DRC Director Gary Mohr communications to Office of Budget Management

Good Afternoon,

Please accept this email acknowledging receipt of your public records request received by the Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM) on Friday, January 16, 2015. I apologize it has taken me a few days to respond back to you as we are in the midst of the budget season. I will be in touch with you via email regarding your request within the next week.

Thank you.

Katelyn R. Kaman
Associate Legal Counsel

Tel: 614-466-3602
katelyn.kaman@obm.state.oh.us<mailto:katelyn.kaman@obm.state.oh.us>

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Legal Division
30 E Broad Street, 34th Floor , Columbus, OH 43215 | obm.ohio.gov<http://obm.ohio.gov/>

Confidentiality Notice: This message is intended for use only by the individual or entity to whom or which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and/or otherwise exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by telephone. Thank you.

Ms. Lipton,
Please accept this email in response to your request for records on Friday, January 16, 2015 to Ohio Office of Budget and Management (OBM). You requested the following:
All letters, emails, and memos sent from the Director of the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction Gary Mohr (or a representative of his office) to the Office of Budget Management from June 1, 2014 through the date this request is processed.
Please consider this a request for further clarification. The Ohio Public Records Act requires that a requester identify the records he or she is seeking with “reasonable clarity” so that the public office can identify responsive records based on the manner in which it ordinarily maintains and accesses the public records it keeps (Glasgow v. Jones, 2008-Ohio-4788, 119 Ohio St.3d. 191, ¶17 quoting State ex. rel. Morgan v. New Lexington, 2006-Ohio-6365, 112 Ohio St.3d 33,¶29). Unfortunately, your request does not provide OBM with sufficient guidance to properly identify which records you are seeking. Although you have identified the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) and OBM as the respective receiving and sending parties for the records you are seeking, your request does not identify a subject matter or related issue for OBM to search or employees aside from the Director of DRC from or to whom the requested records were sent. Furthermore, not only have you requested a broad range of documents, devices, and items (“all letters, emails, and memos”) but your request also encompasses a broad range of individuals who may be senders, recipients, or custodians of these records. There are over 12,000 individuals who are employed at OBM and DRC combined, and each individual could potentially be a sender, recipient or custodian of the records you seek. As it currently stands, your request asks for a broad category of records related to interagency communications. Ohio courts have repeatedly found such requests lacking the specificity required for a public office to properly comply with the request. (See State ex rel. Zidonis v. Columbus State Community College, 133 Ohio St. 3d 122, at 128, 2012 Ohio 4228; Salemi v. Cleveland Metroparks, 2014 Ohio 3914,¶13, 2014 Ohio App. LEXIS 3932; State ex rel. Carr v. London Corr. Inst., 2014 Ohio 1325 ¶¶22-26, 2914 Ohio App. LEXIS 1313). Accordingly, your request is overly broad in that it would require that we search each OBM employee’s public records to obtain all letters, emails, and memos received from any employee of DRC.
Therefore OBM cannot properly respond to your request without additional information. If you wish to revise your request and provide greater specificity i.e. the subject matter or topic of the “letters, emails, and memos”, as well as the employees or category of employees within the scope of your request, OBM will be better able to assist you in identifying the records you seek.
Sincerely,

Katelyn R. Kaman
Associate Legal Counsel

Tel: 614-466-3602
katelyn.kaman@obm.state.oh.us<mailto:katelyn.kaman@obm.state.oh.us>

[Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: OBMlogoClear_1_1]

Legal Division
30 E Broad Street, 34th Floor , Columbus, OH 43215 | obm.ohio.gov<http://obm.ohio.gov/>

Confidentiality Notice: This message is intended for use only by the individual or entity to whom or which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential and/or otherwise exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible for delivering the message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify me immediately by telephone. Thank you.