COLUMBUS — In what could be the first program of its kind in the nation, Ohio’s Senate president today proposed giving taxpayers a faster route to binding court decisions resolving disputes with governments over public records.
“The goal here for most people seeking public records is to get the records,” Senate President Keith Faber, R-Celina, said. “It’s not to run up expenses and legal fees.”
The bill, which has yet to be introduced, would preserve the current right of citizens to sue in court when state and local governments deny access to records. But it would also open an alternative path in which a complaint could be filed with the Ohio Court of Claims, with papers filed in local courts for a flat $25 filing fee.
The complaint would be followed by mediation with a third party and a recommendation to a state Court of Claims judge, who would issue a binding decision. That decision could be appealed to a local district court of appeals.
Faber predicted the process could be completed in about 45 days.
“This is a novel approach, to my knowledge, to this issue,” said Dennis Hetzel, executive director of the Ohio Newspaper Association.
Attorney General Mike DeWine, who supports the proposal, would likely no longer need the nonbinding mediation program he operates in disputes involving local governments, according to Section Chief Damian Sikora.
It would also likely reduce demand on Auditor Dave Yost’s recent venture into public records dispute resolution.
“What we’ve got too often in Ohio is asymmetrical warfare,” Yost said. “The government has the lawyers and the ability to fight when they don’t want to reveal something that ought to be revealed under the law, and citizens are forced to dip into their own pockets.”
Faber said the bill would make it easier for taxpayers to collect legal fees from local governments when successful.
“This bill is designed to facilitate faster, easier and less expensive access to government by taxpayers,” he said. “It’s about keeping government open, accountable and accessible to our citizens.”
While the filing of a direct lawsuit would remain an option under the bill, Faber noted that the court, when considering whether to award attorney fees, could take into consideration whether the taxpayer had cheaper alternatives available to him.
Faber, in his final year in the Senate, hopes to jump to the Ohio House next year. But that is largely seen as a temporary move. He is expected to make a run for statewide office in 2018, possibly state auditor.
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