As Passed by the Senate 1
123rd General Assembly 4
Regular Session S. B. No. 78 5
1999-2000 6
SENATORS OELSLAGER-CUPP-DiDONATO-MUMPER-WATTS-HOTTINGER-BRADY 8
_________________________________________________________________ 10
A B I L L
To amend section 149.43 of the Revised Code to 12
generally grant members of the public the option 14
of choosing the medium in which they will receive
copies of public records and to require a public 15
office to transmit copies of a public record
through the United States mail if so requested. 16
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO: 18
Section 1. That section 149.43 of the Revised Code be 20
amended to read as follows: 21
Sec. 149.43. (A) As used in this section: 30
(1) "Public record" means any record that is kept by any 32
public office, including, but not limited to, state, county, 33
city, village, township, and school district units, except that 35
"public record" does not mean any of the following:
(a) Medical records; 37
(b) Records pertaining to probation and parole 39
proceedings;
(c) Records pertaining to actions under section 2151.85 41
and division (C) of section 2919.121 of the Revised Code and to 43
appeals of actions arising under those sections; 44
(d) Records pertaining to adoption proceedings, including 46
the contents of an adoption file maintained by the department of 47
health under section 3705.12 of the Revised Code; 48
(e) Information in a record contained in the putative 50
father registry established by section 3107.062 of the Revised 51
Code, regardless of whether the information is held by the 52
2
department of human services or, pursuant to section 5101.313 of 53
the Revised Code, the division of child support in the department 54
or a child support enforcement agency;
(f) Records listed in division (A) of section 3107.42 of 56
the Revised Code or specified in division (A) of section 3107.52 57
of the Revised Code;
(g) Trial preparation records; 59
(h) Confidential law enforcement investigatory records; 61
(i) Records containing information that is confidential 63
under section 2317.023 or 4112.05 of the Revised Code; 64
(j) DNA records stored in the DNA database pursuant to 67
section 109.573 of the Revised Code;
(k) Inmate records released by the department of 69
rehabilitation and correction to the department of youth services 71
or a court of record pursuant to division (E) of section 5120.21 72
of the Revised Code;
(l) Records maintained by the department of youth services 74
pertaining to children in its custody released by the department 75
of youth services to the department of rehabilitation and 76
correction pursuant to section 5139.05 of the Revised Code; 77
(m) Intellectual property records; 79
(n) Donor profile records; 81
(o) Records maintained by the department of human services 83
pursuant to section 5101.312 of the Revised Code; 84
(p) Records the release of which is prohibited by state or 86
federal law. 87
(2) "Confidential law enforcement investigatory record" 89
means any record that pertains to a law enforcement matter of a 90
criminal, quasi-criminal, civil, or administrative nature, but 91
only to the extent that the release of the record would create a 92
high probability of disclosure of any of the following: 93
(a) The identity of a suspect who has not been charged 95
with the offense to which the record pertains, or of an 96
information source or witness to whom confidentiality has been 97
3
reasonably promised; 98
(b) Information provided by an information source or 100
witness to whom confidentiality has been reasonably promised, 101
which information would reasonably tend to disclose the source's 102
or witness's identity; 103
(c) Specific confidential investigatory techniques or 105
procedures or specific investigatory work product; 106
(d) Information that would endanger the life or physical 108
safety of law enforcement personnel, a crime victim, a witness, 109
or a confidential information source. 110
(3) "Medical record" means any document or combination of 112
documents, except births, deaths, and the fact of admission to or 113
discharge from a hospital, that pertains to the medical history, 114
diagnosis, prognosis, or medical condition of a patient and that 115
is generated and maintained in the process of medical treatment. 116
(4) "Trial preparation record" means any record that 118
contains information that is specifically compiled in reasonable 119
anticipation of, or in defense of, a civil or criminal action or 120
proceeding, including the independent thought processes and 121
personal trial preparation of an attorney. 122
(5) "Intellectual property record" means a record, other 125
than a financial or administrative record, that is produced or
collected by or for faculty or staff of a state institution of 126
higher learning in the conduct of or as a result of study or 127
research on an educational, commercial, scientific, artistic, 128
technical, or scholarly issue, regardless of whether the study or 129
research was sponsored by the institution alone or in conjunction
with a governmental body or private concern, and that has not 131
been publicly released, published, or patented. 132
(6) "Donor profile record" means all records about donors 134
or potential donors to a public institution of higher education 135
except the names and reported addresses of the actual donors and 136
the date, amount, and conditions of the actual donation. 137
(B)(1) All public records shall be promptly prepared and 139
4
made available for inspection to any person at all reasonable 140
times during regular business hours. Upon request, a PUBLIC 141
OFFICE OR person responsible for public records shall make copies 142
available at cost, within a reasonable period of time. In order 143
to facilitate broader access to public records, governmental 144
units PUBLIC OFFICES shall maintain public records in a manner 146
that they can be made available for inspection in accordance with 147
this division.
