According to the Ohio Public Records Act, a “record” is any item that;
- Contains information stored on a fixed medium (such as paper, computer,
file, etc.);
- Is created, received or sent under the jurisdiction of a public office;
- and Documents the organization, functions, policies, decision,
procedures, operations or other activities of the office.
In order for an item to be a public record, it must be “kept” by the public office (LCS). That does not mean that the item must be “required” to be maintained by the public office before it will be deemed a public record. Rather, the item must simply be the type of item typically and actually retained by the office in the ordinary course of its business in order to carry out its duties and functions. If not, then the item is not “kept” and the public office does not have an obligation to provide access to the item. It the item does not exist, the public office will not have the obligation to provide access to that item or create the item to respond to a request.