12-ORD-166 | KOGC

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 Kentucky State Reformatory did not violate the Open Records Act in denying Uriah Pasha's July 24, 2012, request for a copy of "all complaints Dr. Julie R. Barber, Psychologist, received concerning Uriah Pasha while in the C.H.A.N.G.E.S. from Ms. Melissa Gaydos, SSC . . ." Mr. Pasha unsuccessfully attempts to distinguish this appeal from his earlier appeal involving the same records request 1 by submitting a "Behavior Problem Control Report" he maintains is responsive to that request, thereby refuting KSP's claim that no responsive records exist. KSP persuasively responds that the report "is a security document that records restrictions of privileges or placement on lockdown status for an inmate" and not "a complaint made by an employee against an inmate . . . ." Additionally, KSP notes, Dr. Barber did not receive a copy of the report. Simply stated, the report Mr. Pasha presents to this office in support of his argument that KSP falsely claimed that no records responsive to his July 24 request exist "does not fit the request that was made and it would not occur to anyone at the institution to consider this security record . . . to be a complaint . . . ."

Accordingly, we find that 12-ORD-161, a copy of which is attached to this decision and incorporated by reference, is dispositive of the issue raised in this appeal.

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.

Distributed to:

Uriah PashaMarc AbeloveAmy V. Barker

Footnotes

Footnotes

1 Open records appeal -- log number 201200305.

LLM Summary

The Attorney General's decision finds that the Kentucky State Reformatory did not violate the Open Records Act when it denied Uriah Pasha's request for specific complaints about him, as the document he submitted did not meet the criteria of his request and was not considered a complaint by the institution. The decision follows the reasoning and conclusion of a previous decision, 12-ORD-161, which addressed the same records request.

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