The First Amendment and Ohio's Open Records and Meetings Laws

After reading the attached material about Ohio's Open Records laws, create a list of five types of records found at YSU that would be public. (One example - the minutes of the Board of Trustee meetings)

Open Records Assignment 2

Obtain a copy of the minutes of a meeting of any public organization, a police report or any other document you can use to write a brief news story. Draft a letter requesting the document, pick it up and then write a short story based on the document. Turn in the letter you wrote requesting the document, the document itself and the story you write.

Open Records Assignment 3

Write a summary of the exceptions to Ohio's Open Records Laws. After the summary, pick one exception and explain whether you believe it is a good idea or a bad idea for these types of records to be excluded from disclosure.

A free press is critical to

a functioning  Democracy.

The founders of the United States realized that a free press was an essential piece of Democracy. The founders included freedom of the press with freedom of religion, speech and assembly in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Many have tried to limit the public's right to know. Some have been successful.

Ohio is fortunate to have fairly strong open records and open meetings laws.

For instance, in Ohio, the following records are open to the public:

• Personnel files of all public employees, including teachers.
• The salaries of all public employees.
• A tape or video recording of a public meeting or a committee meeting of a public organization.

The United States also has Freedom of Information laws which try to guarantee the public's access to information.

The attached file offers a general overview of Ohio's Open Records laws. This summary was compiled by the Citizens League Research Institute. Public records summary

The Ohio Attorney General has also compiled an analysis of Ohio's Open Records Laws. The first few pages can be viewed here. Analysis

A county administrator may have violated Ohio's Open Meetings Laws by polling officials on the telephone.Telephone meeting

While many journalists have questioned Attorney General Betty Montgomery's support of Ohio's Open Meetings and Records laws, her office has developed a comprehensive analysis of them. Visit www.ag.state.oh.us for more information about the Sunshine laws of Ohio.

Other sources for information about Ohio's Sunshine laws:

The Ohio Bar Association has compiled a legal handbook for Ohio Journalists. www.ohiobar.org/public/journal/part7.html

Even at YSU, there have been challenges to Ohio's Open Records and Meetings laws. In the Spring of 2001, there was an on-campus debate about whether meetings of the university's Academic Senate should be open to the public. The academic senate ultimately voted to change its bylaws so that all meetings would be open to the public. The bylaws committee report of the Academic Senate can be viewed at http://cc.ysu.edu/acad-senate/dec00_agnda.pdf

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