A.Definitionof “Record”
When responding to a request for records, an analysis of whetherthe requested records may be released, must be released or cannot be released beginswith an analysis of pertinent law contained in RC Chapter 149. RC §149.011(G)sets out the definition of "records" subject to public records laws. Thisdefinition includes:
"any document, device, or item, regardlessof physical form or characteristic, created or received by or coming under the jurisdictionof any public office of the state or its political subdivisions, which serves todocument the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations,or other activities of the office."
State ex rel. Dispatch Printing Co. vs. Johnson106 Ohio St. 3d 160 (2005), held that home addresses of state employees are notrecords under RC §149.011(G) and RC §149.43, because they do not document the organization,functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of theoffice.
State ex rel. Cranford vs. City of Cleveland, 2004Ohio 633 (affirmed by 103 Ohio St. 3d 196), held that personal notes are not records,if kept solely for personal convenience. Case Facts: Notes were taken by an employeeduring a dismissal hearing and were the employee's personal notes. Therefore, thecourt held that the city and employees had no duty to comply with a request to providethe notes.
B.Applicationof Public Records Act to Private Entities
RC§149.43 is known as the "Public Records Act" and is the generalrecords law governing the status of state and local government records when requestedby a third party. The statute applies to virtually any record kept by any stateor local governmental agency, in any form (but it must be a "record" underthe definition contained in RC §149.011(G)).
Oriana House vs. Ohio Auditor of State, 110 OhioSt. 3d 456 (10/04/06), Ohio Supreme Court ruled that private entities are not subjectto public records laws unless there is clear and convincing evidence they are the"functional equivalent of a public office. "A private business does notopen its records to public scrutiny merely by performing services on behalf of stateor municipal government."
State ex rel. Repository vs. Nova Behavioral Health,112 Ohio St. 3d 338, private community mental health agency contracting with countyMH Board was determined not to be functional equivalent of a public office, andtherefore not subject to the Public Records Act.
State ex rel. Dann vs. Taft, 110 Ohio St. 3d 1(01/13/06), reports that provide economic or business decisions of companies shouldbe confidential until the company makes a public announcement.]
C.Inspection,Copying and Release of Public Records
RC§149.43(B)(2) mandates that all public records held by state orlocal governmental entities (or their functional equivalent) be organized andmaintained "…in a manner that they can be made available for inspection orcopying in accordance with…" the statute. Therefore, when new computersystems or storage strategies are formulated for information managementpurposes, access for purposes of public records laws must be considered. RC§149.43(B)(2) requires that public offices have available a copy of theircurrent records retention schedules, at a location readily available to thepublic (ODJFS's retention schedules are available on-line from the ODJFS homepage, and can be found under "Employee and Business Services"), andthat public offices give requesters the opportunity to revise ambiguous oroverly broad records requests.
RC §149.43(B)(1) states that, when a request for records is madeto a state or local government entity (or its functional equivalent), all publicrecords that are "responsive to the request shall be promptly prepared andmade available for inspection to the requester at all reasonable times duringregular business hours." The statute gives the state or local agency areasonable period of time to produce the requested public records. This doesnot mean at the state or local agency's convenience. A "reasonable periodof time" includes the time it takes to locate the record, determine if therequested record is a public record and secure it from where it is stored. Ifthe record is at hand and is clearly a public record that requires no reviewand redaction of non-public, confidential, or privileged information, it mustbe released immediately.
The courts have ruled in most cases that the requester of public records need not identify themselves, put theirrequest in writing or provide a reason for requesting the information. The courtsmake it very clear that refusing to release public records for any of theaforementioned reasons is improper despite any type of state or local agencyinternal policy. The courts’ decisions were codified in RC§149.43(B)(4) and (B)(5), which expressly state that publicoffices cannot require that a requester of public records disclose his/heridentity, nor ask how the requester intends to use the records, as a conditionof providing the public record. However, public offices may ask the requesterto make the request in writing, and to disclose his/her/their identity, as wellas inquire about the intended use of the records, as long as the office firsttells the requester that a written request is not mandatory, and that it willonly be used to help the public office identify, locate and deliver therequested public records.
However, if the records requested are exempt from the publicrecords act (see exemptions in RC §149.43(A)(1)), or specifically madeconfidential or non-public under another federal or state law (e.g. identifyinginformation about recipients of public assistance, child support services andunemployment compensation; personal information of public employees, includingsocial security numbers and driver's license numbers), then verifying theidentity, and possibly intentions, of the requesting party will be essential,in order to comply with federal/state confidentiality laws.
