21-ORD-155 | KOGC

Opinion

Opinion By: Daniel Cameron,Attorney General;Marc Manley,Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Decision

Inmate Christopher Hawkins (the "Appellant") submitted a request to the Penitentiary for copies of "all documentation entered into my medical records" by a specific provider on July 1, 2021. The Penitentiary provided records it deemed responsive to the request. The Appellant appealed, alleging the Penitentiary provided unresponsive records (for which the Appellant was charged) and failed to provide additional records sought by the Appellant.

In response to the Appellant's request, the Penitentiary provided him with nine pages of records, some of which the Appellant deems unresponsive. It appears that the records provided are the standard report produced as a result of a "Health Services Encounter." The Appellant requested "all documentation entered into my medical records" on the specified date, and that is exactly what he received. 1 See 21-ORD-152 (in which the Appellant asked for similar records and this Office rejected his similar arguments). Therefore, the Penitentiary did not violate the Act. 2

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.

Daniel Cameron

Attorney General

Marc Manley

Assistant Attorney General

Footnotes

Footnotes

1 The Appellant claims that the inclusion of unresponsive records resulted in him paying additional fees that he should not have been required to pay. Even if this Office were to agree with the Appellant that the Penitentiary provided unresponsive records, there is no authority under the Act for this Office to compel the Penitentiary to reimburse the Appellant.

2 The Appellant claims the Penitentiary failed to provide a "medical refusal" submitted by the respective provider. Such records have now been provided to the Appellant, and therefore the Appellant's claims related to those records are now moot. 40 KAR 1:030 § 6.

LLM Summary

In this decision, the Attorney General's office upheld the actions of the Penitentiary in providing specific medical records to Inmate Christopher Hawkins. Hawkins had requested all documentation from his medical records entered on a specific date, and the Penitentiary provided nine pages of records from a 'Health Services Encounter' on that date. Hawkins appealed, claiming some records were unresponsive and others were missing. The decision referenced a similar previous case (21-ORD-152) where similar arguments by Hawkins were rejected, thereby following the precedent to deny the appeal and affirm that the Penitentiary did not violate the Open Records Act.

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