Search Warrant Data (Columbus Division of Police)

LPL filed this request with the Columbus Division of Police of Columbus, OH.
Multi Request Search Warrant Data
Est. Completion None
Status
Fix Required

Communications

From: LPL


To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Ohio Open Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

For all search warrants, applications for search warrants, cancellations, and authorization for search warrants between 2012 to the date of processing this request, please provide the following points of record for each:

Full Name of requester
If arrest, arrest ID (eg some cities/states use, "Incident Report")
Reason(s) for search warrant (typically either hand-written, or checkboxes)
Badge ID (or similar) of requester
District/Unit
Name of Judge
Name of approving officer
Whether an Arrest happened
Requested location of search warrant
Location of search warrant execution
Type of search warrant
Statements used to justify search warrant
Time and date when search warrant was submitted for approval
Time and date when search warrant was executed
Whether anything was seized
Whether anything was found
License plate of vehicle (if relevant)
Race of person for search warrant
Age of person for search warrant
State of person for search warrant
Whether an informant was involved
Method of contact with informant leading to search warrant (eg, phone call, mail, fax, email, etc)
Description of person search warrant executed on
Legal code of violation
Description of violation
Date of violation
If search warrant related to debt: name of company debt is owed to, amount owed
Whether FBI involved
ID associated with FBI document (eg, IR #)
Whether search warrant was cancelled
Whether contraband found
Whether narcotics found

The records responsive to this request are likely available in a database, or in some query-able format. If your department or agency does not have direct access to the records, please raise to the respective department that can run queries directly (eg, through SQL).

Should your agency not have all of the requested records within a single record or document, please provide me the relevant documents that do, even if that requires more than one class of document. Should some of the records be unavailable, please let me know ahead of time so that we can narrow the request accordingly.

As the records responsive to this request are imperative for understanding how search warrants are executed, I ask that the public interest of these records be evaluated to the extent that the public's interest outweighs this request's burden. To add, this request is being sent to the largest city of every state and will be collated together to create a comprehensive map of search warrants throughout the US. As such, the records are not only important for understanding search warrants at a local level, but also at a national and state-wide level.

Please ensure that provided documents comply with Section 508, as these records will be shared with members of the public who are covered under the ADA. This guide should be helpful: https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/pdf/index.html

If this request was sent to the wrong department or agency, please let me know so that I can send to the correct place.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days.

Sincerely,

Lucy Parsons Labs

From: Columbus Division of Police

To Lucy Parsons Labs,

The request is overly broad and the requested records are not organized in a manner in which they can be readily retrieved as requested.

Overly broad case law: State ex ref. Zidonis v. Columbus State Community College, 133 Ohio St.3d 122, 2012-Ohio-4228 (request for all litigation files and all grievance files for a period over six years, and for all emails between two employees during joint employment); State ex ref. Dehler v. Spatny, 127 Ohio St. 3d 312, 2010-Ohio-5711 (request for prison quartermaster's orders and receipts for clothing over seven years); State ex ref. Glasgow v. Jones, 119 Ohio St.3d 391, 2008-Ohio-4788 (request for all work-related emails, texts, and correspondence of an elected
official during six months in office); State ex ref. Daugherty v. Mohr, 10th Dist. No 11AP-5, 2011-Ohio-6453 (request for all policies,
emails, or memos regarding whether prison officials are authorized to 'triple cell' inmates into segregation); State ex ref. Davila v. Bellefontaine,
3d Dist. No. 8-11-01, 2011-Ohio-4890 (request to inspect 911 tapes covering 15 years); State ex ref. Davila v. East Liverpool, 7th Dist.
No. 10 CO 16, 2011-Ohio-1347, discretionary appeal not allowed 2011-Ohio-4217 (request to access tape recorded 911 calls and
radio traffic over seven years); State ex ref. Zauderer v. Joseph, 62 Ohio App.3d 752 (10th Dist. 1989) (request for all accident reports filed on a
given date with two law enforcement agencies).

Also See State ex rel. Zidonis v. Columbus State Community College, 133 Ohio St.3d 122, 2012-Ohio-4228, ¶ 30 (Public Records Act "does not
expressly require public offices to maintain emails so they can be retrieved by sender and recipient status."); State ex rel. Oriana House v.
Montgomery, 10th Dist. Nos. 04AP-492, 04AP-504, 2005-Ohio-3377, ¶ 89, rev'd on other grounds, 110 Ohio St.3d 456, 2006-Ohio-4854 (the fact
that requester made what it believed to be a specific request does not mandate that the public office keep its records in such a way that access
to the records was possible); State ex rel. Evans v. Parma, 8th Dist. No. 81236, 2003-Ohio-1159. 90 State ex rel. Evans v. Parma, 8th Dist. No. 81236, 2003-Ohio-1159, ¶15

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