# Kentucky court upholds inmate records restrictions  
**Published:** 2026-02-10T00:00:00.000Z  
**Source:** [KY Attorney General Open Records](https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-045.pdf)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://feeds.lexingtonky.news/article/kentucky-court-upholds-inmate-records-restrictions

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman upheld the Department of Corrections' denial of an inmate's request for medical treatment eligibility criteria in a decision issued in February 2026, according to [the official open records decision](https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-045.pdf).

Elliott Kirby sought copies of the department's policies and criteria for determining eligibility for treatment of a specific medical condition, as well as timeframes for when treatment must begin or end. The Department of Corrections denied the request under [Kentucky Revised Statute 197.025](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=6862), which limits inmate access to public records.

Under the statute, the Department of Corrections is not required to provide records to inmates unless the documents contain a specific reference to the individual inmate by name. The Attorney General's office found that Kirby's interpretation—that records are accessible if they relate to his medical condition—does not meet the statute's requirement for a specific name reference.

The decision affirmed established precedent from the Attorney General's office, citing prior cases that clarified the phrase "specific reference to that individual" requires the record to refer to the requesting inmate by name. Simply because a record is relevant to or personally affects an inmate does not qualify it as accessible under the statute.

Kirby argued the requested records were relevant because he suffers from the medical condition to which the policies relate. However, the Department reaffirmed that none of the requested records contained a specific reference to Kirby by name, making the denial lawful.

[Kentucky's open records law](https://kyopengov.org/blog/lessons-public-and-public-agencies-learned-recent-open-records-decisions) generally provides public access to government records, but includes narrow exceptions for certain inmate records. The statute reflects an effort to balance transparency with correctional facility security and inmate privacy concerns.

Kirby may appeal the Attorney General's decision to circuit court within 30 days under Kentucky law.

## Sources

- [KY Attorney General Open Records](https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-045.pdf)
- [Kentucky Revised Statute 197.025 - Restrictions on access to inmate and facility records](https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=6862)
- [Kentucky Open Government Coalition - Information on open records decisions](https://kyopengov.org/blog/lessons-public-and-public-agencies-learned-recent-open-records-decisions)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from KY Attorney General Open Records, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/orom/2026/26-ORD-045.pdf.