24-ORD-265
December 11, 2024
In re: Jody B. Franklin/Morgan County Water District
Summary: The Morgan County Water District (“the District”) violated
the Open Records Act (“the Act”) when it failed to appropriately respond
to a request under the Act.
Open Records Decision
On September 23, 2024, Jody B. Franklin (“Appellant”) submitted a request to
the District seeking electronic copies of the District’s employee handbook and
commissioner handbook. On September 24, 2024, the District initially denied the
request because the Appellant had not provided a reason for her request but soon
abandoned that denial and told the Appellant that a representative would meet her
“at the water company for your ‘request.’” According to the Appellant, she received a
copy of the employee handbook but did not receive a copy of the commissioner
handbook. On October 9, 2024, the Appellant followed up by email asking when she
could expect to receive a copy of the commissioner handbook. On November 11, 2024,
the Appellant initiated this appeal, claiming she had yet to receive a response from
the District.
Under KRS 61.880(1), upon receiving a request for records under the Act, a
public agency “shall determine within five (5) [business] days . . . after the receipt of
any such request whether to comply with the request and shall notify in writing the
person making the request, within the five (5) day period, of its decision.” If an agency
denies in whole or in part the inspection of any record, its response must include “a
statement of the specific exception authorizing the withholding of the record and a
brief explanation of how the exception applies to the record withheld.” Id. A public
agency cannot simply ignore portions of a request. See, e.g., 21-ORD-090.
Here, the District did not provide the Appellant with a commissioner handbook
but has since admitted that it does possess that record. The District’s response
neither granted nor denied the Appellant’s request for a copy of the commissionerhandbook within five business days of the request.1 Therefore, the District violated
the Act when it failed to produce a record it possesses without citing any applicable
exemption to support withholding the record.2
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/ Zachary M. Zimmerer
Zachary M. Zimmerer
Assistant Attorney General
#463
Distributed to:
Jody B. Franklin
Chris Adams, Chairman, Morgan County Water District Board
Myles Holbrook, Morgan County Attorney
1
On appeal, the District states that the Appellant’s September 23 request modified a previous
request she had submitted and the District believed she was no longer seeking the commissioner
handbook.
2
Upon receipt of this appeal, the District provided the Appellant with the commissioner handbook
and asks that the appeal be considered moot. See 40 KAR 1:030 § 6 (“If the requested documents are
made available to the complaining party after a complaint is made, the Attorney General shall decline
to issue a decision in the matter.”). On appeal, the Appellant confirms the record was provided but
objects to the appeal being considered moot because the District only provided the record after she
appealed to the Office. Thus, the appeal is not moot; the District subverted the Act by causing “delay
past the five (5) day period described in” KRS 61.880(1) when it failed to provide the records within
five business days. See, e.g., 24-ORD-163; 23-ORD-274; 23-ORD-007.