PUBLIC RECORDS Law says 'promptly, ' but be reasonable

Ohio's public-records law does not require identification from the seeker.
By KELLI YOUNG
THE REPOSITORY
CANTON -- Kathy Thompson, the clerk-treasurer in McConnelsville, will provide any requested public records: budget sheets, personnel files, payroll numbers.
Just don't stop by on Mondays. Or Wednesdays. Or on days that she takes vacation time.
Thompson has those days off -- and the only key to the file cabinets that hold the records.
"Most people are willing to work with me," she said.
If they come on a Monday, the secretaries tell them to come back the next day, Thompson said.
"That's still only 24 hours," she said. "Our solicitor has advised us that we have to provide the information within a reasonable period of time."
Ohio law says a person should be able to inspect public records "promptly." Photocopies of that record should be made within a reasonable period of time.
Even with Thompson's days off, McConnelsville still provides more access to public records than many other Ohio municipalities.
Outcome
A recent audit of public agencies in Ohio's 88 counties shows that people who requested public documents from cities or villages deemed the county's seat walked away empty-handed more than 20 percent of the time where the records existed.
Media representatives from all over the state visited the offices during regular business hours and asked to view public documents.
They were instructed to avoid giving their names or places of employment because state law does not require that information to view a public document.
In the cities or villages, auditors sought expense reports for the mayor or administrator and the police chief's salary.
The auditors got the records as quickly as they should 53 percent of the time for expense records and 64 percent for the police chief salary.
Twenty-seven percent of the time, auditors were denied the executive expense report because of procedures or personnel were unavailable or too busy. Records were denied about 20 percent of the time for the police chief's salary for the same reasons.
Youngstown's Mayor George McKelvey demanded to know who wanted the documents and where the person was from and also taped the conversation.
"He reached across the desk and turned on a portable tape recorder," said Norman Leigh from The Vindicator.
"He said something to the effect that he wanted no confusion about what was being said."
McKelvey said he taped the conversation only after learning the person was a reporter. He said he often tapes reporters' interviews to ensure he's quoted accurately.
Q & amp;A sessions
Sometimes auditors received the records only after answering a lot of questions.
"Who are you?" was the most common question asked by a secretary or clerk.
"I'd rather not say," Eric Ayres from The (Martins Ferry) Times Leader told the mayor's secretary in Woodsfield.
"In that case, I'd rather not help you," the clerk countered, according to the reporter.
Some clerks and secretaries cited social etiquette rather than Ohio law in asking for people's names.
Results from the public records audit also found that access to public records has nothing to do with the size or location of the city.
Walking into the city hall in Cincinnati was the same as walking into the village building in Paulding. Neither one of the auditors got to see the records right away.
When visiting Cleveland's city hall, an auditor was directed to the mayor's office, finance department and law department before learning that it would take a week before she could see the information and two to four weeks to get a copy of it.
A representative of the Cleveland law department on May 14 returned a call seeking comment. Attempts to return the call have been unsuccessful.