Opinion
Opinion By: Andy Beshear,Attorney General;Attorney General,Assistant Attorney General
Summary : Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex properly relied on KRS 197.025(1) in withholding documentation relating to security threat group status.
Open Records Decision
At issue in this appeal is whether Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex ("EKCC") violated the Open Records Act in denying Richard Cross's June 5, 2019, request for records. For the reasons stated below, we find that Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex ("EKCC") properly relied on KRS 197.025(1) in denying Appellant's request for documentation underlying his security threat group (STG) status.
On June 5, 2019, Appellant requested "one (1) copy of any and all documentation wherein it was established" that he was a gang member "as declared by Lt. Jessie D. Pack on DR#: EKCC-2019-02820." EKCC timely responded on June 6, 2019, denying Appellant's request and stating, "[t]he department does not disclose security threat group (STG) status pursuant to KRS 197.025(1) and KRS 61.878(1)(l)."
Appellant initiated this denial by letter dated June 10, 2019, and received in this office on June 19, 2019. The Justice and Public Safety Cabinet responded to the appeal on behalf of EKCC, reiterating the same argument. It explained that the Department of Corrections assesses "gang and other threat group activity through [STG] assessments of individual inmates," and "gang or other threat group activity is an identified and documented risk in a prison and thus an important safety concern."
KRS 197.025(1) specifically provides:
KRS 197.025(1) affords the Commissioner of the Department of Corrections or his designee "broad, although not unfettered, discretion to deny inmates access to records the disclosure of which, in his view, represents a threat to institutional security." 96-ORD-179.
We have previously upheld the denial of records relating to STG status and gang affiliation under KRS 197.025(1). See 18-ORD-004; 18-ORD-186; 17-ORD-169; 16-ORD-070. In each of these decisions, we have declined to substitute our judgment for that of the facility or the Department of Corrections, and the present appeal presents no reason to depart from this approach. We find that EKCC has articulated a credible basis for withholding this information in the interest of security. Consistent with precedent, we conclude that EKCC did not violate the Open Records Act in withholding these records on the basis of KRS 197.025(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 shall be notified of any action in circuit court, but shall not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceeding.