OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 265* Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 265’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Reported by Senate Judiciary
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Wiggam and Hall
Effective date:
Christopher Glass, Attorney
SUMMARY
▪ Establishes that each state agency is for all purposes to be considered in exclusive
possession, custody, and control of its own records.
▪ Establishes that a state agency or public official is not to be considered a party to any
litigation unless either the agency or official intervenes in the litigation or is named in the
case caption in conjunction with a pleading specifying factual allegations against the
agency or official giving rise to at least one justiciable claim.
▪ Requires a person allegedly aggrieved by a violation of the Public Records Law to transmit
a complaint to the public office or person responsible for public records allegedly
responsible for the violation before bringing a claim in court.
▪ Establishes a three-day period in which a public office or person responsible for public
records may cure or address an alleged violation of the Public Records Law and prohibits
a person allegedly aggrieved from filing an action in court under the Public Records Law
before the expiration of the period.
▪ Makes statutory damages under the Public Records Law unavailable to certain
incarcerated persons.
▪ Specifies the term “public record concerning a criminal investigation or prosecution
concerning what would be a criminal investigation or prosecution if the subject of the
investigation were an adult” includes certain files and records of a designated public
service worker, making these records inaccessible to certain incarcerated individuals via
public records request unless certain requirements are met.
* This analysis was prepared before the report of the Senate Judiciary Committee appeared in the Senate
Journal. Note that the legislative history may be incomplete.
December 18, 2024
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▪ Exempts the records, of the work schedules of designated public service workers, from
disclosure under Public Records Law.
▪ Exempts redaction request forms from disclosure under Public Records Law.
▪ Exempts an affidavit submitted to a county auditor, by a designated public service worker,
a qualifying former designated public service worker, or the spouse of either, requesting
the county auditor to remove the name of the individual from certain publicly available
documents, from disclosure under Public Records Law.
▪ Allows a qualifying former designated public service worker to request that a public office
redact the former worker’s address from any record made available to the general public
on the internet, and to request that a county auditor remove the name of the individual
from certain publicly available documents.
▪ Prohibits vexatious litigators from requesting public records without the leave of a court
and a court order.
▪ Permits a public office or person responsible for public records to require identification
from a public records requestor if the public office or person responsible for public
records knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the requestor is a vexatious
litigator.
▪ Clarifies that the contents of a presentence investigation report or part of a presentence
investigation report may be shared between courts.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Control of agency records
Under the bill, each state agency is to be considered for all purposes, including under the
Public Records Law and in litigation, the custodian of its own records, and to be in exclusive
possession, custody, and control of its records. The bill further specifies that the Attorney General
is not in possession, custody, or control of state agency records, except its own records. The term
“state agency” is defined broadly to encompass all bodies of state government, including the
General Assembly, courts, and executive offices.1
Status of state agencies and officials in litigation
The bill establishes that a state agency or public official is not to be considered a party to
any litigation unless (1) the agency or official intervenes in the litigation, or (2) the agency or
official are included in the case caption in conjunction with a pleading alleging factual allegations
against the agency or official giving rise to at least one justiciable claim.2
1 R.C. 9.59(A)(1) and (B).
2 R.C. 9.59(C).
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Public record lawsuits
Under continuing law, a person allegedly aggrieved by a violation of the Public Records
Law may file a complaint in court or commence a mandamus action against the public office or
person responsible for public records allegedly responsible for the violation. The bill adds an
intermediate step in this process by requiring the aggrieved person to first transmit a complaint
to the public office or person responsible for public records before bringing the claim to court.
The public office or person responsible for public records then has three business days to cure or
otherwise address the alleged violation. The aggrieved person may not file the claim in court
before the expiration of the three-day period. Upon the expiration of the period, the aggrieved
person may bring the claim to a court as under continuing law, but under the bill must
additionally file with the court, in conjunction with the claim, a written affirmation that states:
1. The person properly transmitted the complaint to the public office or person responsible
for public records;
2. The alleged violation was not cured or otherwise resolved to the person’s satisfaction;
and
3. The person transmitted the complaint to the public office or person responsible for public
records at least three business days before the filing of the suit.
If the aggrieved person fails to file such affirmation, the suit must be dismissed.3
Statutory damages
Under continuing law, a person may recover statutory damages in connection with a
lawsuit commenced under the Public Records Law. The bill makes statutory damages under the
Public Records Law unavailable to persons committed to the custody of the Department of
Rehabilitation and Correction or the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and to children committed to the
Department of Youth Services.4
Criminal investigation records
Under continuing law, a public office or person responsible for public records is not
required to permit a person who is incarcerated pursuant to a criminal conviction or a juvenile
adjudication to inspect or obtain a copy of any public record concerning a criminal investigation
or prosecution or concerning what would be a criminal investigation or prosecution if the subject
of the investigation or prosecution were an adult, unless the request is for the purpose of
acquiring information subject to release as a public record and the sentencing judge finds the
information necessary to support a justiciable claim. The bill clarifies that the term “public record
concerning a criminal investigation or prosecution or concerning what would be a criminal
