Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; Michelle D. Harrison, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
At issue in this appeal is whether Marion Adjustment Center violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in denying Terry Murphy's written request for a copy of the "ins[p]ection done by Resolution Incorporated, on the asbestos in all of St. Mary's unit" on the basis of "KRS 197.025 & KRS 61.872." Upon receiving notification of Mr. Murphy's appeal from this office, attorney C. Mike Moulton, Corrections Corporation of America, responded on behalf of MAC, asserting that Mr. Murphy's request was properly denied. Although MAC initially failed to specify that KRS 197.025(2) applies here, or explain how, Mr. Moulton remedied these procedural errors on appeal in quoting the language of that provision and correctly observing that KRS 197.025(2) "is applicable to Corrections Corporation of America." Mr. Moulton cited 04-ORD-205 in support of this position and further explained that the record Mr. Murphy requested "is an inspection report of a facility and does not in any manner reference [him]. As such, Mr. Murphy's request was properly denied. " With the exception of the noted procedural violation, this office agrees.
In our view, the analysis contained in 04-ORD-205 is controlling on the facts presented; a copy of that decision is attached hereto and incorporated by reference. As consistently recognized by the Attorney General, KRS 197.025(2) expressly authorizes correctional facilities like MAC to deny a request by an inmate unless the record(s) contains a specific reference to that inmate. 1 Because the records at issue do not contain a specific reference to Mr. Murphy, 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. Murphy 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, MAC 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.
Terry Murphy, # 195364Cole CarterC. Mike MoultonLeigh K. Meredith
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 In 04-ORD-205, this office acknowledged that KRS 197.025(2) does not expressly provide that private providers such as CCA and facilities under its jurisdiction are not required to comply with such requests; however, "to hold otherwise would yield the absurd result that inmates housed at private correctional facilities under the jurisdiction of CCA or other private providers would be able to access records which inmates housed at state facilities under the jurisdiction of the DOC are unable to access." Id., p. 7.