Request By:
Ms. Ruth Ryan
Records Office
Northpoint Training Center
P.O. Box 479
Burgin, Kentucky 40310
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; William B. Pettus, Assistant Attorney General
Timothy Weinmeister has appealed to the Attorney General pursuant to KRS 61.880 your denial of his request for a copy of the "information packet" on him received by the Corrections Cabinet from the Oklahoma Department of Corrections.
Timothy Weinmeister, an inmate at Northpoint Training Center, requested by form letter dated May 31, 1990, a complete copy of the "information packet" on him that was sent to the Corrections Cabinet by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections at the time of his transfer pursuant to the Interstate Corrections Compact. You responded to this request by letter dated June 1, 1990, stating that he needed to be more specific in his request. Mr. Weinmeister clarified his request by letter dated June 5, 1990, and received by Northpoint Training Center on June 6, 1990, in which he explained that he was seeking the document or documents that were contained in this "information packet" which purportedly stated that he had been convicted and previously incarcerated for the crime of "assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. " Mr. Weinmeister is apparently attempting to correct his "classification point score," which he feels has been incorrectly tallied based upon this conviction for which he denies having been arrested or convicted. You responded to this request by letter dated June 7, 1990, in which you stated as follows:
The information which you are seeking is contained on a document which our state deems closed. Since you are a Inter state (sic) Compact inmate from the state of Oklahoma, we have no authority to give out their information.
Your letter then refers Mr. Weinmeister to a contact person in Oklahoma to obtain the information he seeks.
Mr. Weinmeister's letter of appeal dated June 18, 1990, and received by the Attorney General's Office on June 21, 1990, states in part as follows:
I have never been convicted of "Assault on a police officer with a deadly instrument or weapon". The record of any such convictions, if it exist, is vital to my moving to correct that false information. This review, by the Attorney General is made necessary for several reasons: 1. The Cabinet has failed to comply with KRS 61.880(1), in that the Cabinet did not include a statement of the specific exception authorizing the witholding (sic) of the record, and, no explaination (sic) of how any exception applies to the records witheld (sic) was provided.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
KRS 61.880(1) provides in part as follows:
An agency response denying, in whole or in part, inspection of any record shall include a statement of the specific exception authorizing the withholding of the record and a brief explanation of how the exception applies to the record withheld. The response shall be issued by the official custodian or under his authority, and it shall constitute final agency action.
Your letter of denial fails to comply with KRS 61.880(1). First, your letter fails to include a statement of the specific exception authorizing the withholding of the record. See KRS 61.878(1)(a)-(j). Second, your letter fails to contain an explanation of how the statutory exception (which was not mentioned) applies to the record withheld. Without this information, this Office is unable to determine whether the records sought for inspection by Mr. Weinmeister were properly withheld. Therefore, you are directed to promptly issue another agency response to Mr. Weinmeister in compliance with KRS 61.880(1).
Either party may institute proceedings within thirty (30) days for injunctive or declaratory relief in the circuit court of the district where the public records sought for inspection are maintained pursuant to KRS 61.880(5).