Cleveland ordered to pay for withholding public records

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(The Center Square) – A judge forced the city of Cleveland to pay the maximum amount in damages for refusing to turn over public records to a policy group.

For failing to turn over the public records, the city was ordered to pay The Buckeye Institute the maximum allowed by law – $1,000 – to cover damages after the group sued Cleveland for the records.

“The public has a clear right to public records, and Cleveland could have avoided this payout by simply complying with The Buckeye Institute’s lawful request,” said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute. “Hopefully, the next time, Cleveland will respect Ohio’s public records laws. If not, The Buckeye Institute stands ready to once again defend the public’s access to these records in court.”

In April, The Buckeye Institute asked the city for records to investigate if the city was operating a race or gender-based set-aside program, which would have violated federal law.

After nearly a month of no response, the group sent a second request, which the city eventually acknowledged in July.

Eventually, The Buckeye Institute filed suit in the 8th District Court of Appeals to get the records.

Court-ordered mediation forced the city to turn over the records and pay damages. At the same time, The Buckeye Institute agreed to dismiss its lawsuit.

“Ohio law says that if a public office doesn’t respond to a written records request within a reasonable time, the requester can file a legal action and receive up to $1,000 in damages,” said Lisa A. Gates, with The Buckeye Institute. “In this case, Cleveland didn’t acknowledge or fulfill Buckeye’s request for several weeks. After Buckeye filed suit, the city finally released the records and paid the full $1,000 that the law allows as compensation for the delay.”