#9 Public Records (National)

 

Ohio Public Records

  

As I stated in my last blog, public records are pieces of information that are not considered confidential and generally pertain to the conduct of government. It is also information that is recorded and stored by the government in which the public can have access to it. Public records can mean more than criminal records or driving records. Do you ever wonder what happens behind the scenes of public records? What does a public office have to do when it receives public record request?

 

  A public office must organize and maintain its records to meet its duty to respond to public records requests and must keep a copy of its records retention schedule at a location readily available to the public. When it receives a public records request for specific existing records, the public office must provide inspection of the requested records during regular business hours or provide copies within a reasonable period of time. A requester is entitled to delivery of copies at the actual cost of packaging and delivery by any available means of delivery or transmission he or she requests. The public office may withhold specific records or specific portions that are covered by an exception to the Public Records Act but is required to give the requester an explanation for any part of a record withheld, including the legal authority that requires or permits that withholding. In addition to denials based on an exception, a public office may deny a request in the extreme circumstance where compliance would unreasonably interfere with the discharge of the office's duties. A request can also be refused if the office no longer keeps the records, if the request is for items that are not of the records office, if the requester does not revise an ambiguous or overly broad request, or if the requester refuses to pay the cost of copies.

 

    There is actually an Ohio Public Records Act. The Ohio Public Records Act is built on the United States’ historical position that the records of government are “the people’s records.” The Public Records Act provides citizens with steps to take in order to request records from any public office in Ohio while protecting certain specific types of records from release. It also establishes a legal process to enforce compliance when a requester feels that a public office has failed to satisfy its public records obligations. The Public Records Act applies to the rights and duties set out in the act apply only to a “public office or person responsible for public records,” which includes governmental subdivisions, private entities that are the “substantial equivalent” of public institutions, and other “persons responsible for public records.” The act does not apply to private corporations or other organizations and is also different from the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which applies only to federal agencies.