Columbus, OH – On Tuesday, The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief with the Ohio Supreme Court in Hicks v. Union Township, arguing that it is the duty of the General Assembly—not the courts—to determine what information should be excluded from the definition of public records.

“Increasingly, Ohio courts have relied on the judge-made administrative convenience doctrine to shield government records from the public,” said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute. “However, it is not the courts’ job to invent legal doctrines to avoid the fact that the General Assembly has not addressed a particular privacy issue.”

In its brief, The Buckeye Institute argues that “absent a legislative change, governments must produce records that meet the text of the public records law, as it is liberally construed.”   

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UPDATE: On November 21, 2024, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that “the information requested is a public record, and we therefore reverse the judgment of the court of appeals.”