What to know about public records

The Advertiser-Tribune reached out to local agencies and offices to discuss public records policies. Below are the policies and procedures of the Seneca County Commissioner's Office, Seneca County Sheriff's Office and the Seneca County Clerk of Courts. Seneca County Commissioners' Office The commissioner's office works with a wide range of public records. According to a county spokesperson, public records are defined by Ohio's Public Records Act which includes any document, device or item, regardless of form, that is created, received or under the jurisdiction of a public office. Certain records, however, are confidential under state and federal law as well as the county's policy. Some examples provided by the office include attorney-client privileged information, medical records, ongoing investigations, and Social Security numbers. Public records at the commissioner's office are mostly handled by the county administrator. Requests are often made to the office verbally or by email. "We strive to provide the requested information promptly," the spokesperson said. "However, locating certain records may take more time." The office said it receives record requests about once or twice a week. Commonly requested records for the commissioners' office include approved resolutions by the commissioners, specific emails and meeting minutes. "The preparation process for providing requested information varies based on the specific request," the spokesperson explained. "State law does not require the requestor to reveal their identity or explain their requests, but sometimes clarification is needed from the requestor to understand their needs." When requesting printed copies of public records at the commissioners' office, there are costs associated with that request. According to the office's policy, copies of public records on 8.5 x 11-inch one-sided paper, cost 10 cents per page. All other types of requests such as photos or disks will be charged at actual costs. Additionally, if the records are requested to be mailed, the office may charge in advance for postage and the cost of mailing materials. "The commissioners' office values and prioritizes transparency and accessibility when it comes to honoring public records requests," the spokesperson concluded. "We understand the importance of providing timely and efficient access to public information. We strive to fulfill requests promptly and ensure that the records are easily accessible to the requestors. Our commitment to transparency is driven by the belief that an informed public is crucial for a healthy democratic process. We encourage anyone interested in making a record request or learning more about the process to reach out to our office at 419-447-4550." Requests for public records of the Seneca County Commissioners can be made by visiting the office at 111 Madison St., calling the office at 419-447-4550 or emailing Barb Patterson at barb.patterson@senecacountyohio.gov. Seneca County Sheriff's Office The Seneca County Sheriff's Office works with records for calls for service, booking photos, accidents and more. The Ohio Public Record law does allow for exemptions depending on what type of request is asked for. Seneca County Sheriff Fred Stevens said active investigations are not provided except for the initial information. "It is also subject to our records retention policy so if the documents requested are outside of the retention policy they cannot be provided," Stevens told the A-T. "Also, if the request is overly broad, ambiguous or we cannot understand what the requestor is requesting we will respond for clarification purposes. We will work with all requestors to try to get them the records they are requesting." Stevens then went on to explain that while the rights of records access under the Ohio Public Records Act apply to all records kept by an Ohio public office, the terms records and public records do not include every document or item found in a public office. The records kept by the sheriff's office are mostly computerized, however, when it comes to requests for information prior to 2012, a more in-depth search is needed. "Those systems (prior to 2012) were antiquated, and documents were not kept as well as they are today in the current computer records management system," Stevens explained. "If it is a paper record, we may not have it any longer but the records clerk looks through all the systems we have and some paper records were scanned in and some are still in storage awaiting scanning. We have a scanning plan that stretches out for several more years to get those old records scanned in but there is a cost to that and thus the long-range scanning plan." According to the sheriff's office's 2021 annual report, the office had 1,462 public records requests. In 2022, the office received 2,399 public record requests. Stevens said accident reports are the number one requested public record along with copies of records that are mostly used for background checks. He said the third most requested record is incident reports. "When a request comes in from a walk-in, email or by snail mail it is sent to one of two dispatchers who have the additional duties of reviewing and filling the public records request," he explained. "They then search for the documents, photos, etc. and prepare the documents for a response. This typically can take a few minutes to a few days and if it is a particularly large request it can take up to a week." "All of this is time dependent on if the dispatcher is alone and has other duties and responsibilities and if it is over their days off, etc," he continued. "We try to be as timely as possible but there is not a designated records person whose sole responsibility Mon-Fri is to do record requests. As you can see from the number of public record requests over the last two years, it is not an easy task to get them filled but we are managing the best we can." Requests for public records from Seneca County Sheriff's Office can be requested by visiting the Sheriff's Office at 3040 S. SR 100, calling the office at 419-447-3456 or emailing Stacey Saylors at shsaylors@senecacountyohio.gov When requesting printed copies of public records at the Sheriff's office, there are costs associated with that request. According to the office's policy, copies of public records on 8.5 x 11-inch one-sided paper, cost 10 cents per page. All other types of requests such as photos or disks will be charged at actual costs. Additionally, if the records are requested to be mailed, the office may charge in advance for postage and the cost of mailing materials. Seneca County Clerk of Courts The Seneca County Clerk of Courts office works with case filings from Seneca County Common Pleas Court, General and Domestic Relations Divisions. Seneca County Clerk of Courts Jean Eckelberry told the A-T that the information is cataloged and processed through indexing by case number and case name. To prepare the information for the requestor, the office copies public documents and reviews them for redaction pursuant to Ohio law. Records from the Seneca County Clerk of Courts can be requested by visiting the office at 103 E. Market Street, Suite 101 or call the office at 419-447-0671. When requesting printed copies of public records at the Clerk of Courts office, there are costs associated with that request. According to the office's policy, copies of public records on 8.5 x 11-inch one-sided paper, cost is 10 cents per page. All other types of requests such as photos or disks will be charged at actual costs. Additionally, if the records are requested to be mailed, the office may charge in advance for postage and the cost of mailing materials. Editor's note: According to the Ohio Attorney General's Sunshine laws, "the requester (of public records) does not have to put records requests in writing and does not have to provide his or her identity or the intended use of the requested public record(s). It is this office's general policy that this information is not to be requested."