COLUMBUS, Ohio — 10TV is committed to bringing central Ohio accurate and timely stories that include context to help viewers understand them better.
Over the past few months, it has been more challenging for 10TV to get public records from the Columbus Division of Police, which is crucial to reporting on crime and keeping people informed about what's happening in the city.
For example, 10TV requested 911 calls for a deadly shooting that happened at the Kroger on Soldano Boulevard in January. Although the request was made moments after the shooting, the records were not sent until May.
Mark Weaver, a media law attorney who specializes in First Amendment rights and public records, said citizens have a right to see most records.
"When they don't turn those records over in a timely way, citizens don't have the ability to check on their government. In an election year, that is particularly important,” Weaver said.
Ohio's open records law in the Ohio Revised Code Sections 1493.43 to 149.44 states "public records shall make copies of the requested public record available to the requester at cost and within a reasonable period of time."
In the last six months, there has been an average waiting period of four to five months for the Columbus Division of Police to hand over public records.
“Ultimately, judges decide what is reasonable if there is a lawsuit. The Supreme Court has said waiting several months for a small amount of records is unreasonable,” Weaver said.
Columbus police have shown they are capable of returning public records requests faster, depending on the situation.
As an example, in May, 10TV received body camera video of a shooting in the Short North three days after our request was submitted.
Another example is when a Columbus police officer fatally shot 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant in April 2021, the department released the officer's body camera video five hours after the incident.
“Every public office needs to have a system where they can give out public records in a reasonable amount of time. That means they have to have the staff, the filing and the processes in place to meet their basic obligation to allow citizens to read the records of the government,” Weaver said.
According to the Columbus Department of Public Safety, there are seven full-time employees who work in the Columbus Division of Police public records office. By comparison, Cincinnati police have 34 full-time in the department's public records section.
Mayor Andrew Ginther said transparency is a priority for him and the city.
“We think it is important, sharing as much information as possible about what is going on,” Ginther said.
An email to human resources from the supervisor of the public records office for Columbus police dated May 10, 2022, describes how short staffed the department is.
"As of June 6th, the public records unit will be down three more management analysts. Leaving two and myself to complete public records requests. We desperately need to get the ball rolling on hiring replacements or the city/division will likely be sued because of the time it will take to full public records requests.”
Ginther said the city is doing its best based on the staffing they have.
"We are going to continue to do that to make sure that information is being turned over that is appropriate that has been requested. Obviously, any information that is coming out of police we need to make sure we are protecting officers and other things that might be involved,” Ginther said.
In another email from the public records supervisor dated May 20, 2022, states, "it is readily apparent that replacements are immediately needed. With only three of us left in the unit to complete these requests, it is inevitable that this unit will get substantially behind on filling requests which will result in the division/city being sued.”
According to the public safety department, two lawsuits have been filed. One of the lawsuits was dismissed after the records were provided.
“Public records are the people's records. Agencies are supposed to give them over. When they don't citizens can take action and they should,” Weaver said.
The public safety department tells 10TV the city has budgeted for more staff members in the public safety office, adding four more expansion positions to the unit.