Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, 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 City of Williamsburg violated KRS 61.880(1) in the disposition of Scott M. Webster's August 10, 2010, request for a copy of "any audio or video recording of the meeting [Mr. Webster and Mayor Roddy Harrison] attended at City Hall on Tuesday, July 6, 2010." Further, we find that although the city cannot be said to have committed a substantive violation of the Act in failing to produce a copy of the responsive surveillance video, that video having been destroyed or overwritten under the seven day retention period the city currently observes, that retention period does not conform to the thirty day retention period mandated by the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives at Record Series L5364 of the Local Government General Records Schedule authorized by KRS 171.420 and 725 KAR 1:061(3)(a). Premature destruction of the video may be indicative of a records management issue that is appropriate for review by KDLA under authority of KRS 61.8715.
On December 2, 2010, City Attorney Greta S. Price advised this office:
The Mayor of City of Williamsburg has not refused the inspection of any records in his possession. Rather than notify Attorney Webster via written correspondence, the Mayor telephoned his office on November 24, 2010, to respond and left a message. The Mayor informed Attorney Webster's office that the video in question is no longer available as the type of surveillance system in use can only be viewed within a seven (7) day period of the event date.
In closing, Ms. Price stated that upon receipt of notification of Mr. Webster's appeal, she contacted him and "explained the reason for the unavailability of the video. " Unfortunately, these efforts fall short of the statutory requirements found at KRS 61.880(1).
KRS 61.880(1) establishes procedural guidelines for agency response to an open records request. That statute provides:
Each public agency, upon any request for records made under KRS 61.870 to 61.884, shall 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. An agency response denying, in whole or in part, inspection of any record shall include a statement of the specific exception authorizing the withholding of the record and a brief explanation of how the exception applies to the record withheld. The response shall be issued by the official custodian or under his authority, and it shall constitute final agency action.
(Emphasis added.) KRS 61.880(1) requires public agencies electing to withhold all or any portion of a public record to "include a statement of the specific exception authorizing the withholding of the record and a brief explanation of how the exception applies to the record withheld. " In construing this provision, the Kentucky Court of Appeals has observed:
The language of the statute directing agency action is exact. It requires the custodian of records to provide particular and detailed information in response to a request for documents.
Edmondson v. Alig, 926 S.W.2d 856, 858 (Ky. App. 1996). The inability to produce a record owing to its destruction is tantamount to a denial, and the agency is statutorily obligated to advise the requester in writing that his or her request is denied and why. A message left on an answering machine does not satisfy KRS 61.880(1). Nor does a telephone call made after an appeal is filed. We urge the City of Williamsburg to review the cited provision to insure that future responses conform to the procedural requirements of the Act.
The city acknowledges that the requested surveillance tape no longer exists. When an agency's denial of an open records request is postulated on the nonexistence of records, the Attorney General has traditionally taken the position that the denial does not constitute a substantive violation of the Open Records Act insofar as the agency cannot produce a record it does not possess. See, e.g., 07-ORD-234 (copy enclosed) and authorities cited therein. This longstanding view finds support in a 2005 opinion issued by the Kentucky Supreme Court, Bowling v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government, 172 S.W.3d 333 (Ky. 2005). In Bowling, the Court expressed concern for "the unfettered possibility of fishing expeditions for hoped-for but nonexistent records," concluding that "before a complaining party is entitled to a hearing [to counter the agency's denial of the existence of public records] , he or she must make a prima facie showing that such records do exist." Id. at 341. The city cannot produce a surveillance video that was destroyed or overwritten seven days after its creation and cannot be deemed in violation of the Act for its inability to honor Mr. Webster's request.
Nevertheless, the Local Government General Records Schedule governing retention and disposition of public records establishes a thirty day retention for surveillance video/ audio recordings at Series L5364 a copy of which is enclosed. That schedule is established by the Archives and Records Commission under authority of KRS 171.420(3) and promulgated into regulation at 725 KAR 1:061. Records of the City of Williamsburg, including the surveillance video in dispute, are governed by the Local Government General Records Schedule. The seven day retention which the city's surveillance system permits, and current policy authorizes, does not satisfy this legal requirement.
As we observed in 07-ORD-234, KRS 61.8715 recognizes that "an essential relationship between the intent of [the Open Records Act] and that of KRS 171.410 to 171.740, dealing with the management of public records, . . . and that to ensure the efficient administration of government and to provide accountability of government activities, public agencies are required to manage and maintain their records according to these statutes." Thus, the intent of the Act has been statutorily linked to the intent of Chapter 171 of the Kentucky Revised Statutes. Although the video to which Mr. Webster requested access was more than thirty days old when he submitted his records application, it had been destroyed or overwritten at least twenty-three days before its retention was met. Given the City of Williamsburg's failure to adhere to records retention requirements, we have referred this matter to the Department for Libraries and Archives for further inquiry as that agency deems appropriate.
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.
Scott M. WebsterRoddy HarrisonGreta Price
2010
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