Ohio Attorney General releases 2014 Yellow Book
The Ohio Attorney General released the 2014 Sunshine Laws Manual (the “Yellow Book”) this week. The Yellow Book serves as a guide for Ohio’s public records and open meetings laws. Recent developments regarding the public records and open meetings laws included in the 2014 Yellow Book are:
- The Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling that a member of the public who does not receive requested public records in a reasonable period of time only has the right to attorney fees when the government office defied a court order. State ex rel. DiFranco v. The City of S. Euclid, Slip Opinion No. 2104-Ohio-539
- Franklin County Common Pleas determination that an executive session is not authorized for purposes of attorney-client privilege merely because the political subdivision’s legal counsel is in the room. Dispatch Printing Co. v. Columbus City School Dist. Bd. Of Edn., Franklin C. P. No. 12CVH10-12707 (February 20, 2014)
- Ohio Attorney General opinion finding that a public office may not charge a fee for requesters to view or use their own equipment to print a public record posted online. Instead, a public office may only charge a fee when actually making and delivering copies of documents to the requester. 2014 Ohio Op. Att’y Gen. No. 009
- The Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling that proprietary software needed to access stored public records is not a public record in itself even if it is “inextricably intertwined” with such public records. The requester must pay duplicating fees to obtain a copy of such public records. State ex rel. Gambill v. Opperman, 135 Ohio St.3d 298 (2013)
The 2014 Yellow Book is a helpful resource for all political subdivisions in Ohio and is available for download on the Ohio Attorney General website.
This is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be legal advice and does not create or imply an attorney-client relationship.
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