Opinion
Opinion By: Andy Beshear,Attorney General;Gordon Slone,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 Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex ("EKCC") properly relied on KRS 197.025(1) in denying inmate Leslie Haun's Open Records request for prison video footage. Mr. Haun's request, dated February 23, 2017, was for "video footage of the property room on January 20, 2017 between 10:00 -- 11:00 p.m. and January 26, 2017, between 8:30 -- 9:30 p.m." Mr. Haun's appeal stated that the video footage would be evidence of "missing and or stolen personal property. " By memorandum dated February 28, 2017, Sonya Wright, Offender Information Specialist, denied Mr. Haun's request, basing that denial on KRS 197.025(1), 1 as incorporated into the Open Records Act via KRS 61.878(1)(l), 2 as the reason for the denial. Mr. Haun then initiated this appeal.
Amy V. Barker, Assistant General Counsel, Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, responded on behalf of EKCC. Ms. Barker's letter of March 20, 2017, explained that EKCC had correctly stated the exemption justifying the denial of release of the security camera footage. She cited a line of Open Records decisions that have upheld denial of prison security camera footage based on the security exemption of KRS 197.025(1). Ms. Barker explained why the video footage, if released, would constitute a threat under KRS 197.025(1):
Security camera footage taken at the prisons contains information that may directly affect the security of the institution, including the areas of observation and blind spots for the cameras, the areas where the camera is capable of focusing, methods or practices used to obtain the video, etc. It is impossible for EKCC to redact the video and eliminate the security concerns.
In November 2011, this office, in a separate factual context, analyzed the recurring issue of requests for prison security footage and concluded that, in accordance with past decisions, the correctional facility properly exercised its discretion in denying an inmate request for a surveillance video because disclosure "would pose a security threat to other inmates and [facility] staff." 11-ORD-184. KRS 197.025(1) reflects a legislative commitment to "prohibiting inmate access to otherwise nonexempt public records where disclosure of those records is deemed to constitute a threat to security." 96-ORD-209 (cited in 11-ORD-184). It is the commissioner, or his designee, whose determination in this regard is controlling. Therefore, we find no violation of the Open Records Act by EKCC in denying Mr. Haun's request for the video recordings.
Mr. Haun's appeal also asked this office to issue an order requiring "Offender Records Office at Eastern KY Correctional Complex to preserve the aforementioned request in 'Exhibit A' until such a time a court of law can determine the evidentiary value of said in the soon to be filed civil action of lost and/or stolen personal property. " As this office has only the authority granted it under KRS 61.880 to review appeals of Open Records requests, an open records appeal is not the appropriate forum for Mr. Haun to make such a request and we can offer him no relief on this request. See 99-ORD-121.
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 must be notified of any action in circuit court, but should not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceeding.
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 KRS 197.025(1) provides: "KRS 61.884 and 61.878 to the contrary notwithstanding, no person, including any inmate confined in a jail or any facility or any individual on active supervision under the jurisdiction of the department, shall have access to any records if the disclosure is deemed by the commissioner of the department or his designee to constitute a threat to the security of the inmate, any other inmate, correctional staff, the institution, or any other person."
2 KRS 61.878(1)(l) allows public agencies to exempt from production: "Public records or information the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted or otherwise made confidential by enactment of the General Assembly."