Opinion
Opinion By: Andy Beshear,Attorney General;James M. Herrick,Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
This matter having been presented to the Office of the Attorney General in a premature open records appeal, and the Attorney General being sufficiently advised, we make no finding on the issue presented. That issue was not ripe for review at the time of the appeal.
On or about June 20, 2017, Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex ("EKCC") inmate Uriah Pasha submitted a written request bearing that date to the Kentucky State Reformatory ("KSR") for a copy of a transfer list showing inmates cleared to be transferred on March 31, 2017, from KSR to EKCC. On the same day, Mr. Pasha mailed a letter to the Attorney General to initiate an open records appeal. We find that the appeal was premature, adopting the reasoning of 11-ORD-073 (copy attached).
Since Mr. Pasha is an inmate confined in a penal facility, KRS 197.025(7) grants KSR five days, excluding weekends and legal holidays, to respond to his request. Mr. Pasha's request reached KSR only as an attachment to this appeal on June 28, 2017, and KSR responded, per Offender Information Specialist Kimberly Campbell, on June 30, 2017. Because Mr. Pasha initiated his appeal before five business days had elapsed, and his appeal was therefore premature, we do not address the propriety of that response, which at any rate does not appear in the record on appeal.
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.