Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; James M. Herrick, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The question presented in this appeal is whether the Greenup County Sheriff's Department violated the Open Records Act in the disposition of Jesse Kontras' June 20, 2015, request for records relating to his employment with the department. For the reasons that follow, we find that the Sheriff's Department violated the Act by not fully responding to the request.
In his June 20 letter, Mr. Kontras stated the following:
? I, Jesse Kontras, am requesting an "Open Record" for any and all personal [ sic ] files while working at the Greenup County Sheriff's Office from January 2013-July 2013. By law, you have three business days to respond to this letter with prior record of why I was forced to resign. These documents have to be original, not made in response to this letter.
According to Mr. Kontras, he never received a response "of any kind." Deputy Darrell McCarty, however, states in response to the appeal:
I Deputy D. McCarty received a certified letter from Jesse Kontras ref # his request for documents from his resignation. A copy of his letter of resignation was copied and sent out in the US Mail the same day that I received his request.
While we cannot resolve the conflicting testimony as to whether Mr. Kontras was sent a copy of his resignation letter, it is clear that this would have been an incomplete response to his request. Mr. Kontras asked not merely for "documents from his resignation," but for "any and all personal files while working at the Greenup County Sheriff's Office." Whether by "personal files" he meant "personnel files" or files relating to him personally, the request plainly encompassed more than a copy of his resignation letter. Certainly a period of several months' employment would result in the creation of more records than merely a resignation letter. Accordingly, we conclude that the Greenup County Sheriff's Department violated the Open Records Act by failing to respond to the entire request. KRS 61.880(1).
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 proceedings.