Opinion
Opinion By: Gregory D. Stumbo, 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 the Education Professional Standards Board did not violate the Open Records Act in the disposition of Gregory Valentine's September 14, 2007, request for three records sets identified by General Schedule for State Agencies records series number, subject, and date. On appeal, Mr. Valentine objected to EPSB's alleged "refusal . . . to respond to [his] written request . . . ." As this office recently observed, "There is no statutory basis upon which the Attorney General can assign error to a public agency for 'delays' in responding to open records requests occasioned by the mail." 07-ORD-(228), p. 3 (copy enclosed). KRS 61.880(1) requires EPSB to "determine within three (3) days, excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after the receipt of any such request whether to comply with the request and shall notify in writing the person making the request, within the three (3) day period, of its decision." Mr. Valentine's request reached EPSB on September 25, 2007, and its three day response time commenced on September 26. See KRS 446.030(1)(a) as construed in 96-ORD-207. EPSB responded to the request on September 26, well within the statutory response time. We find no error in the procedural disposition of his request.
Nor do we find any substantive error in EPSB's disposition of Mr. Valentine's request. In the September 26 response to his request, notifying him of the availability of five responsive records and the corresponding copying costs, EPSB advised Mr. Valentine that it did not maintain one record set identified in his request, namely, Legal Services Director Alicia Sneed's personnel folder, and furnished him with the name and location of the custodial agency. In so doing, EPSB strictly complied with KRS 61.872(4) which provides, "If the person to whom the application is directed does not have custody or control of the public record requested, that person shall notify the applicant and shall furnish the name and location of the official custodian of the agency's public records." Accord 07-ORD-(228). We affirm, without reservation, EPSB's disposition of Mr. Valentine's request.
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.