State ex rel. Citizens for Open, Responsive & Accountable Government v. RegisterState ex rel. Citizens for Open, Responsive & Accountable Government v. Register
{¶ 1} This is an original action for a writ of mandamus to compel a township fiscal officer to prepare, file, and maintain full and accurate minutes and records relating to meetings of and resolutions adopted by the Pierce Township Board of Trustees and to include an annual township financial statement in the board minutes and post a copy of the statement at the towmship polling places for each general election. Because the fiscal officer has no duty to correct mistakes in resolutions that were expressly adopted by the board and also has no duty regarding annual financial statements absent an annual settlement of accounts by the board, we deny the writ in most respects. We grant the writ in those few instances in which the fiscal officer made mistakes in her certification of certain resolutions.
{¶ 2} Relator, Citizens for Open, Responsive & Accountable Government, is an association of individuals organized to monitor, ensure, and enforce compliance by all governments, public offices, bodies, and officials with all laws and court decisions to promote the openness, responsiveness, and accountability of these entities and individuals. Respondent, Karen Register, is the Pierce Township fiscal officer — formerly known as the Pierce Township clerk — and has held that position since January 2000.
May 11, 2004 Meeting
{¶ 3} At its regular meeting on May 11, 2004, the Pierce Towmship Board of Trustees adopted Resolution Nos. 04-005, 04-006, and 04-007. The forms approved by the board incorrectly specified March 9, 2004 — instead of May 11, 2004 — as the date of the meeting at which the board adopted the resolutions. In addition, the forms for Resolution Nos. 04-006 and 04-007 contained no substantive provisions.
{¶ 4} Register, in her capacity as township clerk, certified that the addenda were true and correct copies of Resolution Nos. 04-005, 04-006, and 04-007, as passed by the board on May 11, 2004. Register did not draft or prepare the resolutions or the addenda.
August 2, 2004 Meeting
{¶ 5} At its special meeting on August 2, 2004, the board adopted Resolution Nos. 04-016 and 04-017. The resolutions incorrectly designated August 10, 2004, as the adoption date. Register certified that the resolutions were passed on August 10, 2004. Register did not draft or prepare the resolutions.
{¶ 6} At its August 10, 2004 regular meeting, the board adopted Resolution Nos. 04-018 and 04-019. The board approved the forms for these resolutions, which were attached as addenda to the meeting minutes. The forms for Resolution Nos. 04-018 and 04-019 contained no substantive provisions. Register certified that the forms were true and correct copies of the resolutions. But she also certified copies of these resolutions that did contain substantive provisions. Register did not prepare or draft the forms of Resolution Nos. 04-018 and 04-019 that lacked substantive provisions.
December 7, 2004 Meeting
{¶ 7} At its December 7, 2004 special meeting, Steve Strosnider, then a trustee, seconded a motion to adopt Resolution No. 04-024, which was unanimously adopted. Register certified a copy of the resolution that incorrectly noted that another trustee had seconded the motion and that Strosnider did not vote on the resolution. Register did not draft or prepare the resolution.
Township Financial Statements
{¶ 8} In her capacity as township fiscal officer and clerk, Register has never made or entered into the board minutes an annual detailed statement of the township receipts and expenditures for the preceding year, including the amount of money received and expended for each district in the township, the receipts and expenditures of the board of education of the local school district, the source from which the monies were received, to whom they were paid, for what they were expended, and, in detail, all liabilities. Register has also never posted copies of this statement at each township polling place. The township officers have never provided Register with any document designated as an annual settlement of accounts.
Mandamus Case
{¶ 9} On February 7, 2007, Citizens filed this action for a writ of mandamus to compel Register (1) to prepare, file, and maintain full and accurate minutes and records relating to the meetings of, and resolutions adopted by, the township board, and (2) to record the annual financial statement in the board minutes and post a copy of the statement at each township polling place for each general election. Citizens also requests an award of attorney fees. Register filed a motion to dismiss, and Citizens filed a memorandum in opposition. We granted an alternative writ. Register failed to submit a brief.
