Public records by state · Ohio
Ohio Public Records Act: copies at cost, redaction rules, the $25 challenge
The Public Records Act is R.C. 149.43: inspection carries no charge, copies go out at cost, every redaction must carry its legal authority, and a denial can be tested for twenty-five dollars.
Request volume keeps climbing. AI-generated requests, social media, and reporters add to the queue, and records staff does not grow with it. In most offices review still happens one page at a time in Adobe, by one or two people. The requests now pull in text threads and whole email exports. Ohio sharpens the squeeze from both ends: review hours can never be billed, and a mistake is cheap to challenge.
Fees
What an office may charge. Copies at cost, and only that.
Start with what is free. Inspection carries no charge anywhere in the section. The act's only money words attach to copies, which the office provides "at cost and within a reasonable period of time." R.C. 149.43(B)(1).
THE COST THE ACT NEVER FUNDS
Every redaction hour in Ohio is the office's own expense. The statute prices copies and nothing more, and it never prices staff time. A production that takes forty hours of review invoices the same as one that takes ten minutes.
- The requester picks the medium. Paper, the medium the office keeps the record on, or any other medium the office determines it reasonably can accommodate. R.C. 149.43(B)(6).
- Ten mailings a month. The office may cap physical mailings at ten per month unless the requester certifies the records are not for commercial purposes. R.C. 149.43(B)(7)(c)(i).
When a denial is challenged
A mistake is cheap to test. That is the design.
The twenty-five dollar route
R.C. 2743.75 makes the court of claims the sole and exclusive forum for public records complaints outside mandamus. R.C. 2743.75(A). Filing costs twenty-five dollars, with copies of the request and the office's responses attached. R.C. 2743.75(D).
The case is referred to mediation first. If mediation ends without agreement, the office answers and a special master reports within seven business days, extendable once for good cause. R.C. 2743.75(E), (F). A requester who wins recovers the records, the filing fee, and other costs. Attorney's fees enter only on an appeal filed to delay compliance for no reasonable cause or to unduly harass. R.C. 2743.75(F)(3), (G)(2).
The defense is the paper trail: a production that carries the legal authority for every mark.
$100 A BUSINESS DAY, UP TO $1,000
Statutory damages in mandamus are fixed at one hundred dollars for each business day of noncompliance, beginning the day the action is filed, up to one thousand dollars. They attach when the request arrived by hand delivery, electronic submission, or certified mail and fairly described the records. R.C. 149.43(C)(3).
COURT COSTS + ATTORNEY'S FEES
An order to produce carries all court costs. Attorney's fees can follow when the office never responded, promised records and missed its own promised time, or turned them over only after suit in bad faith. R.C. 149.43(C)(4).
THREE BUSINESS DAYS OF WARNING
Since September 2025, a requester must transmit a complaint to the office at least three business days before filing and swear to that in court. A suit filed without the affirmation is dismissed. R.C. 149.43(C)(2).
The clock
Promptly is the whole deadline.
Ohio sets no day count. Records go out for inspection promptly. Copies go out at cost and within a reasonable period of time. R.C. 149.43(B)(1). The statute defines neither phrase, and no five day or ten day clock exists anywhere in the section.
What promptly looks like in practice. Acknowledge the request, say what exists, and move copies out as batches are ready. The act supports that rhythm: records must be organized and maintained so they can be made available, and the current retention schedule stays readily available to the public. R.C. 149.43(B)(2).
Vague requests get a second pass. An ambiguous or overly broad request may be denied, but the office must give the requester an opportunity to revise it by explaining how its records are maintained and accessed. R.C. 149.43(B)(2).
Exemptions
Public record is defined by its exceptions.
"Public record" means records kept by any public office. The definition then lists what a public record does not mean, and that list currently runs from (A)(1)(a) to (A)(1)(bbb). It grows almost every session, so check a letter against the current text before quoting it. R.C. 149.43(A)(1). Seen most:
- (a) Medical records. R.C. 149.43(A)(1)(a).
- (h) Confidential law enforcement investigatory records, only where release would create a high probability of disclosing a suspect or source, investigatory work, or information that endangers safety. Defined at (A)(2). R.C. 149.43(A)(1)(h).
- (p) Residential and familial information of designated public service workers, the jobs listed at (A)(7), from peace officers to judges. Journalists have a narrow request route at (B)(9). R.C. 149.43(A)(1)(p).
- Security records and infrastructure records, kept out of the act by their own section. R.C. 149.433.
