Request By:
IN RE: William R. Clark/Department of Corrections
Opinion
Opinion By: Chris Gorman, Attorney General; Amye B. Majors, Assistant Attorney General
OPEN RECORDS DECISION
This matter comes to the Attorney General on appeal from the actions of the Department of Corrections relative to Mr. William R. Clark's July 20, 1992, and subsequent requests for copies of records in the Department's custody. Those records are identified as the FY 92-93 line item budget for Corrections, and specific expenditures from the Monthly Financial Report.
On behalf of the Department of Corrections, Ms. Cheryl Roberts, Director of the Division of Administrative Services, responded to Mr. Clark's request in a letter dated July 27, 1992. She advised him that a response would be prepared within 10 days. As of the date of his appeal, Mr. Clark had received no further response.
We are asked to determine if the Department of Corrections violated the Open Records Act in its response to Mr. Clark's records requests. In 92-ORD-1438, a copy of which is attached, we addressed this issue in the context of an appeal from the actions of the Office of the Auditor of Public Accounts. We believe that that opinion, in which we held that that Office had violated the Act by failing to properly respond to an open records request, is dispositive of the present appeal. The Department of Corrections is directed to immediately respond to Mr. Clark's request for the FY 92-93 line item budget and specific expenditures identified in his July 20, 1992, letter. If it denies any portion of his request, it must identify the record[s] withheld, cite the exception[s] upon which it relies, and briefly explain how the exception applies to the record[s] withheld.
We remind Mr. Clark that KRS 61.874(2) authorizes a public agency to prescribe a reasonable fee for making copies which must not exceed the agency's actual costs, not including the cost of staff required. The Department of Corrections may therefore properly charge him for copies of any records he requests and receives.
The Department of Corrections and Mr. Clark may challenge this decision by initiating action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882.