Opinion
Opinion By: Daniel Cameron, Attorney General; Marc Manley, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
Inmate William Aucott ("Appellant") requested from the Penitentiary a copy of an Extraordinary Occurrence Report ("EOR") that documented an incident in which he was involved. Appellant also requested the sign-in log that documented the arrival of a Kentucky State Trooper who interviewed Appellant on June 27, 2020 and June 29, 2020. In its timely response, the Penitentiary denied the request because Appellant failed to complete and submit the necessary form to authorize the payment of copying costs. Appellant then filed this appeal. However, Appellant does not challenge the Penitentiary's denial of his request. Rather, Appellant claims that a Penitentiary employee changed the date on Appellant's original request. He asks this Office to "remind" Penitentiary employees of their obligations under the Act.
Appellant's request appears to have been dated October 23, but that date was altered to read "October 30." Appellant claims that the Penitentiary altered the date to ensure its response was timely. The Penitentiary denies altering the date. According to the Penitentiary, it simply stamped the request as received on November 5.
Although it is a serious charge to claim that an agency has fraudulently altered a request for records, and it should go without saying that a public agency has no authority to make such alterations, this Office is unable to resolve such factual disputes. See, e.g. , 16-ORD-251; 16-ORD-081; 15-ORD-129. Thus, this Office has no basis to find that the Penitentiary violated the Act. 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 proceedings.
Footnotes
Footnotes
1 Appellant resubmitted his request with the required copying-cost authorization form. The Penitentiary issued a timely response denying the second request in part. The Penitentiary provided a copy of the EOR. It redacted from that record certain information that could pose a security threat. KRS 197.025(1). Because the Kentucky State Trooper who interviewed Appellant was in uniform when he arrived at the facility, he was not required to sign in. Accordingly, no sign-in log exists containing the trooper's signature.