Request By:
David Allen Ward, # 205382
David Gooch
Daryl Day
Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; Michelle D. Harrison, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
This matter having been presented to the Attorney General in the context of an Open Records Appeal, and the Attorney General being sufficiently advised, this office finds that the Lincoln County Jail did not violate the Open Records Act in declining 1 to provide David Allen Ward with specified addresses. 2 Early on, this office clarified that "[t]he purpose of the Open Records Law is not to provide information, but to provide access to public records which are not exempt by law." OAG 79-547, p. 2; 04-ORD-144. Accordingly, the Attorney General has consistently held that "requests for information as opposed to requests for specifically described public records, need not be honored." 00-ORD-76, p. 3, citing OAG 76-375; 04-ORD-080. In our view, the analysis contained in 08-ORD-181 is controlling on the facts presented; a copy of that decision is attached hereto and incorporated by reference. Simply put, the Jail is not statutorily required to honor a request which is properly characterized as a request for information such as Mr. Ward's request for the addresses of certain individuals and the "Fort Logan Hospital." 3 Although public agencies must normally make any nonexempt records that may contain the information requested available for inspection by the requester in lieu of compiling information or creating a record, inmates may be foreclosed from exercising this right. "Obviously, an inmate cannot exercise the right of on-site inspection at public agencies other than the facility in which he is confined." 95-ORD-105, p. 3. See 08-ORD-003 (copy enclosed). By virtue of his confinement at Kentucky State Reformatory, Mr. Ward is currently precluded from inspecting records located at the Jail.
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 According to Mr. Ward, he submitted a written request for the information several times, but did not receive any response; attached to his appeal is a copy of each request. If the Jail did, in fact, receive any of these requests, but failed to issue a written response(s) within five business days per KRS 197.025(7), this constituted a procedural violation of the Act. However, this office is unable to conclusively resolve factual disputes concerning the actual delivery and receipt of requests, and makes no finding in this regard. See 08-ORD-066.
2 By letter dated August 28, 2009, Mr. Ward initiated two appeals, one against a private physician, identified as Log No. 200900325, and this one, ultimately identified as Log No. 200900345; however, through internal error this agency treated Mr. Ward's letter as one appeal initially. Because neither party suffered any prejudice from this office failing to issue a formal notification of appeal, the Attorney General proceeded to adjudicate this matter in the interest of efficiency.
3 In 08-ORD-181, the Attorney General also reiterated that KRS 197.025(2) authorizes correctional facilities within the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections to deny a request by an inmate unless the record(s) contains a "specific reference" to him. This office had previously recognized that "an interpretation of KRS 197.025(2) that does not include jails is legally unsupportable in light of the underlying purpose of KRS 197.025 taken as a whole." 03-ORD-074, p. 4. As in 08-ORD-181, KRS 197.025(2) provides an alternative basis for denial.