{¶ 10} This cause is now before us for our consideration of the merits as well as certain motions relating to discovery issues.
{¶ 11} On May 2, 2007, we granted an alternative writ and ordered the parties to submit their evidence within 20 days. State ex rel. Citizens for Open, Responsive & Accountable Govt. v. Register,
{¶ 12} In an e-mail response to Mason, Hartman requested that Mason “identify specifically why the other proposed statements are in bona fide dispute” and stated that if the parties were unable to agree to the facts, he would depose Register on either Friday, May 11, or Monday, May 14.
{¶ 13} Mason responded by requesting an electronic copy of Hartman’s proposed statement of facts and stating that she would get her version of the proposed statement to Hartman by Friday, May 11. Early the same morning, Hartman e-mailed an electronic version of the proposed agreed statement of facts to Mason.
{¶ 14} Despite her prior representation, Mason did not provide her version of the proposed statement of facts to Hartman when promised. On Friday afternoon, Hartman visited Mason’s office and told an administrative assistant that he wanted to speak with Mason. Upon being advised that Mason had left for the day, Hartman served a copy of a notice of deposition of Register for Tuesday, May 15, at 10:00 a.m. Hartman specifically told the administrative assistant that he was serving notice for the following Tuesday, and the assistant indicated that she would immediately place the notice on Mason’s desk.
{¶ 15} Hartman was present with a court reporter for the scheduled deposition of Register, but neither Mason nor Register appeared. Hartman made several unsuccessful attempts to contact Mason.
{¶ 16} Two days afterwards, Register filed a motion for a protective order under
{¶ 17} On May 18, Citizens filed a motion for the imposition of sanctions against Register or her attorney, Mason, for failure to attend the noticed deposition. Citizens also filed evidence in support of the motion. Neither Register nor Mason filed a timely response.
{¶ 18} In resolving these motions, we note that courts have broad discretion over discovery matters. State ex rel. Abner v. Elliott (1999),
{¶ 19} Register’s motion for a protective order failed to comply with
{¶ 20} Under
{¶ 22} Given these facts, Citizens gave Register sufficient notice of her May 15 deposition by hand-delivering the notice to Mason’s office on May 11. Mason’s argument to the contrary in the motion for a protective order is not supported by admissible evidence. S.CtPrac.R. X(7): Cincinnati Bell,
{¶ 23} Under
{¶ 24} Citizens has not, however, established entitlement to the requested attorney fees. Citizens introduced no evidence or argument that it has actually paid or is obligated to pay Hartman attorney fees in this case. Like an award of attorney fees under
{¶ 25} Based on the foregoing, we deny Register’s motion for a protective order, grant Citizens’ motion for sanctions, and order attorney Mason to pay Citizens $233.01 for its reasonable expenses incurred because of Register’s counsel’s failure to comply with the properly noticed deposition.
Mandamus
{¶ 26} To be entitled to the requested extraordinary relief in mandamus, Register must establish a clear legal right to have Register prepare, file, and maintain full and accurate minutes, a clear legal duty on the part of Register to do so, and the lack of an adequate remedy in the ordinary course of the law. State ex rel. Martin v. Mannen,
{¶ 27} Ohio’s Sunshine Law,
{¶ 28} All statutes relating to the same subject matter must be construed in pari materia. State ex rel. Gains v. Rossi (1999),
{¶ 29} Citizens asserts that Register failed to comply with her duties under
Register’s Duties
{¶ 30} Register has a duty under
{¶ 31} Nevertheless, the township fiscal officer has no duty under
{¶ 32} Therefore, if the board prepares and approves a resolution that is inaccurate, the township fiscal officer has no duty to certify a resolution that corrects any perceived mistakes made by the board. Cf. S.I. Dev. & Constr., L.L.C. v. Medina Cty. Bd. of Elections,
{¶ 33} The evidence establishes that the majority of mistakes contained in the resolutions were made by the board itself — of which Citizens’ counsel was a member during the period at issue — instead of by Register. For example, the board approved the forms for Resolution Nos. 04-006, 04-007, 04-018, and 04-019 that contained no substantive provisions. The board also adopted resolutions containing an incorrect date of passage within their text — Resolution Nos. 04-005, 04-006, 04-007, 04-016, and 04-017 — but Register’s certification of copies of Resolution Nos. 04-005, 04-006, and 04-007 specified the correct passage dates for them. Finally, the board approved a resolution that included an incorrect designation of which trustee seconded a motion to approve it and how that trustee voted — Resolution No. 04-024.
