Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; Michelle D. Harrison, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
At issue in this appeal is whether the Kentucky State Reformatory violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in denying Donald R. Phillips' request for an "Itemized Accounting of the following expenditures from the Inmate Canteen Benefits Budget for FY 2008: Special Projects 2008 Power Outage; Cable TV; Other Television/Cable; and Dorm/Unit Equipment Repair." Because any existing records which are responsive to Mr. Phillips' request do not contain a "specific reference" to him, KSR properly denied access on the basis of KRS 197.025(2), incorporated into the Open Records Act by operation of KRS 61.878(1)(l) ; the denial is affirmed in accordance with governing precedents.
In a timely written response, KSR Records Custodian Donna Boyer denied Mr. Phillips' request, quoting the language of KRS 197.025(2) and correctly noting that KRS 197.025(2) applies to his request "as an enactment of the General Assembly" under KRS 61.878(1)(l). Since the records in question do not contain a specific reference to him, Ms. Boyer correctly advised Mr. Phillips that any such records are exempt from disclosure to him under KRS 197.025(2) and KRS 61.878(1)(l). Relying upon the former version of KRS 197.025(2), Mr. Phillips subsequently initiated this appeal challenging the denial of his request.
Upon receiving notification of Mr. Phillips' appeal from this office, Staff Attorney Leigh K. Meredith, Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, responded on behalf of KSR. Citing 07-ORD-193, Ms. Meredith reiterates the position of the KSR, correctly observing that the Attorney General has consistently upheld agency denials of requests for inmate canteen records on the basis of KRS 197.025(2); attached to her written response is an affidavit signed by Janice Stanley, KSR Fiscal Manager in which she indicates that she instructed Ms. Boyer to deny the request for canteen records pursuant to KRS 197.025(2). In addition, Ms. Stanley observes "that the monthly financial reports for the inmate canteen are posted in the library each month for the inmates to review. While the inmate canteen records are exempt from open records requests pursuant to KRS 61.878(1)(l) and KRS 197.025(2), the inmate has other avenues available to access that information." For these reasons, Ms. Meredith believes the denial of Mr. Phillips' request by KSR should be affirmed.
In our view, 04-ORD-076 and 04-ORD-205 are controlling on the facts presented; a copy of each decision is attached hereto and incorporated by reference. As consistently recognized by the Attorney General, KRS 197.025(2) expressly authorizes correctional facilities like KSR to deny a request by an inmate unless the record(s) contains a specific reference to that inmate. Because the records at issue do not contain a specific reference to Mr. Phillips, as required by the language of KRS 197.025(2), he is not entitled to inspect or to receive copies of those records, notwithstanding his underlying concerns. Regardless of the hardship Mr. Phillips may believe that application of KRS 197.025(2) imposes, he is expressly precluded from gaining access to records which do not contain a specific reference to him by the mandatory language of this provision; accordingly, KSR properly relied upon KRS 197.025(2), incorporated into the Open Records Act by operation of KRS 61.878(1)(l), in denying his request. 99-ORD-161, p. 2.
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.