Also, if the request for public records is by a person who isincarcerated due to a criminal conviction or juvenile adjudication and who isthe subject of the records, and the requested access is for public recordsconcerning a criminal investigation or prosecution or concerning what would bea criminal investigation or prosecution, access is restricted to circ*mstanceswherein a judge determines that the records sought are necessary to supportwhat appears to be a justiciable claim of the person. (See RC §149.43(B)(8))
RC §149.43(B)(6) says that any state or local agency thatreceives a public records request is required to give the person requesting thepublic record the option of receiving a copy of the public record requested"..upon paper, upon the same medium upon which the public office or personresponsible for the public record keeps it, or upon any other medium upon whichthe public office or person responsible for the public record determines thatit reasonably can be duplicated as an integral part of the normal operations ofthe public office or person responsible for the public record." However,(B)(6) also allows a public office to require therequesting party to "pay in advance the cost involved in providing thecopy of the public record in accordance with the choice made by the personseeking the copy..." Care should be taken to use encrypted email and othersecure methods when transmitting confidential, sensitive or non-publicinformation via electronic means. Other acceptable costs, which a public officecan require the requester to pay in advance, include but are not limited toactual mailing costs for copies, actual cost of computer discs, or actual costsfor computer time. The courts do not allow costs to includethe hourly wages of employees who secure or copy the information pursuant tothe request. If the request reasonably requires the use of a contractor,that cost can be charged to the requester. This type of cost should be agreedupon between the parties before a contractor’s services are utilized and thecharges are passed on to the requester. The courts allow delay in providingrequested records if the agency requires payment prior to release. ODJFS mayallow waiver of costs for release of records. Whether to waive costs should bedecided on a case-by-case basis by the program area providing the records.
State and local agencies, upon request, must mail or transmit byany other means (RC §149.43(B)(7)) public records to requesters. However, thestate or local agency can limit the number of records sent by United Statesmail to ten per month if the requester is requesting the records for commercialpurposes (commercial purposes do not include reporting or gathering news,reporting or gathering information to assist citizen oversight or understandingof the operation or activities of government, or nonprofit educationalresearch), and, as stated above, the public office may require the requester topay in advance the cost of postage and supplies usedin the mailing, delivery or transmission. RC 149.43(B)(7) also allows publicoffices to limit the number of public records a person can request via a publicoffice’s website in digital format to ten per month, unless the records areunavailable on the public office’s website and the person certifies to theoffice in writing that the records are not intended for commercial purposes.
D.Denyinga Public Records Request & Potential Consequences for Improper Withholding
RC §149.43 (B)(3) states that if a request is denied, in wholeor in part, a public office must provide the requester with an explanation,including the legal authority for the denial. Requesters must either benotified of any redactions of exempt or confidential information from anotherwise public record, or the redactions must be made "plainlyvisible", pursuant to RC §149.43 (B)(1). To make redactions "plainlyvisible", redactions should be made using black marker, block electronicredaction or some other method that allows the requesting party to see where items have been redacted, but notwhat precisely has been redacted.
Failure to release public records by an agency subject to RC§149.43 could result in a mandamus action being filed by the requester.Mandamus is a special legal writ which can be filed in the state common pleas,appellate or supreme court. The writ asks the court to order the agency to dosomething that the agency is required to do by law. If a requester prevails inthe mandamus action requiring the agency to release the records at issue, thecourt may also require the agency to pay attorney fees, court costs and statutorydamages of $100.00 per day for each day after the filing of themandamus action that the records are not provided, up to a maximum of $1,000.00(these provisions can be found in RC §149.43 (C), a summary of which isprovided immediately below). This could result in thousands of dollars in costsborne by the agency. A mandamus action also requires large investments of timeand representation for the agency by its own legal counsel. It is, therefore,important for ODJFS staff to consult with the ODJFS Office of Legal Serviceswhenever there is doubt as to whether a record is a public record or fallswithin one of the exceptions. County agency employees should consult with theircounty prosecuting attorney or in-house counsel regarding legal decisions onpublic records or confidentiality.
RC §149.43 (C) permits aggrieved parties who are improperlydenied public records, to collect court costs and statutory damages, inaddition to attorney's fees. The amount of statutory damages is fixed at$100.00 a day for each business day, beginning from the date the mandamus actionis filed, and continuing until either the improperly denied public record isproduced, or ten business days, whichever comes first. So, the maximumstatutory penalty is $1,000. This provision re-emphasizes the importance ofresponding to records requests in a timely manner, which may requirestreamlining and restructuring of records responsibilities in some publicoffices.
Under RC §149.43 (C), the court may reduce ornot award both statutory damages and attorney's fees, if the courtdetermines BOTH of the following: "(a) That,based on the ordinary application of statutory law and case law as it existedat the time of the conduct or threatened conduct [meaning the time the recordswere denied or delayed]…a well-informed public office or person responsible forthe requested public records reasonably would believe that the conduct orthreatened conduct …did not constitute a failure to comply with an obligationin accordance with division (B) of" RC §149.43; and"(b) That a well-informed public office or person responsible for therequested public records reasonably would believe that the conduct orthreatened conduct …would serve the public policy that underlies the authoritythat is asserted as permitting that conduct or threatened conduct."