{¶ 34} By certifying these resolutions and including mistakes in them that had been approved by the board — including Citizens’ counsel — Register accurately specified that the copies certified were of those resolutions actually passed by the board. In that regard, Register fully complied with her duties under
{¶ 35} Yet Register did make mistakes in her certification of certain resolutions. For example, she certified that Resolution Nos. 04-016 and 04-017 were passed by the board on August 10, 2004, instead of on August 2, 2004. Register also certified separate versions of Resolution Nos. 04-018 and 04-019 that were different from each other — one set reflected the blank forms without substantive provisions approved by the board and another set included substantive provisions.
{¶ 36} Therefore, because Register has no duty to correct mistakes in resolutions that were expressly adopted by the board, Citizens is not entitled to a writ of mandamus for most of the challenged inaccuracies. But Citizens is entitled to a writ of mandamus to compel Register to (1) correct her certification of Resolutions Nos. 04-016 and 04-017 to reflect that the board adopted these resolutions on August 2, 2004, and (2) correct her certification of conflicting copies of Resolution Nos. 04-018 and 04-019.
{¶ 37} Citizens also requests a writ of mandamus to compel Register to make and enter into the board minutes an annual township financial statement and to post copies of the statement at each township polling place.
{¶ 38} Citizens relies on
{¶ 39} “Immediately after the township officers have made their annual settlement of accounts, the township fiscal officer shall make and enter in the record of the proceedings of the board of township trustees a detailed statement of the receipts and expenditures of the township for the preceding year, the amount of money received and expended for such purposes in each district in the township, and the receipts and expenditures of the board of education of the local school district. The fiscal officer shall state from what source the moneys were received, to whom they were paid, for what they were expended, and, in detail, all liabilities. On the morning of the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, each year, the fiscal officer shall post a copy of the statement at each place of holding township elections.” (Emphasis added.)
{¶ 40} Under the plain language of
{¶ 41} As the attorney general has opined, this “section is now obsolete and incapable of being given any operative effect” because previous code provisions requiring township trustees to settle accounts were “not carried into the later revisions of the code.” 1957 Ohio Atty.Gen.Ops. No. 120. “It logically follows that where no action is taken by the trustees with respect to such matter the duty of the township clerk [now fiscal officer] with respect to the posting of the statement as required by
{¶ 42} Therefore, because there is no evidence establishing that the prerequisite for Register’s duties under
Attorney Fees
{¶ 43} Citizens is not entitled to an award of attorney fees on its mandamus claims. For the most part, its claims lack merit. “We have never extended an award of attorney fees in public-records mandamus cases to encompass mandamus claims that are ultimately held to be without merit.” State ex rel. Lanham v. Smith,
Conclusion
{¶ 44} We grant a writ of mandamus to compel Register to correctly certify that Resolution Nos. 04-016 and 04-017 were adopted by the board on August 2, 2004, and to correct the conflicting certified versions of Resolution Nos. 04-018 and 04-019. In all other respects, we deny the writ and deny Citizens’ request for an award of attorney fees on its mandamus claim.
Judgment accordingly.