Request By:
Robert Manley, # 182341
Ms. Tara Wilkins
Amy V. Barker, Esq.
Opinion
Opinion By: Andy Beshear,Attorney General;Gordon Slone,Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
The issue in this appeal is whether an inmate timely appealed a denial of an open records request by Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex for a video recording. For the reasons stated below, we find that this appeal is time-barred.
On June 28, 2017, inmate Robert Manley submitted an open records request to Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex (EKCC), for "video tape of visitor pat down on 6/10/17 /1:00 P[M] 3:00 P[M] on visitor Yolonda Coleman . . ." Tara Wilkins Offender Records Specialist, EKCC, timely responded to the request on June 29, 2017, denying the request on the basis of KRS 197.025(1), as incorporated into the Open Records Act by KRS 61.878(1)(l). 1 Mr. Manley appealed that denial to the Office of the Attorney General by letter dated July 31, 2017.
On August 14, 2017, Amy Barker, Assistant General Counsel, Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, responded to the appeal and argued that it was time-barred pursuant to KRS 197.025(3), which provides:
KRS 61.880 to the contrary notwithstanding, all persons confined in a penal facility shall challenge any denial of an open record with the Attorney General by mailing or otherwise sending the appropriate documents to the Attorney General within twenty (20) days of the denial pursuant to the procedures set out in KRS 61.880(2) before an appeal can be filed in a Circuit Court.
Mr. Manley's request was denied on May 23, 2017, and his appeal of the denial was dated July 31, 2017. In order for the appeal to have been timely, it would have to have been mailed or sent no later than July 19, 2017. As the appeal was dated July 31, 2017, it was not mailed (or sent) within twenty days of the denial.
Because he is a person confined in a penal facility, and because he failed to perfect an appeal from the facility's denial within twenty days, Mr. Manley's appeal is untimely and we are foreclosed from rendering a decision on the issues raised. We find that the reasoning set forth in 02-ORD-54, a copy of which is attached hereto and incorporated by reference, is controlling. See also 02-ORD-110; 03-ORD-007; 04-ORD-074.
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 must be notified of any action in circuit court, but should not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceeding.
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