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Otterbein ordered by high court to release records requested by a student newspaper editor
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
The Ohio Supreme Court has ordered a private college’s police chief to release records requested by a student newspaper editor.
In the split decision Thursday, a majority of justices agreed that the Otterbein University police department in suburban Columbus is a public office and “can be compelled to produce public records.”
The case stems from a request in early 2014 by a student-run online newspaper (Otterbein360.com) for campus crime reports that were referred to the city’s mayor’s court.
The records request was denied, however, with a dean noting that “[as] a private university, Otterbein believes we are not subject to the Public Records [Act] and therefore do not make our records public,” according to documents.
A student editor subsequently filed suit to force the issue.
In their 4-3 decision Thursday, justices wrote that campus police officers “are explicitly vested with the same powers and authority” as city police officers and county sheriff’s deputies and that a campus police department performs a government function, as outlined in state law.
“... We have held that a private corporation may be considered a public office for purposes of public records when it performs a governmental function,” justice wrote. “... Here, the mere fact that Otterbein is a private institution does not preclude its police department from being a public office for the purposes of the Public Records Act. Otterbein’s police department is ‘performing a function that is historically a government function.’”
As such, the department “must produce public records on request.”
Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor was joined by Justices Paul E. Pfeifer, Judith Ann Lanzinger and Judith French in the majority decision.
Justices Terrence O’Donnell, William M. O’Neill and Sharon Kennedy dissented.
“The flaw in the majority’s analysis is that the university police department is not a ‘public office,’ because it was not ‘established by the laws of this state for the exercise of any function of government,’” Justice O’Donnell wrote. “... Rather, the university – not the general assembly – established the police department. ... And it should be noted that these records are otherwise readily available from a public office that maintains public records, i.e. the Westerville Mayor’s Court.”