23-ORD-206
August 9, 2023
In re: Mark Shouse/Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government
Summary: The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (“the
City”) violated the Open Records Act (“the Act”) when it did not respond
to a request to inspect records within five business days of receiving it.
Open Records Decision
On June 16, 2023, Mark Shouse (“Appellant”) submitted a request to the City
to inspect records related to outstanding debts owed by a specified business.1 Having
received no response to his request by July 12, 2023, the Appellant initiated this
appeal.
Under KRS 61.880(1), 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.” Here, the
Appellant claims he submitted his request on June 16, but had not received a
response as of July 12. In response, the City claims it did not receive the request until
July 10. However, the City also states that it did not issue its response to the request
until July 19, the seventh business day after it claims to have received the request.
Thus, the City violated the Act when it failed to respond to the Appellant’s request
within five business days.2
1
Specifically, the Appellant sought “the ordinance or statute [the City] is attempting to collect, an
inventory of exactly what is claimed to be missing, and prior communications between [the City] and
[the business] for each debt claimed due.”
2
The City has also stated that it will provide the Appellant with responsive records once he states
how he would like the records to be produced.A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating an 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/ Zachary M. Zimmerer
Zachary M. Zimmerer
Assistant Attorney General
#309
Distributed to:
Mark Shouse
Jason Hernandez
Evan P. Thompson