Request By:
:Jeff Carpenter, # 95017
Lt. Sarah Prater
Emily Dennis
Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, 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 the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex (EKCC) properly discharged its duty under the Open Records Act by affirmatively advising Jeff Carpenter that the requested 2002 - 2003 telephone logs no longer existed because of replacement of the inmate phone system in 2006.
On March 12, 2008, Mr. Carpenter submitted a request to EKCC for a listing of all outgoing phone calls he had made to his attorney between 2002 and December 2003.
The same date, Lt. Sarah Prater, EKCC, responded to the request advising him that the "Securus Inmate Phone System had replaced the MCI Phone System in 2006. No EKCC phone records exist prior to 2006."
Dissatisfied with the response, Mr. Carpenter initiated the instant appeal asking this office to determine whether EKCC violated the Open Records Act on the basis that they no longer exist.
After receipt of notification of the appeal, Emily Dennis, Staff Attorney, Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, provided this office with a response to the issues raised in the appeal. In her response, she advised in relevant part:
Lt. Prater's response on behalf of EKCC should be affirmed as Ms. Prater correctly informed Mr. Carpenter that the records do not exist because of replacement of the inmate phone system by Securus in 2006. Mr. Carpenter is incorrect in his assumption that an institution is required to maintain inmate phone records for several years. Pursuant to KY Department of Corrections Records Retention Schedule, Series 03014, adult institutional institutions are required to maintain any telephone log that is created for one year, then the log may be destroyed.
The EKCC affirmatively advised Mr. Carpenter that the requested telephone logs no longer existed because of replacement of the inmate phone system in 2006. Obviously, a public agency cannot afford a requester access to records that it does not have or that do not exist. 99-ORD-98. The agency discharges its duty under the Open Records Act by affirmatively so stating. 99-ORD-150. The EKCC discharged its duty under the Open Records Act by affirmatively so advising and providing a credible explanation for the nonexistence of such records. 07-ORD-243.
Moreover, as advised by Ms. Dennis in her response, pursuant to KY Department of Corrections Records Retention Schedule, Series 03014, adult correctional institutions are required to maintain any telephone log that is created for one year, then the log may be destroyed. Thus the 2002 - 2003 telephone logs could have been properly destroyed consistent with KY Department of Corrections Records Retention Schedule, Series 03014, copy enclosed.
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.