Ohio Auditor Dave Yost figures that if his office can’t quickly obtain public records, the average Ohioan faces “pretty tough odds.” Yost today proclaimed that the “public records law in Ohio is alive, but not well” as he released a study of cities’ responses to his office’s request on Oct. 17 for copies of their [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: foi audits, Ohio | Leave a Comment »
Look no further than here. This, people, is why access to government information is no luxury, and can never, ever be taken for granted.
Filed under: 1. Records that matter, 2. Doc state of mind, 6. Overcoming denials, FOI At Work | Tagged: Ohio, public utilities | Leave a Comment »
From the Columbus Dispatch: Following the lead of state lawmakers, the Ohio Supreme Court has forbidden the collection of damages for illegal destruction of public records when money, rather than access to records, is the main motivation in filing lawsuits. A party is not “aggrieved” and entitled to damages when his or her objective is [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: fees, Ohio | Leave a Comment »
A troubling legislative proposal in FOI-Land often involves an isolated example, coupled with narrow self-interest. Here is a beauty in Ohio, courtesy of IndieOnline.com: A movement by some state lawmakers to significantly curb the penalty for destroying public records comes in direct response to two Massillon-area men who, critics say, are trying to profit from [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law, 8. Officials' perspectives | Tagged: archives, attorneys fees, destruction of public records, legislative proposals, Ohio | Leave a Comment »
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, a shameless attempt to wring fees from data: Journalists have elbowed into Cuyahoga County’s dispute over the cost of CDs loaded with deeds and mortgages, arguing that the public should have the databases at cost. The county wants to charge more than $200,000 for CDs of property records, based on a state [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law, 7. Electronic records | Tagged: data, fees, Ohio, The Plain Dealer (newspaper) | Leave a Comment »
No one, for even a moment, wants to downplay or minimize the death of a police officer. But this sort of thing is a slippery, slippery slop, as the Columbus Dispatch points out: State Sen. Frank LaRose, R-Fairlawn, plans to introduce a bill to that effect, banning release of the dash-cam video in any incident [...]
Filed under: 3. Access law | Tagged: dashboard cams, Ohio, police, proposed exemptions | Leave a Comment »