Redaction is the working tool. A redaction obscures or deletes information that is exempt from inspection or copying, and the office must notify the requester of any redaction or make it plainly visible. R.C. 149.43(A)(13), (B)(1).
And every redaction is a denial. Unless federal or state law authorizes or requires it, a redaction is deemed a denial of the redacted information. A denial must come with an explanation that includes legal authority, in writing if the request was written. R.C. 149.43(B)(1), (B)(3).
The act
The act, and who it covers.
Ohio's Public Records Act lives in one long section, R.C. 149.43. "Public record" reaches records kept by any public office, including state, county, city, village, township, and school district units. R.C. 149.43(A)(1). "Public office" covers any state agency, public institution, political subdivision, or other entity established by law to exercise a function of government. R.C. 149.011(A).
A record is any document, device, or item, regardless of physical form, including an electronic record, that serves to document the office's organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities. R.C. 149.011(G). Records are the property of the public office. Unlawful destruction risks an injunction, a forfeiture of one thousand dollars per violation up to ten thousand dollars, and attorney's fees. R.C. 149.351.
The chapter also tells offices to make only the records necessary to document their activities and protect legal and financial rights. R.C. 149.40.
Practical notes
For the person actually answering requests.
- Adopt and post a public records policy. Every public office adopts one, distributes it to the records custodian, and posts it conspicuously in the office and its branches. R.C. 149.43(E)(2).
- Send someone to the training. Elected officials or their designees attend attorney general approved public records training, three hours per term of office, at no charge. R.C. 149.43(E)(1), R.C. 109.43.
- Never demand a name or a reason. Records may not be conditioned on the requester's identity or intended use, and a written request is not mandatory. The office may ask, but only after saying it is optional. R.C. 149.43(B)(4), (B)(5).
- Watch what goes online. Social security numbers stay off the internet unless redacted, encrypted, or truncated, and individuals can have listed personal information redacted from posted records. R.C. 149.45.
Ohio Public Records Act questions, answered from the statute
How long does an Ohio public office have to respond to a public records request?
Ohio sets no day count. Records must be promptly prepared and made available for inspection, and copies must be provided at cost and within a reasonable period of time. The statute does not define either phrase. R.C. 149.43(B)(1). A requester must also transmit a complaint to the office at least three business days before suing over a failure. R.C. 149.43(C)(2).
Can an Ohio public office charge for staff time spent finding or redacting records?
No. The act prices copies at cost and lets the office collect postage and mailing supplies in advance. It gives no authority to charge for employee time, whether spent searching or redacting, and inspection carries no charge. R.C. 149.43(B)(1), (B)(7).
What has to accompany a redaction or a denial in Ohio?
The office must notify the requester of any redaction or make it plainly visible. Unless federal or state law authorizes or requires the redaction, it is deemed a denial of the redacted information. R.C. 149.43(B)(1). A denial must include an explanation with legal authority, in writing if the request was written. R.C. 149.43(B)(3).
What does it cost a requester to challenge a denial in Ohio?
Twenty-five dollars. A complaint in the court of claims under R.C. 2743.75 carries a $25 filing fee. Mediation comes first, and if it ends without agreement a special master reports within seven business days of the office's response. A winning requester recovers the filing fee and other costs. The mandamus action under R.C. 149.43(C) is the other route.
What can a court award against an Ohio office that failed to comply?
In mandamus, statutory damages fixed at one hundred dollars for each business day of noncompliance, beginning the day the action is filed, up to one thousand dollars, when the request went in by hand delivery, electronic submission, or certified mail and fairly described the records. R.C. 149.43(C)(3). Court costs follow an order to produce, and attorney's fees can be added in the circumstances the section lists. R.C. 149.43(C)(4).
How should an Ohio office handle a request for a whole email export?
Email that serves to document the office's activities is a record, whatever its form; the definition covers any document, device, or item, including electronic records. R.C. 149.011(G). Produce copies at cost within a reasonable period of time. Redact the exempt content, and flag every redaction with its legal authority, because each one counts as a denial of that information. R.C. 149.43(B)(1), (B)(3). None of the review time can be billed.
This page is general information, not legal advice. The statute is the authority: read it at codes.ohio.gov and check anything that matters before it goes out.
The review time is the office's own cost.
Ohio prices copies at cost and never funds review. RecordBeacon reads a records set, including whole email exports, flags content that may be exempt, and holds every mark for a named reviewer. The release records who decided what, which is the record you want when a withholding is challenged. The first fifteen documents are free with no card.
Or read how it works on the public records software page.