Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway,Attorney General;Michelle D. Harrison,Assistant General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether the Kentucky Department of Corrections violated the Kentucky Open Records Act in denying inmate Buster Chandler's November 20, 2014, request for a copy of his prison ID card. For the reasons stated below, we find this appeal untimely.
Mr. Chandler's request was denied on December 9, 2014, and his undated appeal was received in this office on January 9, 2015. In the appeal, Mr. Chandler states that he received the denial on December 10, 2014.
On January 23, 2015, Assistant General Counsel Amy V. Barker, Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, responded on behalf of the Department of Corrections. She points out that Mr. Chandler made a previous request for the same item on November 7, 2014, which was denied November 14, 2014. KRS 197.025(3) provides that an inmate must appeal a denial of an open records request within 20 days. In this case, those 20 days after the first denial would have expired before he even received the second denial.
As we decided in 14-ORD-054 (copy attached), a subsequent request for the same records does not revive the appeal rights forfeited by an inmate's previous failure to appeal within the allotted time. We adopt the reasoning in 14-ORD-054 and find Mr. Chandler's appeal untimely due to the expiration of his appeal time from the November 14 denial. Accordingly, we do not reach the merits of the 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.