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Opinion

Opinion By: Gregory D. Stumbo, Attorney General; James M. Ringo, 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 Lee Adjustment Center (LAC) properly relied on KRS 197.025(2), incorporated into the Open Records Act by operation of KRS 61.878(1)(l), in denying inmate Robert L. Shemwell's request for a copy of the Catholic monthly schedule for the year 2004 and the name of the Catholic Priest who preached the services for the year of 2004. We believe that 04-ORD-076 and 04-ORD-205, as they relate to KRS 197.025(2) , are controlling. A copy of those decisions are attached hereto and incorporated by reference. We affirm the LAC's denial of Mr. Shemwell's request on the basis that the requested records were not records that contain a "specific reference" to him personally. KRS 197.025(2).

In his letter of appeal, dated October 15, 2007, Mr. Shemwell stated that he mailed his request to LAC on August 7, 2007, and had received no response to his request. In its response to the letter of appeal, dated October 26, 2007, LAC stated that it had checked with its Offender Records Custodian; and he advised that the facility had no record of having received the request. Insufficient information is presented in this appeal for this office to resolve the factual dispute concerning the actual delivery and receipt of Mr. Shemwell's open records request, thus, we make no finding in this regard. See 03-ORD-061.

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.

LLM Summary
The Attorney General's decision affirms the denial by Lee Adjustment Center of an inmate's request for specific religious service records, citing KRS 197.025(2) and previous decisions (04-ORD-076 and 04-ORD-205) that align with this reasoning. The decision also notes the inability to resolve factual disputes about the receipt of the request, referencing 03-ORD-061.
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Requested By:
Robert L. Shemwell
Agency:
Lee Adjustment Center
Type:
Open Records Decision
Lexis Citation:
2007 Ky. AG LEXIS 70
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