Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; Amye L. Bensenhaver, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
Ruben R. Salinas appeals the Cabinet for Health and Family Services' response to his May 31, 2015, request for:
[a]ll epidemiological data concerning Hepatitis C infections occurring in Fayette County from 1990-2000, 2002-05; Morgan Co., 2000-2003; Oldham County, 2000 and 2005; and any data from blood banks in Fayette Co., 1990-91.
The Cabinet issued a timely written response in which it agreed to provide Mr. Salinas with data on the requested counties for the requested years presented in a spreadsheet. The Cabinet explained to Mr. Salinas that "[o]nly dates and counties with at least one report of Hepatitis C infection are included" and that "if there is no information listed for a certain year in a certain county then no cases were reported. "
Continuing, the Cabinet advised Mr. Salinas that the Cabinet's Department for Public Health "has no involvement in blood bank management, inspection, or data collection." Because it did not possess records responsive to his final request, the Cabinet notified him that the Food and Drug Administration, a federal agency, maintains data relating to blood banks. The Cabinet provided Mr. Salinas with an informational page from the FDA's website that explained how to file a records request under the Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C. § 552). On appeal, Mr. Salinas gives no indication how he believes the Cabinet's response was deficient.
The Cabinet for Health and Family Services complied with KRS 61.880(1) by issuing a timely written response to Mr. Salinas that included all data responsive to his request. KRS 61.880(1) provides:
Each public agency, upon any request for records made under KRS 61.870 to 61.884, shall determine within three (3) days, excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after the receipt of any such request whether to comply with the request and shall notify in writing the person making the request, within the three (3) day period, of its decision. An agency response denying, in whole or in part, inspection of any record shall include a statement of the specific exception authorizing the withholding of the record and a brief explanation of how the exception applies to the record withheld. The response shall be issued by the official custodian or under his authority, and it shall constitute final agency action.
The Cabinet discharged these duties by providing all responsive data in its possession.
In those cases where the agency receiving the records request does not have custody or control of some or all of the records requested, KRS 61.872(4) directs the agency to notify the applicant and furnish him with the name and location of the custodial agency. The Cabinet discharged this duty in relation to Mr. Salinas' request for "data from blood banks in Fayette Co., 1990-91" by providing him with the FDA's FOIA request information page that included instructions for submitting an open records request, the address to which requests must be mailed, a fax number for faxed requests, and an online FOIA request link. It was required to do nothing more. We therefore affirm the Cabinet's response to Mr. Salinas' request in its entirety. Compare 15-ORD-138 (city failed to comply with KRS 61.880(1) and KRS 61.872(4) requirements).
Either party may appeal this decision 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.