(2) IF ANY PERSON CHOOSES TO OBTAIN A COPY OF A PUBLIC 149
RECORD, THE PUBLIC OFFICE OR PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PUBLIC 150
RECORD SHALL PERMIT THAT PERSON TO CHOOSE TO HAVE THE PUBLIC 152
RECORD DUPLICATED UPON PAPER, UPON THE SAME MEDIUM UPON WHICH THE 153
PUBLIC OFFICE OR PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PUBLIC RECORD KEEPS
IT, OR UPON ANY OTHER MEDIUM UPON WHICH THE PUBLIC OFFICE OR 155
PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PUBLIC RECORD DETERMINES THAT IT 157
REASONABLY CAN BE DUPLICATED AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE NORMAL 158
OPERATIONS OF THE PUBLIC OFFICE OR PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE 159
PUBLIC RECORD. WHEN THE PERSON SEEKING THE COPY MAKES A CHOICE 160
UNDER THIS DIVISION, THE PUBLIC OFFICE OR PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR 161
THE PUBLIC RECORD SHALL PROVIDE A COPY OF IT IN ACCORDANCE WITH 163
THE CHOICE MADE BY THE PERSON SEEKING THE COPY.
(3) UPON REQUEST, A PUBLIC OFFICE OR PERSON RESPONSIBLE 165
FOR PUBLIC RECORDS SHALL TRANSMIT A COPY OF A PUBLIC RECORD TO 166
ANY PERSON BY UNITED STATES MAIL WITHIN A REASONABLE PERIOD OF 167
TIME AFTER RECEIVING A REQUEST FOR THE COPY. THE PUBLIC OFFICE 169
OR PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PUBLIC RECORD MAY REQUIRE THE 170
PERSON MAKING THE REQUEST TO PAY IN ADVANCE THE COST OF POSTAGE 171
AND OTHER SUPPLIES USED IN THE MAILING. 173
ANY PUBLIC OFFICE MAY ADOPT A POLICY AND PROCEDURES THAT IT 176
WILL FOLLOW IN TRANSMITTING, WITHIN A REASONABLE PERIOD OF TIME 177
AFTER RECEIVING A REQUEST, COPIES OF PUBLIC RECORDS BY UNITED 180
STATES MAIL PURSUANT TO THIS DIVISION. A PUBLIC OFFICE THAT 181
ADOPTS A POLICY AND PROCEDURES UNDER THIS DIVISION SHALL COMPLY 182
WITH THEM IN PERFORMING ITS DUTIES UNDER THIS DIVISION. 183
5
(C) If a person allegedly is aggrieved by the failure of a 185
governmental unit PUBLIC OFFICE to promptly prepare a public 186
record and to make it available to the person for inspection in 188
accordance with division (B) of this section, or if a person who 190
has requested a copy of a public record allegedly is aggrieved by 191
the failure of a PUBLIC OFFICE OR THE person responsible for the 193
public record to make a copy available to the person allegedly 194
aggrieved in accordance with division (B) of this section, the 195
person allegedly aggrieved may commence a mandamus action to 196
obtain a judgment that orders the governmental unit PUBLIC OFFICE 197
or the person responsible for the public record to comply with 199
division (B) of this section and that awards reasonable 200
attorney's fees to the person that instituted the mandamus 201
action. The mandamus action may be commenced in the court of 202
common pleas of the county in which division (B) of this section 203
allegedly was not complied with, in the supreme court pursuant to 204
its original jurisdiction under Section 2 of Article IV, Ohio 205
Constitution, or in the court of appeals for the appellate 206
district in which division (B) of this section allegedly was not 207
complied with pursuant to its original jurisdiction under Section 208
3 of Article IV, Ohio Constitution.
(D) Chapter 1347. of the Revised Code does not limit the 210
provisions of this section. 211
(E)(1) The bureau of motor vehicles may adopt rules 213
pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to reasonably limit 215
the number of bulk commercial special extraction requests made by
a person for the same records or for updated records during a 216
calendar year. The rules may include provisions for charges to 217
be made for bulk commercial special extraction requests for the 219
actual cost of the bureau, plus special extraction costs, plus 220
ten per cent. The bureau may charge for expenses for redacting 221
information, the release of which is prohibited by law. 222
(2) As used in division (E)(1) of this section: 224
(a) "Actual cost" means the cost of depleted supplies, 226
6
records storage media costs, actual mailing and alternative 227
delivery costs, or other transmitting costs, and any direct 228
equipment operating and maintenance costs, including actual costs 229
paid to private contractors for copying services. 230
(b) "Bulk commercial special extraction request" means a 232
request for copies of a record for information in a format other 233
than the format already available, or information that cannot be 234
extracted without examination of all items in a records series, 235
class of records, or data base by a person who intends to use or 236
forward the copies for surveys, marketing, solicitation, or 237
resale for commercial purposes. "Bulk commercial special 238
extraction request" does not include a request by a person who 239
gives assurance to the bureau that the person making the request 240
does not intend to use or forward the requested copies for 241
surveys, marketing, solicitation, or resale for commercial 242
purposes.
(c) "Commercial" means profit-seeking production, buying, 244
or selling of any good, service, or other product. 245
(d) "Special extraction costs" means the cost of the time 247
spent by the lowest paid employee competent to perform the task, 248
the actual amount paid to outside private contractors employed by 249
the bureau, or the actual cost incurred to create computer 250
programs to make the special extraction. "Special extraction 251
costs" include any charges paid to a public agency for computer
or records services. 252
(3) For purposes of divisions (E)(1) and (2) of this 255
section, "commercial surveys, marketing, solicitation, or resale" 256
shall be narrowly construed and does not include reporting or
gathering news, reporting or gathering information to assist 258
citizen oversight or understanding of the operation or activities 259
of government, or nonprofit educational research. 260
Section 2. That existing section 149.43 of the Revised 262
Code is hereby repealed. 263