Request By:
Hon. Franklin M. Hughes
Mayor of Carlisle
107 Chestnut Street
Carlisle, Kentucky 40311
Opinion
Opinion By: Frederic J. Cowan, Attorney General; Amye B. Majors, Assistant Attorney General
Mr. Charles A. Gates has appealed to the Attorney General's Office pursuant to KRS 61.880 your response to his May 13, 1991, request to inspect documents identified as "all information, records, and such that may be in the care, custody and control of the City of Carlisle . . ." that pertain to him. Specifically, he requested access to "any police records, arrest records, etc." You responded to Mr. Gates' request in a letter dated May 20, 1991, indicating that the City of Carlisle does not possess any documents satisfying his request. You further indicated that any records generated after 1978 are in the possession of the Nicholas County Circuit Clerk's Office, and that Mr. Gates should direct his request to the clerk. Mr. Gates asks that we review the City's response to his request to determine if your actions wer consistent with the Open Records Act.
OPINION OFF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
It is the opinion of the Attorney General that your response to Mr. Gates' request was proper. This Office has previously recognized that a public agency cannot furnish access to documents which it does not have. OAG 83-11; OAG 87-54; OAG 88-5. A request for such documents is moot. OAG 88-44. We have also recognized that it is not our duty to investigate in order to locate documents which the requesting party maintains exits, but which the public agency states do not exist. OAG 86-35. As we observed in OAG 86-35, at p.5, "This Office is a reviewer of the course of action taken by the public agency and not a finder of documents or possible documents for the party seeking to inspect such documents." We believe this opinion to be dispositive of the instant appeal.
Accordingly, we find that the City properly advised Mr. Gates that his request could not be satisfied inasmuch as no such record exists. This appeal must therefore be treated as moot.
We encourage Mr. Gates to submit a request to the Nicholas County Circuit Clerk, Ms. Sally Watkins, for any records pertaining to him generated after 1978.
As required by statute, a copy of this opinion will be sent to the requesting party, Mr. Charles A. Gates, who has the right to challenge it in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) .