Opinion
Opinion By: Daniel Cameron,Attorney General;James M. Herrick,Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
On April 30, 2020, inmate Cory Weisser ("Appellant") made a request to Kentucky Centralized Inmate Commissary, Inc. ("KCIC"), for a copy of the Department's current inmate canteen contract. The Department responded and denied the request pursuant to KRS 197.025(2), stating that the contract did not contain a specific reference to Appellant. On appeal, Appellant does not question the propriety of the Department's responding on behalf of KCIC, but argues that he is entitled to the contract because he is an inmate.
Under KRS 197.025(2), a correctional facility "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." According to the plain text of the statute, an inmate is not entitled to any record that does not contain a specific reference to him. Because a canteen contract does not specifically refer to individual inmates, the Department properly denied the request and did not violate the 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 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.