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Audit: Public-Records Law Not Followed At Some Ohio Colleges
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A public-records audit by student journalists found nearly half of employees at Ohio’s public universities who were asked to provide public records failed to follow state law.
The Columbus Dispatch reports that student journalists across Ohio in January requested the same five public records at 12 of Ohio’s 14 public universities without identifying themselves in their requests.
State law doesn’t require those requesting records to identify themselves.
The newspaper reports school employees followed the law for 34 of the 60 total requests by auditors made across the campuses. The Dispatch reports the other 26 requests were denied or obstructed with university employees asking auditors to identify themselves or otherwise making it difficult to obtain a public record.
Ohio’s auditor and attorney general offices declined to comment on the audit findings.