26-ORD-048 – Demonte Whitfield/Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex

Opinion Content:

February 12, 2026

In re: Demonte Whitfield/Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex

Summary: The Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex (the
“Complex”) did not violate the Open Records Act (“the Act”) when it
denied an inmate’s request for a certified account statement due to his
inability to pay the copying fee.

Open Records Decision

Inmate Demonte Whitfield (“the Appellant”) requested a six-month
“Certification of Inmate Accounts” from the Complex. In a timely response, the
Complex denied the request because the Appellant had insufficient funds in his
inmate account to pay the fee of 20 cents for two pages. This appeal followed.

Under KRS 61.874(1), “[w]hen copies are requested, the custodian may require
. . . advance payment of the prescribed fee.” Thus, an inmate is entitled to receive a
copy of a record only after “complying with the reasonable charge of reproduction.”
Friend v. Rees, 696 S.W.2d 325, 326 (Ky. App. 1985); see also 23-ORD-176; 23-ORD-
029; 95-ORD-105. Further, ten cents per page is a reasonable charge for copies. Id.

The Appellant, however, claims he should not have to pay for the specific record
he requested. Specifically, the Appellant argues he is entitled to a free copy of the
certified statement under “the fundamental concepts of Due-Process” because he
needs the statement to proceed in the courts in forma pauperis. However,
constitutional issues cannot be adjudicated in an appeal under the Act. See, e.g., 24-
ORD-152. Moreover, the Office has upheld a copying fee of 10 cents per page for the
specific type of record requested by the Appellant. See, e.g., 23-ORD-176. Therefore,
the Complex did not violate the Act when it denied the Appellant’s request.1

1 The Appellant also claims the Complex should not have imposed a copying fee under the Act
because he did not make a request under the Act. In that case, however, the Appellant has no right of
appeal under the Act. See KRS 61.880(1).

A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating an action in the
appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882 within 30 days
from the date of this decision. 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. The Attorney General will accept notice of
the complaint emailed to [email protected].

Russell Coleman
Attorney General

/s/ James M. Herrick
James M. Herrick
Assistant Attorney General

Demonte Whitfield, #325606
Nathan Goens, Esq.
Charles B. Bates, Esq.
Sara Talarigo
Ann Smith