Thawed Out Public Records

Ohio Public Records Briefing - Edition #106

We have negative (-15!) reasons why we love winter in Ohio! Here’s some public records wisdom to thaw you out!

Court Case(s) Review: State ex rel. Henderson v. Washington Court House, 2026-Ohio-110.

This will warm you up, because we’ve got a case hot off the press. The Ohio Supreme Court decided this one just last month, and it serves as a critical reminder to respond to public records requests out as soon as you can.

In this instance, the city only paid a $1,000 fine. But had the Chief Justice had her way, the city would’ve been facing a $60,000 penalty for failing to respond. That’s a lot of money! It’s a stark reminder to ensure you respond to those (sometime annoying) requesters in a reasonable amount of time.

The case involved Cody Henderson, who was facing criminal charges in the Washington Court House Municipal Court. One day, Henderson sent 77 emails to the city attorney in just under two hours. If only it were as easy to respond to public records requests as it is to send them!

In total, these emails amounted to 60 separate requests for specific documents from 27 municipal court cases. Notably, none of the requests involved Henderson’s own pending criminal case. Maybe Henderson was looking to prepare his own defense.