State ex rel. Ware v. O'Malley

Summary

The Supreme Court of Ohio denied Kimani E. Ware’s request for statutory damages arising from a public-records request to the Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney. The court held that Ware failed to rebut the prosecutor’s affidavit stating that the requested list of cases did not exist and therefore had not shown a violation of R.C. 149.43(B).

Holdings

1. When a public office attests that it does not have responsive records, the relator bears the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the requested records exist and are maintained by the public office. Ware failed to meet that burden.
2. Because Ware failed to establish a violation of R.C. 149.43(B), he was not entitled to a statutory-damages award for the requested case list.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Ware proved by clear and convincing evidence that the requested 1999 case list existed and was maintained by the prosecutor's office after the office attested that the record did not exist.
2. Whether Ware was entitled to statutory damages for the alleged failure to produce the requested case list.

Disposition

other