State ex rel. Ware v. Galonski, 2024 Ohio 1064

Kimani Ware, an inmate, filed a complaint for a writ of mandamus in December 2019 under Ohio’s Public Records Act, seeking records from the Summit County Clerk of Courts.
Ware claimed he sent ten public-records requests by certified mail in January 2019 but received no response, and thus requested statutory damages.
The Clerk responded that either the documents were provided or legitimate reasons were given for any inability to produce certain records.
The Ninth District Court of Appeals initially denied relief, relying on the Rules of Superintendence and later on lack of evidence that Ware sent the requests by certified mail.
The Ohio Supreme Court previously remanded the case, ordering the Ninth District to apply the Public Records Act to most of Ware’s requests.
On remand, the Ninth District found Ware failed to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that his requests were delivered by certified mail and denied statutory damages; the Supreme Court affirmed this holding.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Entitlement to statutory damages under Public Records Act	Requests sent by certified mail in January 2019; Clerk failed to respond in a reasonable period	Clerk did not receive requests until late 2019; no proof of delivery by certified mail	Ware did not prove by clear and convincing evidence delivery by certified mail; damages denied
Sufficiency of evidence for delivery of requests	Certified mail receipt signed “C.O.C.” shows Clerk’s receipt	Signature does not prove actual content of envelope; office has no record	“C.O.C.” signature insufficient to prove delivery of public-records requests
Clerk’s obligation to produce all requested documents	Clerk failed to provide documents within a reasonable period	Clerk provided documents available or had legitimate reasons for withholding	Clerk acted within statutory obligations; no violation found
Applicability of Public Records Act vs. Rules of Superintendence	Requests should be governed by Public Records Act	Some documents governed by Rules of Superintendence	Supreme Court: Most requests under Public Records Act, but Ware still not entitled to damages

State ex rel. Pietrangelo v. Avon Lake, 149 Ohio St.3d 273 (Ohio 2016) (requester must prove by clear and convincing evidence that public-records request was sent by a qualifying method)
State ex rel. Ware v. Giavasis, 163 Ohio St.3d 359 (Ohio 2020) (statutory damages denied where proof of delivery of public-records request is lacking)