The Army, Myers, and no more CLEIR!

Ohio Public Records Briefing- Issue #29

Fun Fact

There’s nothing fun about human trafficking but it might be fun to know this fact: records of human trafficking victims are likely the most protected sealed record under Ohio law. When a record has been properly sealed or expunged, it’s still a record – just not a public record. If a citizen wanders down to a public office and asks for a record that was sealed or expunged, that office still must provide an explanation with legal authority for why the record is being withheld.

So what do you do if someone asks for copies of a sealed record regarding human trafficking? Well, this is the one instance where Ohio law says a public office can respond to a records request for a sealed record and say that no such records exist. Sorry!

Public Records 101