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 Charon Anderson's appeal from the alleged failure 1 of Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women to respond to her request for a video made at Western Kentucky Correctional Complex is time-barred. Ms. Anderson submitted a request for the same record to WKCC, where the videotaped incident occurred, on December 1, 2013. Her request was denied, on the basis of KRS 197.025(1), on December 5, 2013. The statutory deadline for initiating an appeal of that denial expired in December 2013.
KRS 197.025(3) clearly states:
KRS 61.870 to 61.884 to the contrary notwithstanding, all persons confined in a penal facility shall challenge any denial of an open record with the Attorney General by mailing or otherwise sending the appropriate documents to the Attorney General within twenty (20) days of the denial pursuant to the procedures set out in KRS 61.880(2) before an appeal can be filed in a Circuit Court.
Ms. Anderson now attempts to revive her time-barred appeal by submitting, or ostensibly submitting, an identical request to KCIW. She cannot circumvent the twenty day deadline set forth in KRS 197.025(3) by resubmitting the same request. Ms. Anderson did not initiate an appeal of the denial of her request for the videotape before the statutorily mandated deadline expired. We must, therefore, decline jurisdiction. Accord 12-ORD-072.
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:
Charon AndersonSarah St. ClairAmy V. Barker
Footnotes
Footnotes