Request By:
[NO REQUESTBY IN ORIGINAL]
Opinion
Opinion By: Albert B. Chandler III, Attorney General; Amye L. Bensenhaver, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether the Trigg County Judge/Executive, Berlin Moore, Jr., properly responded to Randy Skaggs's January 5, 1998, request for access to records and information pertaining to Trigg County's compliance with Kentucky's dog laws. For the reasons that follow, we find that the County Judge/Executive properly agreed to permit Mr. Skaggs to inspect records of the county which might yield the information sought, but improperly refused to furnish him with copies of the records described in part five of his request upon prepayment of reasonable copying charges.
Mr. Skaggs framed his request as follows:
I would like the following information from you: (1) a. name of dog warden, b. dog warden's financial compensation, c. is dog warden's job a full-time or part-time position, d. does the dog warden have a second job and, if so, who does he work for, e. is dog warden's phone number listed in the local phone book; (2) a. location of dog pound, b. description of dog pound, c. does the county own or contract for the services of a dog pound; d. if privately owned, the name, address and telephone number of owner or manager; e. if owned by the county, is the pound operated by a county employee, private individual or non-profit organization or humane society - please list their name, address and telephone number, f. hours of operation, g. is dog pound's telephone number listed in the local telephone book, h. if the county has a dog warden but no dog pound, where are the unwanted dogs being taken and what is happening to them - please remit independent verification, i. if the county has neither dog warden nor dog pound, is it because the fiscal court feels that it must not enforce all of Kentucky's laws but, only the ones it so chooses; (3) a. method of euthanasia utilized by dog pound (if by injection or gas, provide receipts and the name of the medical supply house from which procured); b. does a trained technician or veterinarian perform the euthanasia; (4) a. number of stray dogs picked up each month throughout the county, for each of the last twelve months, b. number of dogs picked up from or belonging to private individuals each month, for each of the last twelve months; (5) photostatic copies of contracts, financial compensation, expenditures, photographs of dog pound, copies of dog control ordinances, photostatic copies of telephone listings; (6) a. total amount of money expended by the county fiscal court for the last two years for dog warden and dog pound.
Mr. Skaggs's request was therefore by and large a request for information as opposed to records.
Consistent with the rule announced in OAG 90-19, Trigg County properly advised Mr. Skaggs that, "while Open Records provisions [do] not require a public agency to compile information, records that might yield the information sought [would] be made available for inspection during normal office hours. . . ." OAG 90-19, p. 3, citing OAG 86-75. The Open Records Act does not require more.
Nevertheless, we believe that Trigg County erred in asserting that the records requested in part five of Mr. Skaggs's request were not described with sufficient specificity to permit the county to identify and retrieve them. Mr. Skaggs requested copies of "contracts, financial compensation, expenditures, photographs of dog pounds, . . ., dog control ordinances, . . . [and] telephone listings. . . ." We believe that this request was sufficiently descriptive and precise to warrant an unequivocal response from the county. See 97-ORD-161 (holding that unless an agency is unable to determine whether records satisfying a request exist, due to the nonspecificity of that request, it must advise the requester whether they exist). Upon receipt of Mr. Skaggs's request, the Trigg County Judge/Executive should have gathered all existing documents identified in part five, and furnished him with copies upon prepayment of a reasonable copying charge. If no records exist which were responsive to Mr. Skaggs's request, the county should have so advised him. OAG 91-101; OAG 90-69; OAG 90-26; OAG 86-38.
The Trigg County Judge/Executive is directed to furnish Mr. Skaggs with copies of the records identified in his request. If no records exist, the county should immediately so advise him. Mr. Skaggs may wish to make arrangements to inspect the county's records in order to locate the information he seeks.
A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882. Pursuant to KRS 61.880(3), the Attorney General should be notified of any action in circuit court, but should not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceeding.