Best Practices and Miss Buckeye
Public Records Briefing - Edition #80
It’s been a month -- have you stuck to your ambitious New Year’s resolutions? Let’s be honest, a few of us probably already look like this. It happens to the best of us! But if your resolution was to become smarter about Ohio Public Records Law, you’re in the right place. Let’s get into it!
Goodbye, Hello
With the departure of Jamieson from our PRB team, everyone please welcome Libby Krieger to the fun. She’s an outstanding communicator and also “Miss Buckeye Volunteer” (and if she deletes that link, she’s fired!)
Exceptions A thru AA to 149.43
We're back with another important exception, this time focusing on victim protection. R.C. 149.43(A)(1)(ff) safeguards the confidentiality of records held by rape crisis centers and similar advocacy organizations.
Specifically, this exception protects any communication between a victim and an advocate, as well as any records relating to the services provided to the victim. The goal here is to encourage victims of sexual violence to seek help without fear that their personal information will be exposed through a public records request. This exception is absolute, meaning that these records are entirely shielded from disclosure. If you remember the traffic light approach that we’ve long discussed, these would be “red light” records that you must not release.
New Series: Public Records Best Practices
With this edition, we’re going to kick off a new series. We can tell you’re excited.
Instead of focusing on the law and what the legal consequences of various exceptions are, we’re going to focus on an arguably more important thing: practical tips for dealing with people who make public records requests! Sorry, we won’t recommend this tactic.