Court decisions from across the country have implications right here in Ohio. Here is a selection of recent cases, and why they matter.
In the case of State ex rel. Ware v. Stone, 2023-Ohio-3284, an appellate court held that the prosecutor’s office provided the requested public records in a reasonable time when the initial public record request envelope did not contain an actual record request and the prosecutor’s office complied with the request within eleven days of receiving […]
In the case of State ex rel. Cleveland Assn. of Rescue Emps. v. Cleveland, Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-3112, the Ohio Supreme Court held that a public office could not summarily deny a public records request from a union for email correspondence spanning the course of a month simply because it did not contain search terms […]
In the case of Hoskins v. Cleveland, 2023-Ohio-3149, an appellate court, in a plurality decision, held that the city was not immune from liability under R.C. 2744.02(B)(4) when an epileptic swimmer drowned at a city-owned pool and it was alleged that the lifeguard on duty was seated in folding chair in a location where the […]
In the case of State ex rel. Griffin v. Szoke, Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-3096, the Ohio Supreme Court held that the inmate could not recover statutory damages for failure to respond to a public records request when the inmate failed to seek clarification regarding instructions on how to obtain the requested information. In this case, […]
In the case of State ex rel. Barr v. Wesson, Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-3080, the Ohio Supreme Court held that the warden’s assistant did not have to create a public record when the warden’s assistant did not respond to the inmate’s request for specific public records and later claimed that such records did not exist […]
In the case of Jones v. Soto, 2023-Ohio-3107, an appellate court reversed a trial court’s denial of summary judgment, finding instead that police officers were statutorily immune pursuant to R.C. 2744.03 for injuries to passengers in a motor vehicle collision which occurred during the officer’s pursuit of a criminal suspect. According to the defendants, the […]
In the case of State ex rel. Barr v. Wesson, Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-3028, the Ohio Supreme Court held that in an inmate’s mandamus action regarding a public record request, (1) the inmate was permitted to obtain records of the inmate’s prison-kite logs, (2) the prison must produce the emails that were requested or certify […]
In the case of Harris v. Hilderbrand, Slip Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-3005, the Ohio Supreme Court held that it is a jury question as to whether a K-9 officer’s actions when a K-9 unit bites a guest at the officer’s house are manifestly outside the scope of the officer’s employment or official responsibilities, such that immunity […]