Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, 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 Morgan County Attorney erred in failing to respond 1 to Uriah Pasha's February 3, 2012, request for a copy of "the criminal complaint [he] filed against Mrs. Carla Sparks, CUA-1, Eastern Ky. Corr. Complex, 200 Road to Justice, West Liberty, Ky. 41472, and the file generated therefrom," she was not obligated to disclose the requested complaint and file to him. KRS 61.878(1))(h) 2 permanently exempts county attorney criminal investigation and criminal litigation records from public inspection. We find that 10-ORD-208, adopting 00-ORD-116, is dispositive of the issue presented. Copies of both open records decisions are enclosed and their reasoning adopted in full. Pursuant to KRS 61.880(1), it is incumbent on the Morgan County Attorney to issue a timely written response to any open records request, but KRS 61.878(1)(h) authorizes her to withhold criminal investigation and criminal litigation records which she compiles, including the requested complaint and file.
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.
Distributed to:
Uriah Pasha, # 092028D. Joleen Frederick
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 Although KRS 61.878(1)(h)relieves the county attorney of the duty to disclose "records pertaining to criminal investigations or criminal litigation" compiled by her office, it does not relieve her of her KRS 61.880(1) duty to respond to an open records request in writing, and within three business days of receipt.
2 KRS 61.878(1)(h) provides, in relevant part:
[R]ecords or information compiled and maintained by county attorneys or Commonwealth's attorneys pertaining to criminal investigations or criminal litigation shall be exempted from the provisions of KRS 61.870 to 61.884 and shall remain exempted after enforcement action, including litigation, is completed or a decision is made to take no action.