A student reporter at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, asked the campus police department for records under the Ohio Public Records Act (R.C. 149.43). The request was denied by the university. She filed a mandamus suit in the Ohio Supreme Court in 2014 asking the justices to order the university to produce the records. The Columbus Dispatch in 2014 published a story on the filing of the suit. Ohio's Attorney General, Mike DeWine, filed amicus briefs in the case supporting the reporter's request.
On Thursday, the justices found that because the university police department's sworn peace officers have been given the power by the state to enforce laws, the police department qualifies as a public office and the department is subject to the Open Records Act. The court ordered the department to comply with the reporter's request. The vote on the unsigned decision was 4 to 3. Justice Terrence O'Donnell wrote a dissent that was joined by Justice William O'Neill. Justice Sharon Kennedy dissented without writing an opinion.
The decision in the case, State ex rel. Schiffbauer v. Banaszak, is here. The filings in the case are here. The Supreme Court press office's summary of the decision is here. Stories on the Supreme Court's ruling appeared in The Columbus Dispatch, Cleveland.com, Inside Higher Ed, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The Dispatch in 2014 published an investigation finding that private police forces were able to keep records of arrests and investigations secret, both from those they arrested and crime victims.
