How Far Can a Requester Go in Discovery?

Ohio Public Records Briefing - Edition #115

Welcome back. We hope you’re glad to finally be getting some summer-like weather across Ohio. It’s playoff finals season, and as usual, Mark’s keeping his eye on the hockey and Ryan’s keeping his eye on the basketball (though the Cavs didn’t give him much to cheer about).

In this issue, we’re looking at another new Ohio Supreme Court decision on public records. This case involves discovery in a public records lawsuit. This is essentially what a requester can and cannot demand once they go to court. From there, we head to Des Moines, Iowa, for body camera footage from an officer-involved shooting and ask how Ohio’s law would handle the same release. And we close with a reader question about an old, closed sexual-assault investigative file that names a juvenile witness.

Let’s dig in.