Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; James M. Herrick, 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 the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex (EKCC) did not violate the Open Records Act in denying inmate Clinton Brewer's February 17, 2013, request to inspect "[q]uarterly expenditures/book orders for the M. S. T. of A. [Moorish Science Temple of America, Inc.] for the last 3 years" and "the institutional mission of Authority from the home office of the M. S. T. of A." Relying on KRS 197.025(2), 1 EKCC explained that none of the requested records contained a "specific reference" to Mr. Brewer, and that he was therefore not entitled to inspect them. We agree with this analysis and find that 03-ORD-150 and 09-ORD-057 are dispositive of the issue on appeal. Copies of these open records decisions are attached and hereby adopted as the basis for our decision in the present appeal. We find no error in EKCC's denial of Mr. Brewer's request.
Furthermore, as EKCC points out, to the extent that some of these records were the subject of an earlier request and appeal, 13-ORD-014, EKCC was not required to fulfill a duplicate request "in the absence of some justification for resubmitting that request." 09-ORD-076. The records involved in the earlier request were the "quarterly book orders ? for M. S. T. of A." In summary, we find no violation of the Open Records Act. 2
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:
Clinton Brewer, # 160365Sonya WrightAmy V. Barker, Esq.
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 KRS 197.025(2) provides:
KRS 61.870 to 61.884 to the contrary notwithstanding, the department shall not be required to comply with a request for any record from any inmate confined in a jail or any facility or any individual on active supervision under the jurisdiction of the department, unless the request is for a record which contains a specific reference to that individual.
2 EKCC argues that Mr. Brewer's appeal may have been untimely under KRS 197.025(3). By our calculation, his appeal was mailed within twenty (20) days of the denial and was therefore timely.