. Skaggs.
The Kentucky Open Records Act imposes no obligation on a public agency to create a record that does not already exist in order to satisfy a records request. Instead, the Act contemplates records access by means of on-site inspection or receipt of copies through the mail. KRS 61.872(3) thus provides:
(1) A person may inspect the public records:
In construing the latter provision, this office has observed:
[A] requester who both lives and works in the same county where the public records are located may be required to inspect the records prior to receiving copies. A requester who lives or works in a county other than the county where the public records are located may demand that the agency provide him with copies of records, without inspecting those records, if he precisely describes the records and they are readily available within the agency.
97-ORD-46, p. 3. The Hart County Fiscal Court does not object that Mr. Skaggs' request was not framed with sufficient precision. Nor could it reasonably do so given the fact that it was able to locate records containing the information sought. While the fiscal court went beyond its duties and obligations in creating a record containing some responsive information, and partially satisfied its duty to produce responsive records, we hold that the requirements of the statute are not fully discharged until existing financial and operational documents substantiating that information, such as payroll records, receipts, ledgers, bookkeeping entries, and all other responsive records are disclosed. The Open Records Act establishes the right of access to nonexempt public records. Acknowledging that the fiscal court's efforts in this matter were meritorious, we nevertheless conclude that the fiscal court must retrieve the records from which the information was extracted, calculate its actual costs at a rate of ten cents per page for copies, plus postage, notify Mr. Skaggs of the costs, and mail copies of those records to him upon receipt of this amount, or, alternatively, notify him, in writing, if no additional responsive records are located.
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.
Randy Skaggs
Mike NicholsHart County Attorney215 Main StreetP.O. Box 307Munfordville, KY 42765
Terry L. MartinHart County Judge ExecutiveP.O. Box 490Munfordville, KY 42765
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 KRS 258.195 provides as follows:
(1) The governing body of each county shall employ, appoint, or contract with an animal control officer, or shall contract with an entity that employs, appoints, or contracts with an animal control officer, and shall establish and maintain an animal shelter as a means of facilitating and administering KRS 258.095 to 258.500. One (1) or more counties may enter into intergovernmental agreements for the establishment of regional animal shelters, or may contract with entities authorized to maintain sheltering and animal control services. Animal shelters shall meet the standards provided by KRS 258.119(3)(b) within three (3) years after July 13, 2004. Governing bodies may adopt additional standards and ordinances related to public health, safety, enforcement, and the efficient and appropriate operation of their shelters and their animal control programs.
(2) Cities may employ, appoint, or contract with animal control officers, or may contract with an entity that employs, appoints, or contracts with animal control officers, for the enforcement of this chapter and local animal control ordinances within their corporate limits. Cities may enter into agreements with the counties for the enforcement of the county's animal control ordinances. The agreement shall include, but shall not necessarily be limited to, setting out the jurisdiction and the duties of the animal control officer respective to the agreement.
(3) Animal control officers shall have the authority to issue uniform citations, local citations, or local notices for the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter, the provisions of the Kentucky Revised Statutes relating to cruelty, mistreatment, or torture of animals, and animal control ordinances in their respective jurisdictions.
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