3 R.C. 149.43(C)(1) and (2); See also R.C. 2743.75.
4 R.C. 149.43(C)(3).
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investigation or prosecution if the subject of the investigation were an adult” includes personnel
files, payroll records, and attendance records of designated public service workers.5
Public record exemptions
The bill exempts certain records from the definition of a “public record” that may be
obtainable under Ohio’s Public Records Law. Continuing law requires that, upon request by any
person, all public records responsive to the request must be promptly prepared and made
available for inspection and copying. If a public record contains information that is exempt from
this duty, the public office must make available all of the information within the public record
that is not exempt. If a document is a public record and is not exempt from the definition of a
public record, the public office generally must permit its inspection or copying.6
The bill exempts the following records from disclosure under Public Records Law:
1. Records of the past, current, and future work schedule of a designated public service
worker;7
2. A request form or a confirmation letter submitted to a public office by an individual asking
the office to redact personal information of that individual from any record made
available to the general public on the internet;8
3. An affidavit or a confirmation letter submitted to a county auditor, by a designated public
service worker, a qualifying former designated public service worker, or the spouse of
either, requesting the county auditor to remove the name of the individual filing the
affidavit from any record made available to the general public on the internet or a publicly
accessible database, and from the general tax list and duplicate of real and public utility
property, and to instead insert the individual’s initials on the record;9
4. A request form or confirmation letter submitted to a public office (other than a county
auditor) by a current or former designated public service worker asking the office to
redact the designated public service worker’s address from any record made available to
the general public on the internet.10 (See “Current and former designated
public service worker,” below.)
Journalist access to exempted records
The bill adds the work schedules, request forms, and affidavits, which are exempt from
release as a public record, to the list of records that may be obtained by a journalist. Under a
process outlined in current law, a journalist may obtain certain records that are otherwise
5 R.C. 149.43(B)(8).
6 R.C. 149.43(B).
7 R.C. 149.43(A)(1)(tt).
8 R.C. 149.43(A)(1)(uu) and 149.45(C) and (F).
9 R.C. 149.43(A)(1)(vv) and 319.28(B) and (C).
10 R.C. 149.43(A)(1)(uu) and 149.45(D) and (F).
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exempt from release as a public record. For example, the residential address of a designated
public service worker, which is exempt from release as a public record, may be obtained by a
journalist upon a written request to the public office. The request must include the journalist’s
name and title and the name and address of the journalist’s employer and must state that
disclosure of the information sought would be in the public interest.11
Work schedule
As indicated above, the bill specifies that certain work schedules are exempt from
disclosure under Public Records Law. The bill also specifies that “work schedule” does not include
the docket of cases of a court, judge, or magistrate. Under current law, with certain exceptions,
a record that is exempt from public records law, if retained, becomes a public record on the day
that is 75 years after it was created. Under the bill, work schedules that are retained will become
a public record three years after the date of creation.12
Current and former designated public service worker
The bill expands, to qualifying former designated public service workers, the ability to do
both of the following:
▪ Request that a public office, other than a county auditor, redact the designated public
service worker’s address from any record made available to the general public on the
internet.
▪ Submit an affidavit to the county auditor requesting that the county auditor remove the
name of the individual filing the affidavit from any record made available to the general
public on the internet or a publicly accessible database, and from the general tax list and
duplicate of real and public utility property, and to instead insert the individual’s initials
on the record.
Under current law, only acting designated public service workers may submit such a
request to a public office, and only acting designated public service workers or the worker’s
spouse may submit an affidavit to the county auditor. A redaction request must be in writing and
on a form developed by the Attorney General. The bill specifies that a qualifying former
designated public service worker must provide, with the form or affidavit, a confirmation letter
from each employer at which the worker accumulated service confirming the years of service
and that the worker departed service in good standing.13
11 R.C. 149.43(B).
12 R.C. 149.45(A)(1)(tt) and last paragraph of R.C. 149.43(A)(1).
13 R.C. 149.45 and 319.28.
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Definitions
The bill defines “qualifying former designated public service worker” as a former
designated public service worker with a minimum of five years of qualifying service who was an
employee in good standing at the completion of such service.14
The following current law definitions are unchanged by, but relevant to, the bill:
“Designated public service worker” means a peace officer, parole officer, probation
officer, bailiff, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee,
county or multicounty corrections officer, community-based correctional facility employee,
designated Ohio National Guard member, protective services worker, youth services employee,
firefighter, EMT, medical director or member of a cooperating physician advisory board of an
emergency medical service organization, state board of pharmacy employee, investigator of the
bureau of criminal identification and investigation, emergency service telecommunicator,
forensic mental health provider, mental health evaluation provider, regional psychiatric hospital
employee, judge, magistrate, or federal law enforcement officer.15
“Personal information” means any of the following: (a) an individual’s social security
number, (b) an individual’s state or federal tax identification number, (c) an individual’s driver’s
license number or state identification number, (d) an individual’s checking account number,
savings account number, credit card number, or debit card number, (e) an individual’s demand
deposit account number, money market account number, mutual fund account number, or any
other financial or medical account number.16
Vexatious litigators
The bill prohibits vexatious litigators from requesting public records from a public office
or person responsible for public records absent (1) leave to do so from the court of common
pleas and (2) an order from the court specifying with particularity what public records the person
may request. Until these requirements are satisfied and evidence of satisfaction presented to the
public office or person responsible for public records, the public office or person responsible for
public records is under no obligation to respond to the request.17
If a public office or person responsible for public records receives an anonymous request
for public records, the bill permits a public office or person responsible for public records to
require that the requestor present an acceptable form of identification if the public office or
person responsible for public records knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the
requestor is a vexatious litigator. The bill separately permits a public office or person responsible
for public records to require a requestor to present acceptable identification if the public office
14 R.C. 149.45(A)(3) and 319.28(A).
15 R.C. 149.43(A)(7).
16 R.C. 149.45(A).
17 R.C. 2323.52(J)(1).
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or person responsible for public records knows or has reasonable cause to believe, based on the
requestor’s listed name, that the requestor is a vexati