Request By:
Jason Bennett, # 142586
Ms. Beth Harper
Amy V. Barker, Esq.
Opinion
Opinion By: Andy Beshear,Attorney General;Gordon Slone,Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether Little Sandy Correctional Complex ("LSCC") violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in its disposition of a request by inmate Jason Bennett for a strip search log. We conclude that the actions of LSCC were in accordance with the Act.
Mr. Bennett made a written request dated July 18, 2017, for a copy of "the strip search log entry, for a strip search that was conducted on [him] on July 16, 2017 in G-A D-214 around 9:45 p.m." Beth Harper, Records Department, denied the request on July 19, 2017, based on KRS 197.025(2) as incorporated into the Open Records Act by KRS 61.878(1)(l), as the records did not contain a "specific reference" to Mr. Bennett. Mr. Bennett's appeal of that response was received by this office on August 2, 2017.
A response, on behalf of LSCC, was provided on August 8, 2017, by Amy V. Barker, Assistant General Counsel, Justice and Public Safety Cabinet. The agency response included a memorandum from Dennis Boggs, Correctional Officer, LSCC, which related that Mr. Boggs had reviewed the "D dorm strip search log for July 16, 2017, and Jason Bennett # 142586 was not on the log. " The agency response argued that KRS 197.025(2) authorizes correctional facilities to deny a request by an inmate unless the record(s) contains a specific reference to that inmate.
KRS 197.025(2) provides as follows:
KRS 61.870 to 61.884 to the contrary notwithstanding, the department shall not be required to comply with a request for any record from any inmate confined in a jail or any facility or any individual on active supervision under the jurisdiction of the department, unless the request is for a record which contains a specific reference to that individual.
The Attorney General has long interpreted this provision as meaning that only documents mentioning the inmate by name need be provided. See, e.g. , 99-ORD-157. Since the strip search log of July 16, 2017, does not mention Mr. Bennett by name, KRS 197.025(2) is dispositive of this appeal and LSCC properly denied inspection of the record.
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 proceedings.