26-ORD-101 – Hassan Crawford/City of Newport

Opinion Content:

March 16, 2026

In re: Hassan Crawford/City of Newport

Summary: The City of Newport (“the City”) violated the Open Records
Act (“the Act”) when it failed to respond to a request under the Act.

Open Records Decision

On December 5, 2025, Hassan Crawford (“Appellant”) submitted a request to
the City for records related to a dispute involving two vehicles parked on his property.
On January 5, 2026, having received no response from the City, 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 City and, one month later, he had yet to receive
a response. On appeal, the City does not assert it timely responded to the Appellant’s
request. 1 Thus, the City violated the Act when it failed to respond to the Appellant’s
request within five business days.

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].

1 The City did not respond to the notice of appeal the Office issued or otherwise dispute the
Appellant’s assertions.

Russell Coleman
Attorney General

/s/ Matthew Ray
Matthew Ray
Assistant Attorney General

Hassan Crawford
Tiffany Meyers
Daniel Braun