Opinion
Opinion By: Daniel Cameron,Attorney General;James M. Herrick,Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
On June 11, 2020, inmate Leonel Martinez ("Appellant") submitted the following request to the Penitentiary:
The Penitentiary denied Appellant's request on the grounds that he did not provide his inmate identification number, and that a public agency need not "honor a request for information."
The Act does not require public agencies to fulfill requests for information, but only requests for records. KRS 61.872;
Dept. of Revenue v. Eifler , 436 S.W.3d 530, 534 (Ky. App. 2013) ("The ORA does not dictate that public agencies must gather and supply information not regularly kept as part of its records."). Here, the request was clearly one for information: the date an event occurred and the identities of one or more staff members. Accordingly, the Penitentiary did not violate the Act by denying Appellant's request. 1
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.
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 Because this issue is dispositive, this Office declines to address the Penitentiary's alternative basis for denial.