24-ORD-171

July 30, 2024

In re: Eugene Wade/Kentucky State Penitentiary

Summary: The Office cannot find that the Kentucky State Penitentiary
(the “Penitentiary”) violated the Open Records Act (“the Act”) because
the Office cannot resolve the factual dispute between the parties as to
whether the requester received the agency’s response to his request.

Open Records Decision

On June 12, 2024, inmate Eugene Wade (“Appellant”) submitted a request for
records to the Penitentiary.1 On June 23, 2024, claiming he had yet to receive a
response from the Penitentiary, the Appellant initiated this appeal.

A public agency has five business days from the receipt of a request for public
records made under the Act to fulfill the request or deny it and explain why.
KRS 61.880(1). Here, the Appellant submitted his request to the Penitentiary on June
12, 2024, and claims he did not receive a response to it. On appeal, the Penitentiary
states it received the Appellant’s request on June 14, 2024, and issued a timely
response granting that request on June 18, 2024.2 The Office has previously found
that it is unable to resolve factual disputes between a requester and a public agency,
such as whether a requester received an agency’s response to his request. See, e.g.,
23-ORD-220; 21-ORD-233. Similarly, here, the Office cannot resolve the factual
dispute between the parties or find that the Penitentiary violated the Act.

1
The request the Appellant provided to the Office is dated June 10, 2024.
2
The Penitentiary’s response states it has provided the Appellant with a “copy of the only existing,
responsive records in” its possession. On appeal, the Appellant has not disputed the Penitentiary’s
claim that it has provided all responsive records that exist within its possession.A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating an action in the
appropriate circuit court under KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882 within 30 days from
the date of this decision. Under 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. The Attorney General will accept notice of the complaint
emailed to OAGAppeals@ky.gov.

Russell Coleman

Attorney General

/s/ Matthew Ray

Matthew Ray

Assistant Attorney General

#290

Distributed to:

Eugene Wade #218664
Michelle Harrison
Renee Day
Ann Smith

LLM Summary

In 24-ORD-171, the Attorney General's Office determined that it could not resolve the factual dispute between Eugene Wade and the Kentucky State Penitentiary regarding whether Wade received a response to his records request. The decision cites previous opinions to support its inability to resolve such disputes under the Open Records Act, concluding that it cannot find a violation of the Act by the Penitentiary.

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