Request By:
[NO REQUESTBY IN ORIGINAL]
Opinion
Opinion By: Albert B. Chandler III, Attorney General; Amye L. Bensenhaver, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
This matter having been presented to the Attorney General in an open records decision, and the Attorney General being sufficiently advised, we find that the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government Division of Police improperly relied on KRS 61.878(1)(h) in denying Roy Stiltner's July 26, 1999, request for copies of the investigative files relating to the 1986 murder of Bobby Potter for which Mr. Stiltner was prosecuted, and to which he pled guilty. We find that 99-ORD-170, a copy of which is attached hereto, and incorporated by reference, is controlling. There being no significant prospect of further judicial proceedings in this case, and LFUCG having failed to demonstrate that the state's interest in prosecuting Mr. Stiltner will be compromised by disclosure, we conclude that the Division of Police must furnish him with copies of the records contained in its investigative files, upon prepayment of reasonable copying charges, unless these records are "exempted by other provisions of KRS 61.870 to 61.884." KRS 61.878(1)(h).
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.