Opening Ohio's open records

When the General Assembly returns to Columbus after the first of the year, it won't have to look far for what should be its first order of business.
Attorney General Jim Petro and state Rep. Scott Oelslager unveiled a bill last week that will enhance Ohio's Public Records law by mandating training for public officials, requiring agencies to have written public records policies and adding sanctions for non-compliance.
The bill was inspired by a series of articles in the spring after the Associated Press and participating newspapers, including The Vindicator, conducted an audit of public record compliance in cities and school districts throughout the state. What that audit found was that many public officials were either unfamiliar with public records law or were willing to defy the law.
Petro conducted a series of seminars across the state following the AP stories, including one at Youngstown State University. The seminars were designed to inform the public and public employees about the rights and obligations that were inherent in current public records law. What they also demonstrated was that even some long-time public employees were unsure of their obligations to comply with requests for public documents.
Oelslager's bill clarifies the law and provides for training of the custodians of public records.
Clearly public
A public record should be available to the public at any reasonable time. No one need identify himself or explain why he wants a public record.
The bill would require an official who denies a public records request to provide the requester with an explanation, including the legal authority under which the denial decision was made.
It also would provide for a person to seek a court order for release of denied records and would establish damages of $250 per day for each business day during which the public office failed to make the records available under certain circumstances.
And it would provide for reasonable legal and court fees if a public official forced a requester of public records to take his case to court.
Current public records law makes it difficult for people to fight the system, though in recent years the Ohio Supreme Court has awarded court and attorney fees if a public official flouted the law.
We agree with the Ohio Newspaper Association that the new House speaker, Jon Husted, should give this bill a new number of House Bill 1 or 2 to symbolize its priority. The new Senate president, Bill Harris, should either have an identical bill introduced in the Senate or endorse the House bill.
Any state representative who believes the public has a right to know how its government operates and how tax money is being spent should be eager to sign on as a co-sponsor of Oelslager's bill.
One of the first bills to be available to the new General Assembly should be one of the quickest and easiest to pass.