It is the policy and intention of the Probate Court to fully comply with the provisions of the Ohio Revised Code that provide the ability for the general public to review and/or obtain copies of public records maintained by the Stark County Probate Court. As public servants, we hold the public records in trust for the public. As public servants, we also must be diligent so we do not inadvertently release “records” which do not fit the definition of “public records or fall under one of the exceptions set forth in Ohio Revised Code, or fall under the purview of federally protected information. To balance these competing interests, the following policy is established.
A. A copy of the Ohio Public Records Act (Ohio Revised Code Sections 149.43) will be distributed to employees with this policy, and updated when necessary. Those provisions that are of particular importance to this Office and its employees will be reinforced herein.
B. “Public records” are defined as “records kept by any public office…” Kept by a public office has been further defined as the type of item/record typically and actually retained by the office in the ordinary course of its business in order to carry out its duties and functions.
Definition of a public record can be further refined, as that statute requires records only be created that “are necessary for the adequate and proper documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures and essential transactions of the…” office. Those records so generated are “public records”, unless they fall into a specific exclusion.
C. Exclusion as a public record: the following is a list of records that are or may be generated and/or kept by the Stark County Probate Court (not all exclusions are listed; just those that pertain to this office) that are excluded from the definition of public records and are not to be released (viewed or copied) by/for the general public.
1. Adoption records.
2. Civil Commitment records.
3. Medical Records as defined by ORC 149.43(A) (1) (a) and by federal regulations.
4. Mediation records as set forth in Ohio Revised Code Sections 2710.03.
5. Peace Officer, firefighter, or EMT residential and familial information.
6. Records the release of which is prohibited by state or federal law.
7. Employee home addresses should not be disclosed as a rule and only in exceptions be treated as public records.
8. Employee social security numbers.
9. Security and Infrastructure records.
D. Inspection of public records: Requests to inspect public records should be responded to promptly. Promptly means without delay and with reasonable speed given the facts and circumstances of the request.
1. Persons may not be charged to inspect public records.
2. Requests must be made/accommodated during normal business hours.
3. If there is a question regarding whether the records requested to be viewed are public records and/or it meets the definition of detailed request as set forth herein, refer the request to a designated “Public Records Officer”. They will follow up promptly.
4. An employee of the Probate Court must be present/accompany the person inspecting public record(s) during inspection to insure that original records are not taken or altered.
E. Copies of public records: Copies of public records must be provided in a reasonable amount of time. Reasonable means a period of time that is judged within the context of the facts and circumstances for each individual request.
1. Schedule of Fees:
a. The charge for paper copies is .05 cents per page.
b. The charge for an Audio tape is 10.00 dollars per tape.
c. No charge for computer print screens/grids and copying records from website.
Stark County Political Subdivisions and Elected Officials shall not be charged for copying cost for less than $10.00 (ten dollars).
2. Requests by mail will be charged the actual cost of mailing as well as the copying cost.
3. The employee time in assembling and/or copying the public records shall not be charged.
4. For any public records request that is estimated to exceed $5.00, including mailing fees if applicable, the person requesting copies shall pay in advance the estimated cost of copying/reproducing the public record(s). See Item 2.
F. “Public Records Officers”:
Hon. Dixie Park - Probate Judge
Aletha Magyaros - Chief Deputy/Magistrate
G. Routine requests for public records: The vast majority of records generated and/or maintained by the Stark County Probate Court fit within the definition of “public records” as set forth in Ohio Revised Code, and should be promptly available to the general public. Routine requests for public records are defined as records that are readily available and maintained by the Probate Court. A general rule to follow is that any record that would be available by visiting the Stark County Probate Court website is a routine public records request that should be promptly responded to. The only issue that would take responding to a routine record request to a detailed record request level is volume…if responding to a records request would interfere with the discharge of the employee’s duties (ie. take more thank 15 minutes to respond to), then in fairness to the general public that we serve (and do not wish to keep waiting an indeterminate amount of time) such request should be deferred to a later time (the person requesting should be told) or referred to a “public records officer” within the Stark County Probate Court. If there are no other members of the general public waiting, and it does not disrupt the work-flow in the office, the employee can use their judgment to attempt to copy, a volume of records.
H. Detailed requests for public records: Requests for information that are:
a. not routinely provided to the public, and/or
b. not available on the Stark County Probate Court website, and/or
c. for requests for public records that are of sufficient volume that complying with the request would interfere with the discharge of the employee’s duties (i.e. take more than 15 minutes to respond to) and thereby disrupt the probate court’s service to other members of the general public, and/or
d. for requests for public records that are not available immediately due to off-site location, and/or
e. for requests that need legal review of the request for public records, and/or for requests that require redaction of information which is exempt from inspection and/or
f. for requests that may need legal determination are hereby defined as detailed requests. Probate Court employees should inform the person requesting the information that their request is being referred to 1 (one) of the “public records officers, contact one (1) of the “public records officers” designated by the Judge of the Stark County Probate Court, and allow one (1) of the “public records officers” to meet with the requestor at that time.
