22-ORD-243
November 7, 2022
In re: Robin Vessels/City of LaGrange
Summary: The City of LaGrange (the “City”) violated the Open Records
Act (“the Act”) when it failed to respond to a request within five business
days.
Open Records Decision
On June 7, 2022, Robin Vessels (“Appellant”) submitted a request to the City
that contained three subparts. First, she requested a copy of an exhibit incorporated
by reference in a specific ordinance. Second, she requested copies of all ordinances
enacted between 2013 and 2022. Third, she requested the “annual budgets” for the
“Compensation Tax Fund” from 2013 to 2022. On October 13, having received no
response from the City, the Appellant initiated this appeal.
Upon receiving a request for records under the Act, a public agency “shall
determine within five (5) [business] days . . . after the receipt of any such request
whether to comply with the request and shall notify in writing the person making the
request, within the five (5) day period, of its decision.” KRS 61.880(1). Here, the City
admits it did not timely respond to the Appellant’s request because it mistakenly
believed it had already responded and provided responsive records.1 Accordingly, the
City violated the Act when it failed to respond to a request within five business days.2
1
The Appellant had previously sent a request for the ordinance, which the City granted and the
Appellant has not appealed. This time, however, the Appellant requested an exhibit that had been
incorporated into the ordinance by reference.
2
The Appellant also claims the City is violating the Act because its open records request form states
there is a 25 cent per page copying fee. However, the Office declines to adjudicate this issue because it
is not ripe for review. The Office will not consider whether a copying fee is excessive unless an agencyA party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating action in the
appropriate circuit court under KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882 within 30 days from
the date of this decision. Under 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. The Attorney General will accept notice of the complaint
emailed to OAGAppeals@ky.gov.
Daniel Cameron
Attorney General
s/ Matthew Ray
Matthew Ray
Assistant Attorney General
#390
Distributed to:
Robin Vessels
Stephanie Cooper
John Black
Beach Craigmyle
actually charges the fee. See, e.g., 15-ORD-222. Here, the City has provided some of the requested
records at no cost to the Appellant. It does not appear from this record, however, that the City has
provided any records responsive to parts two and three of the Appellant’s request. The City must
provide these records, or cite an exemption for why the records cannot be inspected. Moreover, the City
may only charge a copying rate that accurately reflects the actual cost of reproduction, KRS 61.874(3),
which this Office has routinely found is 10 cents per page, see, e.g., 22-ORD-150.