State ex rel. Cook v. Magee

Summary

The Supreme Court of Ohio denied as moot Joshua D. Cook’s petition for a writ of mandamus seeking video surveillance records under Ohio’s Public Records Act. The court also denied statutory damages because the records were made available for inspection on the day Cook filed his mandamus action, and the court found insufficient evidence that the mailed DVD was corrupted.

Holdings

1. A writ of mandamus is moot when the respondent provides the requested public record or otherwise gives the relator access to it, leaving no outstanding record for the writ to compel. Because Magee offered Cook access to the video and mailed a DVD according to his preference, the petition was moot.
2. Cook was not entitled to statutory damages because Magee made the requested record available for viewing on the same day Cook filed the mandamus action, and no compensable business days elapsed during which he lacked access to the record.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Cook's mandamus claim was moot after the records custodian offered him access to the surveillance video and mailed a copy to an outside person designated by him.
2. Whether Cook was entitled to statutory damages under R.C. 149.43(C)(2) when the custodian made the record available for inspection on the day the mandamus action was filed.

Disposition

writ_denied