Ohio Public Records Law

= Short Description =

Who is covered?
Governor: Not covered based on court decision

Legislature: Covered, but court decisison and internal exemptions limit powers

Courts: covered

Advisory Committees: not covered

What is the process like?
Anyone can request records. Requests should be directed to whichever office holds the records being sought. Oral requests are acceptable and written requests cannot be demanded. There are no specific time limits for responding to requests, the statute states that responses must be issued "promptly", a court has found that a 24 day delay for an accident report was not "prompt", and such responses must be issued within 8 days. Costs for copies are limited to the actual cost associated with creating them. There can be no fee charged for inspection only. For the most part, charges for copying computer records cannot exceed charges for copying paper records.

Most recent changes?
2011 significantly reduced penalties for destroying records.

= Legislation =

The following are bills introduced in 2011:

= Articles, Blog Posts, etc = Ohio's latest law could keep controversial public records in the dark - Sunlight Foundation, Jul. 20, 2011