“Public Records Officer” shall then:
1. Meet with the requestor and explain the reason for the need to have time to respond to the request.
2. Inform the requestor of the estimated time the requestor can expect to inspect and/or obtain copies of the requested public records. The amount of time must adhere to both reasonable and prompt with respect to the nature of the request.
3. If possible, follow up in writing.
4. Locate and/or gather the requested public records.
5. If a legal analysis is needed, concurrently obtain a review by the Stark County Prosecutor’s Office while assembling the records. If the Stark Prosecutor’s Office determines that the request is not for public records, inform the requestor (in writing if possible) of the determination and reason.
6. “Redact necessary portions of the public record and make sure redaction conspicuous and known to the requestor”.
7. Copy and/or make available the requested public records.
I. The person (person includes corporations, individuals, and other governmental agencies) requesting to inspect and/or copy the public records:
1. does NOT have to provide their name
2. does NOT have to provide a reason for inspecting and/or copying the public records
3. does NOT have to make the request in writing - the request can be in writing or verbal
4. may designate another person to inspect or retrieve the copies
5. does NOT have to reveal a motive (motive is not relevant)
6. is NOT required to be an Ohio resident
J. Particularity of a Public Records Request. The request to inspect and/or copy public records must be specific and describe the public records sought in enough detail and clarity so that the records can be identified, retrieved, and/or inspected.
So long as the request identifies with enough particularity the public record(s) being sought, the request should be immediately processed.
In the event that the request fails to identify the public records sought in enough detail and clarity so that the records can be identified, retrieved, and/or inspected, the request may be denied and the requestor may be asked to restate their request.
In the event that a request is denied for failure to be specific enough and/or describe the public records sought in enough detail and clarity so that the records can be identified, retrieved, and/or inspected, our office SHALL assist the requestor by informing them as to the types of records maintained by this office, the manner they are compiled and stored, and the manner in which they may be accessed.
If a requester makes an ambiguous or overly broad request or has difficulty in making a request for copies or inspection of public records under this section such that the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record cannot reasonably identify what public records are being requested, the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record may deny the request by informing the requester of the manner in which records are maintained by the public office and accessed in the ordinary course of the public office’s or person’s duties.
K. Existence of records. The Stark County Probate Court is not required or obligated to create new records or perform new analysis of existing information to respond to a public records request. An electronic record will be deemed to exist so long as a computer is already programmed to produce the record through simple sorting, filtering, and querying.
L. E-mails: E-mails that fit the definition of “public records” are “public records”. As such, e-mails that are necessary for the adequate and proper documentation of the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the Stark County Probate Court are public records and should be treated as such.
1. Remember the e-mails that are public records fall into the same retention and destruction schedule as paper or other records.
2. Do not delete an e-mail unless
a. You have already printed off a paper copy.
b. You are not the person in the Stark County Probate Court with the responsibility to retain it. That is, another person who generated the e-mail or received it is responsible for retaining it.
c. It is not a “public record”. E-mails that do NOT document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, and essential transactions of the Stark County Probate Court are not public records, and do not have to be maintained. See section 4(d) and (e) of this provision that follows.
3. E-mails are stored on a central system at IT. In a catastrophic event, IT may only be able to restore data to your email folders up to one (1) week prior. This means that your e-mail is susceptible to loss for up to a week. Any e-mails that you absolutely have to maintain should be printed off on paper or stored.
4. For e-mails that meet the definition of “public records”, there are three (3) levels of retention:
a. Transient Retention. E-mails such as meeting notices that can be compared to “communication that might take place during a telephone conversation or conversation in an office hallway” are transient, and retention should be until the e-mail is no longer of administrative value, then destroy.
b. Intermediate Retention. Intermediate correspondence, six (6) months General correspondence, one (1) year. Any e-mails that falls into the Intermediate retention category should be printed off for +retention, and then may be deleted.
c. Permanent Retention.Executive correspondence
Departmental policies
Departmental procedures
Any e-mail that falls into the Permanent retention category should be printed off for retention, and then may be deleted.
d. Personal correspondence (including but not limited to “let’s do lunch” or “can I get a ride home”) are not public records and can/should be deleted.
e. Broadcast e-mail from outside sources, such as spam or list server messages are not public records and can/should be deleted.
When in doubt, print off and retain and/or ask guidance from one of the “Public Records Officers”.