Opinion
Opinion By: Andy Beshear,Attorney General;James M. Herrick,Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections ("LMDC") violated the Open Records Act in the disposition of Derrick Hargrove's December 8, 2017, request for "[a] copy of the letter RE: Verification Of Incarceration from Derrick Hargrove # 142117, December 5, 2017 AND: the response thereto." For the reasons that follow, we find no violation of the Act.
Mr. Hargrove, currently an inmate at Little Sandy Correctional Complex, attaches to his appeal a copy of his December 8 request, to which he states he received no response. In a response to this appeal dated December 28, 2017, Assistant Jefferson County Attorney Annale E. Renneker states that "LMDC has no record of receiving Mr. Hargrove's open records request dated December 5, 2017 or December 8, 2017" in its open records log. While LMDC did send Mr. Hargrove a completed Verification of Incarceration form after receiving this appeal, 1 it appears that LMDC had not previously received his prior correspondence, and, consequently, that no records existed which would have been responsive to that request.
A public agency cannot afford a requester access to a record that it does not have or that does not exist. 99-ORD-98. The agency discharges its duty under the Open Records Act by affirmatively so stating. 99-ORD-150. Accordingly, we find no violation of the Act in this instance.
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 shall be notified of any action in circuit court, but shall not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceedings.
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