Request By:
Chris Hawkins
Beth Harper
Amy Barker
Opinion
Opinion By: Andy Beshear,Attorney General;Gordon Slone,Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
At issue in this appeal is whether Little Sandy Correctional Complex (LSCC) violated the Open Records Act when it denied a request for an inmate's property form because it could not be located, and also denied a request for a disciplinary report. For the reasons provided below, we find that LSCC's actions did not violate the Act.
On February 22, 2017, Chris Hawkins, an inmate at Little Sandy Correctional Complex made a request for:
1. Copy of property form that KSR [Kentucky State Reformatory] sent with my property, which went to the property room on 2-13-17 upon my coming to segregation on the same day (upon arrival);
2. Copy of disciplinary report (parts I and II) received by Christopher Montgomery for stealing my t.v. or related to my t.v. at LLCC in 2016 or 2017.
Beth Harper, Records Department, LSCC, responded on February 23, 2017:
(1) Sgt Cepeda in property checked your property file and KSR [Kentucky State Reformatory] did not send a property form with your property therefore a copy cannot be provided.
(2) Christopher Montgomery does not have any disciplinary violations that contain a specific reference to you therefore the records are exempt from disclosure to you under KRS 61.878(1)(1) and KRS 197.025(2).
On February 28, 2017, Mr. Hawkins appealed LSCC's response to his Open Records request, and on March 10, 2017, Amy V. Barker, Assistant General Counsel, Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, responded to the appeal on behalf of LSCC. Ms. Barker's response explained that, in regards to Mr. Hawkins's request for a property form, the form was located after receipt of Mr. Hawkins's appeal in which he explained that the property form had been included with his property rather than sent from Kentucky State Reformatory in a manila envelope as is the customary practice. Ms. Barker requested that this office determine that this portion of Mr. Hawkins's request is moot. Pursuant to 40 KAR 1:030 Section 6, "If the requested documents are made available to the complaining party after a complaint is made, the Attorney General shall decline to issue a decision in the matter." See also , OAG 91-140 (holding, "If access to the public records for which inspection or copying is sought is initially denied and then subsequently granted, the issue of the propriety of the initial denial becomes moot" ). As LSCC has provided the property form, we conclude that this request is properly determined to be moot and we shall not further address that request in this decision.
The second record sought was in regards to a disciplinary report for another inmate pertaining to the alleged theft of inmate Hawkins's television. Ms. Barker explained that a responsive disciplinary report was located, but the disciplinary form does not contain a specific reference to inmate Hawkins. KRS 197.025(2) 1 provides that "KRS 61.970 to 61.884 to the contrary notwithstanding, the department shall not be required to comply with a request for any record from any inmate confined in a jail or any facility or any individual on active supervision under the jurisdiction of the department, unless the request is for a record which contains a specific reference to that individual." Ms. Barker explained that Mr. Hawkins is not entitled to the disciplinary report as it is a record that does not specifically reference him. Ms. Barker also stated that this office has consistently recognized that KRS 197.025(2) expressly authorizes correctional facilities to deny a request from an inmate unless the record contains a specific reference to that inmate. See 03-ORD-073; 04-ORD-76; and 13-ORD-013. We affirm the denial by LSCC of Mr. Hawkins's request for the disciplinary report.
Ms. Barker also explained that "[p]ortions of the appeal letter pertain to issues other than an open records appeal. The Attorney General's Office has acknowledged that it is not the proper forum for and cannot decide issues other than appeals initiated under KRS 61.880(2). 08-ORD-142, p. 6; 99-ORD-121, p. 17." We concur with Ms. Barker and the authorities she cites, and therefore will not consider those matters which are outside this office's authority.
A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.846(4)(a). The Attorney General must be notified of any action in circuit court, but should not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceedings.
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 KRS 61.872(1)(1) exempts from the Open Records Act: "Public records or information the disclosure of which is prohibited or restricted or otherwise made confidential by enactment of the General Assembly." It is under this exemption that KRS 197.025(2) is incorporated into the Act.