State ex Rel. Rosnick v. Geauga County Sheriff

Jocelyn Rosnick is the Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer of the ACLU of Ohio. One of her responsibilities and interests in this role is ensuring accountability for local law enforcement agencies that enter into a contractual relationship with Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE). On March 12, 2025, Rosnick sent Public Records Request (PRR) to the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office requesting three categories of public records. On April 8, 2025, the Sheriff provided records responsive to two of those requests, but no records responsive to Rosnick’s request for “Contracts, drafts of contracts, and related memorandums, agreed to and executed by DHS, ICE, and / or USMS Service with SCJ from June 1, 2024 to March 3, 2025.”The Sheriff’s Office asserted that the release of those records “is prohibited by federal law,” citing 5 U.S.C. § 552a and 8 C.F.R. § 236.6. Those statutes, however, relate to the disclosure of names and personal details of ICE detainees, which was not part of the request, and even if it was, could be redacted. The Sheriff’s Office then asserted two additional, also inapplicable, federal statutes, the Federal Records Act, 44 U.S.C. § 3301(A), defining “federal records,” and 36 C.F.R. § 1222.10(b)(4), defining “received” under the National Archives and Record Administration Act as it pertains to federal records.

After additional email exchanges regarding the release of these records, it was clear the Geauga County Sheriff was not going to produce the requested records. On May 8, 2025, Rosnick served an O.R.C. Section 149 Complaint to the Sheriff’s Office pursuant to R.C. 149.43(C)(1). The Section 149 Complaint was delivered on May 12, which began a statutory three-day period to cure or address the failure to produce records. The three-day period expired on May 15. R.C. 149.43(C)(1) provides that after the expiration of that period, an aggrieved party may file a mandamus action seeking the requested records.

Ohio’s public records law grants individuals the right to request public records and requires government agencies to transmit copies of those records “within a reasonable period of time,” unless the records are covered by an exception to disclosure. None of the statutes Respondents have cited, however, prohibit the disclosure of the requested records.

On May 20, 2025, the ACLU of Ohio, on behalf of Relator Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer Jocelyn Rosnick, filed an original action in mandamus with the Supreme Court of Ohio, requesting that Respondents Geauga County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand be ordered to produce the requested contracts and other related documents, which are public records under Ohio law, and to pay statutory damages, attorney fees, and court costs. Respondents’ Answer is due June 17, 2025.