26-ORD-054 – Dwight Hall/Hardin County Detention Center

Opinion Content:

February 20, 2026

In re: Dwight Hall/Hardin County Detention Center

Summary: The Office cannot find that the Hardin County Detention
Center (“the Center”) violated the Open Records Act (“the Act”) when it
issued a response to a request within five business days of receiving the
request.

Open Records Decision

On January 15, 2026, Dwight Hall (“Appellant”) submitted a request to the
Center for records relating to a specific person. On January 22, 2026, at 12:44 p.m.,
having received no response from the Center, the Appellant initiated this appeal.

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.” Here, the
Appellant submitted a request to the Cabinet on January 15, 2026, and as of January
22, 2026, at 12:44 p.m., he had yet to receive a response. On appeal, the Center states
it received the Appellant’s request on January 15, 2026, and responded to it on
January 22, 2026, at 2:34 p.m., which was the fourth business day after it received
the request. 1 As proof, the Center provides a picture of an email response to the
Appellant, dated January 22, 2026, at 2:34 p.m. Consequently, the Center did not

1 State offices were closed on January 19, 2026, the third Monday in January, for the birthday of
Martin Luther King, Jr., which is a state holiday. KRS 2.110(1) (“[T]he third Monday of January
(Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.)” is a state holiday “on which all the public offices of this
Commonwealth may be closed.”); KRS 18A.190(1)(b) (“State offices shall be closed and state employees
shall be given a holiday on . . . [t]he third Monday in January[.]”). January 17 and 18, 2026, were a
Saturday and a Sunday, respectively.

violate the Act when it responded to a request for records within five business days
of receiving it. 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 [email protected].

Russell Coleman
Attorney General

/s/ Matthew Ray
Matthew Ray
Assistant Attorney General

Dwight Hall
Jennifer B. Oldham
Sgt. Eric Lewis

2 Because the Appellant brought this appeal for the Center’s alleged failure to issue a timely
response, the content of the Center’s response is not ripe for review. See, e.g., 23-ORD-135 n.3.