26-ORD-100 – Michael Vaughan/Department of Corrections

Opinion Content:

March 16, 2026

In re: Michael Vaughan/Department of Corrections

Summary: The Office is unable to find that the Department of
Corrections (“the Department”) violated the Open Records Act (“the
Act”) because the Office cannot resolve the factual dispute between the
parties.

Open Records Decision

On January 30, 2026, Michael Vaughan (“Appellant”) submitted a request to
the Department for three categories of “records pertaining to” him. 1 On February 15,
2026, having received no response from the Department, 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 Department did not respond to the Appellant’s request within five
business days. However, on appeal, the Department explains it did not respond to the
Appellant’s request because it did not receive it because the request was submitted
to the wrong email address. 2

Thus, a factual dispute exists between the parties as to whether the
Department received the Appellant’s request for records. The Office has previously

1 The Appellant submitted his request by email to [email protected].
2 The Department states that the correct email address for submitting records requests is
[email protected].

found that it is unable to resolve factual disputes between a requester and a public
agency, such as whether an agency received a request. See, e.g., 24-ORD-184
(declining to resolve factual dispute as to whether an agency received a request).
Accordingly, the Office cannot find the Department violated the Act because the
Office cannot resolve the factual dispute between the parties as to whether the
Department received the Appellant’s January 30, 2026, request.

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

Michael Vaughan
Nathan Goens
Charles Bates
Sara Talarigo
Ann Smith