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Ohio Court: Initial Reports of Threats Are Public Record

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The Ohio Supreme Court has ruled initial reports containing information about threats against a former county leader in Cleveland who ran for governor are public records.

The court ruled unanimously Wednesday that the records involving former Cuyahoga County executive Edward FitzGerald fall into the category of “initial incident reports” that are usually subject to immediate release.

At issue were requests for records from May 2012 to August 2014 in which FitzGerald, the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial nominee, was identified as a victim or a person filing a complaint.

The county sheriff’s office denied the request, saying they were security records that can be shielded.

The Supreme Court examined the nine records and determined they were not security records and could be released.

The records involve mostly telephone threats against FitzGerald.