03-ORD-142 | KOGC

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 appeal, and the Attorney General being sufficiently advised, we find that Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex initially violated KRS 61.880(1) in failing to respond to Randy Faust's April 1, 2003 request for his vocational school transcripts. 1 As a result of EKCC's inaction, Mr. Faust initiated an open records appeal on May 19, 2003. Shortly thereafter, EKCC provided Mr. Faust with copies of the records he requested, simultaneously confirming agency compliance by letter to this office. It is therefore the conclusion of this office that with the exception of the procedural violation noted above, EKCC complied with the requirements of the Open Records Act in the disposition of Mr. Faust's request and that the records access issue was mooted by disclosure of the records identified in that request. 40 KAR 1:030 Section 6; 03-ORD-087.

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.

Randy Faust # 127695Green River Correctional ComplexP.O. Box 9300Central City, KY 42330-9300

Sharon RoseRecords CoordinatorEastern KY Correctional ComplexP.O. Box 636West Liberty, KY 41472

Emily DennisKY Department of Corrections2439 Old Lawrenceburg RoadP.O. Box 2400Frankfort, KY 40602-2400

Footnotes

Footnotes

1 In supplemental correspondence directed to this office following commencement of Mr. Faust's appeal, Department of Corrections Staff Attorney, Emily Dennis, acknowledged EKCC's failure to respond but maintained that, based on the circumstances surrounding submission of Mr. Faust's request, such inaction could not be characterized as bad faith. Further, Ms. Dennis maintained that Mr. Faust's appeal was time-barred. Invoking KRS 197.025(3), she noted that his request was submitted on April 1, and his appeal initiated on May 19, well beyond the 20 day period of limitation codified in that statute. Because KRS 197.025(3) requires inmates to initiate appeals of agency denials of their open request within 20 days, and Mr. Faust received no denial, or any other response of any kind, we cannot agree that his appeal is time-barred.

LLM Summary

The decision addresses an open records appeal involving the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex (EKCC) which initially failed to respond to an inmate's request for vocational school transcripts. The appeal was filed after the lack of response, and shortly thereafter, the requested records were provided. The decision concludes that EKCC complied with the Open Records Act, except for the initial procedural violation. The issue of records access was considered moot due to the eventual disclosure of the records.

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