Opinion

State ex rel. Harris v. Rhodes

  • 54 Ohio St. 2d 41
  • 8 Ohio Op. 3d 36
  • 374 N.E.2d 641
  • 1978 Ohio LEXIS 530
Court
Ohio Supreme Court
Filed
Apr 12, 1978
Status
Published
On the bench
Brown, Brows, Celebrezze, Herbert, Locher, Neill, Sweeney
Cited by
186 cases
Authority
More cited than 99.7%

holding that this language exempts records from disclosure under Ohio’s Public Records Act

How later courts described this case

  • holding that this language exempts records from disclosure under Ohio’s Public Records Act

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

Per Curiam.

In order to he entitled to a writ of man-damns, relator must show (1) that he has a clear legal right to the relief prayed for, (2) that respondents are under a clear legal duty to perform the acts, and (3) that relator has no plain and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law. State, ex rel. National City Bank, v. Bd. of Education (1977), 52 Ohio St. 2d 81 .

Relator asserts that the requested records are “public records” which, pursuant to R. C. 149.43, “shall be open at all reasonable times for inspection.”

However, the requested records are not public records under R. C. 149.43, which states, in part:

“‘[P]ublic record’ means any record required to be kept by any governmental unit * * * except records pertaining to physical or psychiatric examinations, * * * probation and parole proceedings, and records the release of which is prohibited by state * * * law.” (Emphasis added.)

Records and files of prisoners are compiled pursuant to R. C. 5145.04, 5145.20 and 5145.22. These records are maintained under R. C. 5120.21, which states, in part:

“The department of rehabilitation and correction shall keep in its office, accessible only to its employees, * * * a record showing the name, residence, sex, age, nativity, occupation, condition, and date of entrance or commitment of every inmate in the several institutions governed by it * * *.” (Emphasis added.)

Relator has shown no clear legal right to the relief prayed for. Therefore, the writ of mandamus is denied.

Writ.denied.

O’Neill, C. J., Herbert, Celebrezze, W. Brows,’ P. Brown, Sweeney and Locher, JJ., concur.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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