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 Dave Burke's appeal of the Campbell County Detention Center's April 3, 2014, denial of Mr. Duncan's March 30, 2014, request for a copy of "[p]olicy and procedures for Grievance," "[a]ny and all e-mails submitted from Major Lisa Fletcher in reference to my incarceration here at CCDC," and "A copy of my inmate file from Dec. 20, 2014 [ sic ] thru March 31, 2014," is time-barred. KRS 197.025(3) provides:
KRS 61.880 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.
While Mr. Burke asserts that CCDC never responded to his open records request, CCDC has produced a copy of a response from Lt. Colonel Steven L. Kellam showing that CCDC denied Mr. Burke's request on April 3, 2014. Mr. Burke initiated his appeal of this denial on May 6, 2014. Because he is a person confined in a penal facility, and because he failed to perfect an appeal from CCDC's denial within twenty days, 1 Mr. Burke's appeal is untimely and we are foreclosed from rendering a decision on the issues raised. We find that 02-ORD-54, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated by reference, is controlling. See also 02-ORD-110; 03-ORD-007; 04-ORD-074.
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:
Dave BurkeJames A. Daley, JailerRobert E. List, Esq.
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