A public-records audit conducted by student journalists across Ohio in January found nearly half of employees at public universities failed to follow state law and provide public records. The students requested the same five public records at 12 of Ohio's 14 public universities without identifying themselves. State law does not require them to do so. University employees followed the law for 34 of the 60 total requests. The other 26 were denied or obstructed, with university employees asking students to identify themselves or otherwise making it difficult to obtain a public record. Meanwhile, State Auditor David Yost says a review of several public records complaints has found three entities are noncompliant. Ohio Public Radio's Jo Ingles reports.
Yost says there were complaints about 16 agencies. And three of them -
the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and
the City of Beachwood did not properly comply with public records requests. Yost
says he hopes those entities will take action, but it's not his job to enforce
compliance.
"If you give the auditor authority to enforce the auditors own compliance, they are
no longer independent. They've become the management. They've become the super
dictator, the Donald Trump if you will, of state government."
Yost says Ohioans who have problems getting public records should contact his office
to get help from his Sunshine Audit Initiative.
