| Requesting Public Records
Public records are materials prepared, owned, used, possessed, maintained or retained by state and local government agencies that must be open for public inspection unless the records are excluded by any of the exemptions in the Kentucky Open Records Act. The Franklin County Regional Jail is not required to compile information or to answer questions, but to provide only specific records responsive to your request.
All requests for copies and/or review of public records in the custody of the Franklin County Regional Jail are required to be in writing utilizing the standardized Open Records Request Form. All requests for inmate records shall include the full name of the inmate and date of birth.
The standardized Open Records Request Form shall be completed in full by the applicant and:
- be typed or legibly printed and
- include the applicant’s printed name and signature and
- describe the records of which applicant is requesting to review or receive copies of.
Written requests* for public records shall be sent to the designated custodian of public records. Written requests for inmate medical records shall be sent to the designated custodian of inmate medical records.
Written requests for public records are accepted by email and mail at any time and by hand delivery during business hours designated for the general public.
Effective June 29, 2021, only “residents of the Commonwealth” may request to inspect public records. KRS 61.872(3). “Residents of the Commonwealth” include individuals residing in the Commonwealth, domestic business entities with a location in the Commonwealth, foreign business entities registered with the Kentucky Secretary of State, individuals that are employed and are working at a location in the Commonwealth, and any individual or business entity representing one of these residents. KRS 61.870(10). “News-gathering organizations,” which are specifically defined in KRS 189.635(8)(b), may also request to inspect public records under the Act.
Pursuant to KRS 61.878(1), the following records may be exempt: (a) records containing information of a personal nature if disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. (b) records confidentially disclosed to an agency and compiled and maintained for scientific research. (c) records confidentially disclosed to an agency or required by the agency to be disclosed to it which are generally recognized as confidential or proprietary and which if disclosed would permit an unfair commercial advantage to competitors, including records which are compiled and maintained in conjunction with an application for or the administration of a loan or grant; the application for or the administration of assessments, incentives, inducements, or tax credits; or the regulation of a commercial enterprise. (d) records pertaining to a prospective location of a business or industry where no previous public disclosure has been made of the business’ or industry’s interest in locating in, relocating within or expanding within the Commonwealth. (e) records developed by an agency in conjunction with the regulation or supervision of financial institutions which reveal the agency’s internal examining or audit criteria. (f) real estate appraisals, engineering or feasibility estimates, and evaluations made by or for a public agency, in the course of acquiring property, until all of the property has been acquired. (g) test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer a licensing examination, examination for employment, or academic examination before the exam is given or if it is to be given again. (h) records of law enforcement agencies or agencies involved in administrative adjudication investigating statutory or regulatory 13 violations if disclosure of the records would harm the agency by premature release (such records may be inspected after enforcement action is completed or a decision is made to take no action, unless they were compiled and maintained by a county or Commonwealth’s attorney or unless another exemption applies). (i) preliminary drafts, notes, correspondence with private individuals, other than correspondence which is intended to give notice of final action of a public agency. (j) preliminary recommendations, and preliminary memoranda in which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended. (k) public records that are prohibited from disclosure by federal law or regulation or state law. (l) public records that are prohibited from disclosure by Kentucky statutes. (m) records the disclosure of which would have a reasonable likelihood of threatening the public safety by exposing a vulnerability in preventing, protecting against, mitigating, or responding to a terrorist act, as defined in the exemption, and limited to eight precisely described categories of records. (n) records having historic, literary, artistic, or commemorative value that are accepted by the archivist of a public university, museum, or government depository from a donor or depositor other than a public agency if nondisclosure is requested in writing by the donor or depositor. (o) records of a procurement process under KRS Chapter 45A or Chapter 56. This exemption shall not apply after a contract is awarded; or the procurement process is canceled without award of a contract and there is a determination that the contract will not be resolicited. (p) Client and case files maintained by the Department of Public Advocacy or any person or entity contracting with the Department of Public Advocacy for the provision of legal representation under KRS Chapter 31. (q) Communications of a purely personal nature unrelated to any governmental function.
Cost/Charges for Records
Review of records is available during a scheduled appointment at no charge to the requestor. Review of records shall be monitored by the custodian of public records or another Franklin County Regional Jail designated employee.
Franklin County Regional Jail charges 10 cents per page for copies in black and white. Prior to delivery, the records custodian shall provide an invoice to the requester for the cost of production and postage. The records will be processed upon receipt of payment in full.
For records transmitted electronically to the requester, there is no charge. However, if the responsive material is more than 4 megabytes (“MB”), the documents will automatically be produced via compact disc (“CD”) and mailed to the requester. Prior to mailing, the Records Custodian shall provide an invoice to the requester for the production and postage. The fee for each CD is $1.00 and postage is based on the parcel mailed. The CD(s) containing responsive records will be processed upon receipt of payment in full.
The timeframe for a response to a request for public records
Franklin County Regional Jail has five (5) business days (excluding weekends and legal holidays) after receipt of the request to issue a response by statute. The response shall include whether the record may be inspected or may not be inspected, or that the record is unavailable and when the record is expected to be available.
General Public Business Hours:
Monday through Friday
0800 hrs. – 1600 hrs.
excluding holidays
Custodian of Public Records (other than inmate medical records):
Laura Smith
Captain of Administration
Franklin County Jail
P.O. Box 4068
Frankfort, KY 40604-4068
**Email: openrecordsfcrj@franklincounty.ky.gov
Phone: 502-875-8748
Custodian Medical Records
3c’s Correctional Care
Phone: 1 (270) 410-1198
* Include a mailing address on all requests for any further correspondence.
** The provided email will receive records requests only and will not respond to requests for information or statuses of requests.
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