Request By:
L. Hunter Hay
Jailer
Franklin County Regional Jail
400 Coffee Tree Road
Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Ann M. Sheadel Director, Civil and Environmenta Law Division
Eugene W. Gall has asked us for an opinion pursuant to KRS 61.880(2) concerning the Franklin county Regional Jail's failure to answer or otherwise respond to his Open Records request.
Mr. Gall informs us that on July 27, 1990 he wrote to the Franklin county Regional Jail and requested "one (1) copy of the contract or last monthly invoice the jail has for Cable TV service." He states that you have failed to respond to his request for information.
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Pursuant to Kentucky's Open Records Act (KRS 61.870 to 61.884):
Each public agency, upon any request for records made under KRS 61.870 to 61.884, shall determine within three (3) days (excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) 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 three (3) day period, of its decision. 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.
KRS 61.880(1). The Franklin county Regional Jail, as a public agency, is obligated to comply with this requirment and to respond to Mr. Gall's request for information.
From information received from your office, it appears that the Franklin county Regional Jail may not have any documents that fit the request made by Mr. Gall. because the Jail may not have any cable TV service. You still need to respond to Mr. Gall's request and to inform him of that circumstance, if that is indeed the case.
As required by statute, a copy of this opinion is being sent to Mr. Gall, who requested it.