Ohio lawmakers plan to restrict access to police, prosecutor, opioid settlement records

Lawmakers are using the state budget bill to close off public access to government records − including records kept by a nonprofit that controls $1.1 billion, notes prosecutors keep in criminal cases and police investigatory records.

"They're ripping the guts out of the public records law," said Columbus attorney Jeff Vardaro who handles open government cases.

Lab results, fact finding, evidence and documents collected, written interviews and statements are among police records that could be shielded from disclosure, according to language inserted in the bill.

"The definition of the exception is so broad that it would let public agencies withhold almost any record related to a criminal, civil, or administrative investigation and prevent meaningful public oversight in many cases," he said.

Vardaro added that it could result in more lawsuits to dig into police misconduct cases. "There are so many cases that lawyers end up not filing only because of public records that show an officer acted properly. The only people who benefit from a lack of transparency are bad cops and corrupt public officials."

The Ohio Department of Public Safety, which requested the change, said the new language simply clarifies an exemption already in the state sunshine law.

Why do prosecutors want to keep records secret?

Lawmakers also want to grant exemptions requested by the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association. Prosecutors' case notes and analysis would be exempt from disclosure and their trial preparation records could be withheld until the time for appeals is exhausted.

Louis Tobin of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association said prosecutors deserve the same level of attorney work privilege protection as other attorneys. And the public records law shouldn't be used as a go-around for documents that aren't available through discovery, he said.

The group in charge of $1.1B from opioid settlement would be shielded from disclosure

The Ohio Senate added wording that OneOhio Foundation and its 19 regional boards aren't public entities under Ohio's ethics, bribery or open records statutes. OneOhio Foundation is in charge of spending $1.1 billion in opioid settlement money coming to Ohio over the next 18 years.

State Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, who serves on the OneOhio board, said the private foundation was never intended to be a public agency that is bogged down by state requirements. "That would really hamper the amount of public good it can do."

Instead, the foundation should operate under its own rules and bylaws and hold open, public meetings, he said.

Dennis Cauchon, a former journalist who heads Harm Reduction Ohio, said “The opioid settlement isn’t the private property of elected officials. It’s money paid to government as compensation for the overdose deaths of Ohio residents. The public — especially those impacted by opioids — have a right to know how government spends government money paid for deaths of Ohio citizens.” 

It's the latest chapter in the fight over transparency. And it comes just weeks after the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in a lawsuit brought by Cauchon that the group must make its records public.

The budget bill is expected to be finalized by June 30.

What is OneOhio Foundation?

State and local governments agreed to settle multiple lawsuits against the opioid industry. The agreements will bring in about $2 billion to Ohio over 18 years.

Formed in 2021, the foundation is expected to handle $1.1 billion of the $2 billion in settlement money. It is a nonprofit with a 29-member board appointed by state and local leaders and it is tied to 19 regional boards.

Together, they're supposed to decide how the money should be spent to address the opioid crisis. The first grants are expected to be distributed in the fall.

Another $600 million is earmarked to go directly to county, city and township governments and another $300 million to the state.

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.