State ex rel. Pool v. Sheffield Lake, 2023 Ohio 1204

Relator Keith Pool, a Sheffield Lake police officer, alleged racially harassing conduct by then-Chief Anthony Campo (offensive "Face-in-Hole" images, a printed "KKK" sign and hat placed on Pool); Campo was placed on leave and retired.
Pool submitted a July 2021 public-records request seeking, among other items, Face-in-Hole images (item 7) and memoranda/directives by Campo (item 9); the city produced partial records and later produced additional materials, including native email files with some Face-in-Hole images, after follow-up.
The city engaged a third-party vendor, Profile Discovery, to forensically image Campo’s city-issued desktop; the vendor reported no recoverable Face-in-Hole images because attachments had been stripped and could not be recovered; the city collected attachments from recipients when possible.
Pool filed an original action in mandamus (Nov. 2021) seeking production, statutory damages, attorney fees, and court costs; the Supreme Court granted an alternative writ and took evidence; Pool moved to supplement the record with Ohio Civil Rights Commission probable-cause letters, which the Court denied.
The Court held the city’s search efforts reasonable under the Public Records Act and denied the writ to compel production of the missing Face-in-Hole images and additional memos; the Court also denied statutory damages, attorney fees, and court costs.

Issue	Pool's Argument	Sheffield Lake's Argument	Held
Adequacy of search for Face-in-Hole images (item 7)	City failed to locate electronic copies; must search beyond what was done and recover images	City used a forensic vendor, could not recover stripped attachments, and collected attachments from recipients—efforts were reasonable	City’s search efforts were reasonable; no writ to compel production of nonexistent records
Production of memoranda/directives by Campo (item 9)	City failed to produce all memos from July 2019–July 2021; relator produced two memos the city did not produce	City cannot produce records it does not have; its forensic search located no additional memos	Writ denied as to memos; city not compelled to produce records it does not possess
Statutory damages under R.C. 149.43(C)(2)	Delay and incomplete productions justify statutory damages	City’s responses and supplemental productions were reasonable; delays not unreasonable	Denied—relator did not meet basis for statutory damages
Attorney fees and court costs (R.C. 149.43(C)(3))	Fees warranted for unreasonable delay/incomplete responses; bad faith	City timely responded overall; any delayed promise was minor and no evidence of bad faith	Denied—no statutory trigger shown for fees or costs; discretionary fee grounds not met

State ex rel. Dunlap v. Sarko, 135 Ohio St.3d 171 (2013) (limits court consideration to records addressed in relator’s brief)
State ex rel. Physicians Commt. for Responsible Medicine v. Ohio State Univ. Bd. of Trustees, 108 Ohio St.3d 288 (2006) (mandamus appropriate to compel compliance with Public Records Act)
State ex rel. Cordell v. Paden, 156 Ohio St.3d 394 (2019) (relator must prove by clear and convincing evidence that requested records exist and are maintained by the office)
State ex rel. Toledo Blade Co. v. Seneca Cty. Bd. of Commrs., 120 Ohio St.3d 372 (2008) (public office must make reasonable, not Herculean, efforts to recover deleted records)
State ex rel. Lanham v. Smith, 112 Ohio St.3d 527 (2007) (public office has no duty to create nonexistent records)
State ex rel. Rogers v. Dept. of Rehab. & Corr., 155 Ohio St.3d 545 (2018) (statutory framework for awarding attorney fees in public-records cases)
State ex rel. Summers v. Fox, 164 Ohio St.3d 583 (2021) (bad faith for fee awards cannot be presumed solely because records were produced after suit; additional evidence required)
State ex rel. McDougald v. Greene, 161 Ohio St.3d 130 (2020) (same principle: must show more than post-filing production to establish bad faith)