Open Book

Under Ohio Revised Code Section 149.43(A)(1)(p) the residential and familial information of a “designated public service worker” is not public record and can be redacted from any records before they are released. Learn more! 

With the delta variant triggering renewed concerns about COVID-19, public bodies throughout Ohio are again facing some COVID-related decisions.

The state’s recently passed biennial budget included some changes to Ohio’s public records law. Some of the changes were within the Public Records Act itself, some are exceptions to the Public Records Act that fall under the “catch-all” exemption under R.C. 149.43(A)(1)(v) and some create a category of public records altogether.  Read on to learn about the new provisions, effective Sept. 30, 2021.

In 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic persisting, the General Assembly passed House Bill 197 and then H.B. 404, giving public bodies the ability to meet virtually instead of in person, as required by Ohio’s Open Meetings Act (R.C. 121.22). The law change was temporary, however, and we are now back under the “old” law. 

Ohio’s Open Meetings Act requires public bodies to conduct meetings “in person,” with members needing to be physically present in order to count as part of a quorum or to vote on matters before the body.