Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; Michelle D. Harrison, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
At issue in this appeal is whether the Fayette County Detention Center violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in denying the request of James Ellis Lang, an inmate at FCDC, "to inspect the Fayette Co. Det[ention Center's] Polic[ies] and Procedures, excluding any security sections." In a timely written response, James J. Kammer, Custodian of Records/Assistant Director of the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government, Division of Community Corrections, denied Mr. Lang's request on the basis of KRS 197.025(6), which is incorporated into the Open Records Act by operation of KRS 61.878(1)(l). 1 Mr. Lang subsequently initiated this appeal, arguing that provisions of KRS 197.025 apply to state correctional facilities only. Upon receiving notification of Mr. Lang's appeal from this office, Keith Horn, Attorney Senior, responded on behalf of the FCDC as follows:
Previous Attorney General [Decisions] have consistently recognized that KRS 197.025 applies to county jails (95-ORD-121) and specifically to the FCDC (00-ORD-153; 03-ORD-150; 05-ORD-161; and 07-ORD-124). In 05-ORD-055, which addressed an open records appeal filed by an inmate of FCDC, the Attorney General opined:
The clear language of KRS 197.025(2) places Mr. Lang within the exemption as he is an inmate and the documents he requested do not contain a "specific reference" to him. In fact, the documents requested by Mr. Lang are identical to the documents at issue in 05-ORD-055, which the opinion describes as "various institutional policies." (See also, 05-ORD-161, wherein the Attorney General came to the same conclusion involving a request from an inmate for "the Fayette County Jail inmate rules."). While the letter denying Mr. Lang's request referenced only KRS 197.025(6), the entire statute applies, including section 2. Mr. Lang's request was appropriately denied.
In short, Mr. Horn is correct on all counts. 2
Because Mr. Lang clearly falls within the parameters of KRS 197.025(2) as an inmate requesting records that do not contain a "specific reference" to him, Mr. Horn is correct in arguing that FCDC properly denied his request. It is the decision of this office that 03-ORD-150 and 07-ORD-124 are controlling on the facts presented; a copy of each decision is attached hereto and incorporated by reference. See 05-ORD-055; 05-ORD-161. Based upon the reasoning contained therein, FCDC's denial of Mr. Lang's request is affirmed.
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.
James Ellis Lang, # 146491James J. KammerLogan AskewKeith Horn
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 KRS 61.878(1)(l) authorizes public agencies to withhold "[p]ublic records or information the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted or otherwise made confidential by enactment of the General Assembly."
2 KRS 197.025(6), upon which FCDC initially relied, "merely establishes beyond cavil that policies and procedures, as well as administrative regulations, relating to security and control of inmates and penitentiaries are inaccessible to inmates and the public. It does not establish an exception to the general rule of nondisclosure for all other policies and procedures maintained by jails or correctional facilities." 05-ORD-055, p. 1 (emphasis added). Both KRS 197.025(2) and 197.025(6) validate the agency's denial.
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