Request By:
Uriah M. Pasha
Kentucky State Penitentiary
Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; Michelle D. Harrison, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether the Kentucky State Penitentiary violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in denying Uriah M. Pasha's June 27, 2013, request for a "copy of the Warden's Response to Uriah M. Pasha['s] # 092028 letter to Randy White[,] Warden concerning theft report." By memorandum dated July 12, 2013, Deputy Warden, Duke Pettit, advised Mr. Pasha that on the same day his request was received "the response from Warden White along with a copy of your letter to Warden White was mailed to you. Therefore, unless you can explain why it is necessary for this office" to permit a second inspection of the record(s) or to reproduce more than one copy KSP will not provide a second copy. He also noted that he was returning Mr. Pasha's check to Inmate Accounts at Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex so the money could be returned to his account. By letter dated July 18, 2013, Mr. Pasha initiated this appeal. Upon receiving notification thereof, Assistant General Counsel Amy V. Barker, Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, responded on behalf of KSP, advising that Mr. Pasha's request was actually received on July 11, 2013, and correctly noting that KSP has five days, excluding weekends and legal holidays in which to issue a written response per KRS 197.025(7). Accordingly, the July 12 response by KSP was timely. Ms. Barker reiterated that KSP is "not obligated to provide multiple copies of a record unless a reasonable explanation is provided to explain why the original copy is no longer available to the requester. See 11-ORD-112, 05-ORD-198." KSP is correct in this assertion.
The Attorney General has consistently recognized that a public agency is not "required to satisfy the identical request a second time in the absence of some justification for resubmitting the request." 95-ORD-47, p. 6. The analysis contained in 05-ORD-198, a copy of which is attached hereto and (in relevant part) incorporated by reference, is controlling on the facts presented. As in 11-ORD-209, for example, Mr. Pasha has not offered any such justification; accordingly, KSP properly declined to satisfy his request. "Here, as in our earlier decisions, unless Mr. [Pasha] can explain the necessity of reproducing the same records which either already have been provided or have been inspected by him, such as loss or destruction of the records, we can see no reason why [KSP] must satisfy the same request a second time. 95-ORD-47." 05-ORD-198, p. 2; 13-ORD-055.
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 M. Pasha, # 092028Duke PettitAmy V. Barker