Client Briefing from the Municipal Law Group - August 2008
SUMMARY OF RECENT AMENDMENTS TO OHIO'S PUBLIC RECORDS LAWS (Sub. H.B. No. 46, 127th General Assembly)
Overview:
The Ohio Legislature recently passed Sub. H.B. No. 46, which enacted amendments to Ohio's public records laws. The new law, which will go into effect September 1, 2008, generally requires each public office to maintain a list of the names and birth dates of all of its public officials and employees. The law also requires public offices to "redact" (remove), encrypt or truncate Social Security Numbers and other types of personal information on documents made available through the Internet. In addition, the law modifies current law so that no document containing un-redacted "personal information" may be recorded by the Ohio Secretary of State and county recorders.
The Details:
Sub. H.B. No. 46 requires each Ohio public office and those persons responsible for public records (collectively "public offices") to maintain a database or list of all public officials and employees elected to, or employed by, that public office. The list must include the name and date of birth of each person, and the list must be made available upon request as public record.
Also, the new law contains specific requirements regarding three types of information that may be contained in documents and that public offices make available to the general public via the Internet: Social Security Numbers, "personal information" and addresses of law enforcement and emergency personnel.
Social Security Numbers (SSN)
The new law requires all SSNs in "electronic documents" (those made available by a public office via the Internet) to be completely redacted, encrypted, or truncated down to the last four digits, unless such documents are password protected. This requirement also applies to documents posted before the effective date of the new regulations. If a public office later discovers an SSN that was inadvertently not redacted, it must make the redaction within a reasonable time.
The new law also prohibits the Ohio Secretary of State from accepting any document for filing if the document contains an un-redacted SSN number, unless state or federal law requires the document to contain the SSN.
Personal Information
Under the new law, "personal information" is defined as an individual's Social Security Number or Federal Tax Identification Number, driver's license number, and checking account, savings account, or credit card number. An individual may request that a public office redact personal information from a particular document posted on the Internet using a form to be provided by the Ohio Attorney General. Once the public office receives such a request, it must redact the information, if practicable, or to explain to the requestor within five business days why it is impracticable to redact the information.
Currently, the law prohibits a document from being recorded with the county recorder if it contains an un-redacted SSN. The new law takes this prohibition one step further to apply to "personal information," as defined above. This provision does not, however, apply to documents executed on or after September 28, 2006, but before the effective date of the new law.
The Addresses of Law Enforcement or Emergency Personnel
The new law allows law enforcement and emergency personnel, specifically police officers, parole officers, prosecuting attorneys, assistant prosecuting attorneys, correctional employees, youth services employees, firefighters, and EMTs, to ask a public office (other than the county) to redact their addresses in any Internet-available document that includes their residential and familial information. However, this provision does not apply to public offices that do not directly employ the law enforcement or emergency personnel listed above. Requests must be made through a form provided by the Attorney General. After receiving a request, the public office has five business days to redact the address or explain to the requestor why the redaction would be impracticable.
The law also allows law enforcement and emergency personnel to ask the county auditor to substitute the individual's name with initials on the general tax list and tax duplicate. This request must be made by affidavit, and the auditor must act within five business days by completing the substitution or explaining why it is impracticable.
The law protects the public office from civil liability for any harm an individual may suffer because personal information or the address of any law enforcement or emergency personnel was included in an Internet-available document, unless the public office acted with a malicious purpose, bad faith, or in a wanton or reckless manner.
For more information on these or other public law issues, please contact one of the attorneys in Walter & Haverfield's Municipal Law Group.
The information in this newsletter is a summary of often complex legal issues and may not cover all the 'fine points' related to a specific situation or court jurisdiction. Accordingly, it is not intended to be legal advice, which should always be obtained in consultation with an attorney.
