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Public Access to Court Records

Recently, the Ohio Supreme Court announced it would amend the rules governing the public availability of information in court records. Read the changes here.  The purpose is twofold:

  1. To finally and definitively bring court records under the control of the Ohio court system, rather than the Ohio Revised Code, which governs all other public records and;
  2. To remove certain personal information contained in court documents from public view in order to prevent identity theft.

The first goal has definite advantages as the Ohio General Assembly and Ohio Supreme Court continue to chip away at government transparency by continually altering Ohio’s public records laws and interpreting such laws in ways that are more favorable to government and various special interests, rather than Ohio citizens.

Likewise, identity theft is a very real problem, made easier by the sometimes alarming amount of personal and financial information available online through court websites.

For these reasons, the ACLU of Ohio supports, in principle, these proposed changes.

However, there is reason to be concerned about specific language contained in the proposed rule changes.  On December 13, we submitted a letter detailing our concerns.  Read the letter here.

Public comment is due on December 19th, and we encourage our members, supporters and general public to submit their own comments.  If you are going to write the Ohio Supreme Court, we encourage you to:

  1. Applaud the Ohio Supreme Court for taking these general steps because of identity theft concerns and because it’s past time for system-wide rules governing court records and public access.
  2. Caution the Ohio Supreme Court that the proposed changes provide insufficient protection for the public’s right to know.
  3.  Express concern that the proposal, as written, gives judges too much discretion to keep secret what ought to be public, including the very existence of certain cases.

Remember, your letters are due by December 19th and should be submitted via U.S. mail or e-mail to:

Jo Ellen Cline
Legislative Counsel
Supreme Court of Ohio
65 South Front Street, 7th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215-3431
clinej@sconet.state.oh.us