Opinion
Opinion By: Andy Beshear,Attorney General;James M. Herrick,Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
At issue in this appeal is whether the Kentucky State Police violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in the disposition of Eric Lyvers' undated request for "[a]ny and all paperwork dealing with chain of command and chain of custody and due process" for a certain lab report. We find no violation of the Act.
The chain of custody document in question was provided to Mr. Lyvers, with the result that that portion of the appeal is moot. 40 KAR 1:030, Section 6. The remainder of Mr. Lyvers' request consisted of the following questions:
- When were results for Agency case # 03-14-0595 received to KSP # 3?
- What dates were these results provided for Commonwealth Attorney, Tim Coleman's office?
- Could you also provide me with the date case officer J. Newkirk was made aware of results?
To that portion of the request, KSP records custodian Emily M. Perkins replied "that the Open Records Act does not statutorily obligate an agency to honor a request for information as opposed to a request for a specifically described public record." Therefore, KSP denied the request for information. Mr. Lyvers' appeal was received in this office on March 3, 2016.
We agree that the remaining portion of Mr. Lyvers' request is a request for information rather than a request for records. Requests for information are outside the scope of open records law and an agency is not obligated to honor a request for information under the law. 02-ORD-88; KRS 61.870 et seq. The Kentucky Open Records Act addresses requests for records, not requests for information. 03-ORD-028. In 95-ORD-131, the Attorney General observed:
Requests for information, as distinguished from records, are outside of the scope of the open records provisions. See, e.g., OAG 89-77. Our position is premised on the notion that "[o]pen records provisions address only inspection of records . . . [and] do not require public agencies or officials to provide or compile specific information to conform to the parameters of a given request.
Accordingly, we find no violation of the Open Records Act.
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.