State ex rel. Rosnick v. Seneca County Sheriff

This case is similar to 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 a Public Records Request (PRR) to the Seneca County Sheriff’s Office requesting three categories of public records.

After some correspondence back and forth, on April 4, 2025 the Seneca County Sheriff asserted that two of the requested categories of records “are federal records subject to the Federal Records Act (FRA) and thus not subject to disclosure under state law.” Specifically, he cited the Federal Records Act (FRA), 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 (NARA) as it pertains to federal records. The Sheriff also indicated his office did not possess records responsive to the third request.

After additional email exchanges regarding the release of these records, it was clear the Seneca County Sheriff was not going to produce the requested records. On July 22, 2025, Rosnick served an O.R.C. Section 149 Complaint upon the Sheriff’s Office pursuant to R.C. 149.43(C)(1). The Section 149 Complaint was delivered on July 31, which began a statutory three-day period to cure or address the failure to produce records. The three-day period expired on August 5. 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 August 12, 2025, the ACLU of Ohio, on behalf of Relator Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer Jocelyn Rosnick, filed an original action in mandamus in the Supreme Court of Ohio, requesting that Respondents Seneca County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff Stevens 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.

On August 20, the Court referred the case to mediation, staying all filing deadlines until mediation concludes. We had a pre-mediation meeting with the mediator on August 27, 2025, and anticipate that a formal mediation with the Sheriff’s Office will occur at the end of September.