Mandamus-related court costs may be awarded to the requester ifeither the public office fails to respond affirmatively or negatively to therecords request within a reasonable time-frame, OR thepublic office promises the records to the requester, but fails to fulfill thatpromise within the specified period of time, OR thecourt determines that the public office acted in bad faith and that it onlyreleased the requested public records as a result of the filing of the mandamusaction, but before the court issued any order. Court costs and attorney's feesare meant to be remedial and not punitive.
RC§149.43 (E) requires that all elected officials or their appropriatedesignees attend public records training approved by the attorney general, andthat all public offices (1) adopt a public records policy as guidance forresponding to public records requests (see Internal Policyand Procedure (IPP) 8101 in Appendix A), and (2) distribute that policyto the individual in that public office that is designated as the "recordscustodian or records manager or [who] otherwise has custody of the records ofthat office". The public records policy adopted may not place any limitson the number of public records that the office will make available to a singleperson, or during a fixed period of time, and may not establish a fixed periodof time before it will respond to a request for inspection or copying of publicrecords, unless the period is less than 8 hours. RC §109.43requires that the attorney general's (AG's) office provide elected officials ortheir appropriate designees three hours of accredited training for each term ofoffice, to (1) enhance the official's knowledge of the duty to provide accessto public records and their knowledge of the open meetings laws, and (2)provide officials guidance in developing and updating their offices' publicrecords policies. If the training is provided by the AG, it must be at nocharge to the official or designee. If the training is provided by a public orprivate contractor for the AG, the AG can establish a reasonable registration fee,for which the official or designee can pay with public office funds. Any publicrecords training attended can help public officials meet the requirements of RC§149.43(E).
E.ListedExemptions to Ohio's Public Records Act
Upon receiving a request for records and in deciding whether torelease a record, the person receiving the request must first determine whetherthe record being requested is a public record. RC §149.43(A)(1) defines apublic record as:
...records kept by any public office,including, but not limited to, state, county, city, village, township, andschool district units, and records pertaining to the delivery of educationalservices by an alternative school in this state kept by the nonprofit orfor-profit entity operating the alternative school pursuant to section 3313.533 of the Revised Code. "Public record" does not mean anyof the following.
The statute then sets out more than fortyspecific exceptions and one general exception. Thus, although the startingpremise is that all records held by any public office are"public records" that must be released to anyone upon request, partor all of a record may actually be withheld or redacted if it fits within oneof the exceptions set out in the statute. The exceptions are listed in RC §149.43(A)(1)as follows:
a.Medicalrecords - See RC §149.43(A)(3) for definition of "MedicalRecord": any document or combination of documents, except births, deaths,and the fact of admission to or discharge from a hospital, that pertains to themedical history, diagnosis, prognosis, or medical condition of a patient and that is generated and maintained in the process of medicaltreatment.
b.Records pertaining to Probation and Parole Proceedings or toproceedings related to the imposition of community control sanctions (asdefined under RC§2929.01) and post release control sanctions(as defined under RC §2967.01), or to proceedings related todeterminations under RC § 2967.271 regarding the release or maintainedincarceration of an offender to whom that section applies.
c.Recordspertaining to actions under sections 2151.85 and 2919.121(C)of the Revised Code and to appeals of actions arising under those sections.Both sections make reference to Juvenile Abortion PermissionRecords.
d.Recordspertaining to Adoption Proceedings, including thecontents of an adoption file maintained by the department of health under RC §§ 3705.12to 3705.124.
e.Information in a Record Contained in the Putative Father Registry- established by RC §3107.062, regardless of whether the informationis held by the Department of Job and Family Services or, pursuant to RC §3111.69,the division of child support in the department or a child support enforcementagency.
f.Adoption Records - Records specified in RC §3107.52(A).
g.Trial Preparation Records - Any record that containsinformation that is specifically compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or indefense of, a civil or criminal action or proceeding, including the independentthought processes and personal trial preparation of an attorney.
h.Confidential Law Enforcement Investigatory Records - anyrecord that pertains to a law enforcement matter of a criminal, quasi criminal,civil, or administrative nature, but only to the extent that the release of therecord would create a high probability of disclosureof (1) the identity of a suspect who has not been charged with the offense towhich the record pertains; (2) the identify of an information source or witnessto whom confidentiality has been reasonably promised; (3) information providedby an information source or witness to whom confidentiality has been reasonablypromised, which information would reasonably tend to disclose the source’s orwitness’s identity; (4) specific confidential investigatory techniques orprocedures or specific investigatory work product; or (5) information thatwould endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement personnel, acrime victim, a witness, or a confidential information source.
i.Recordscontaining information that is confidential under RC § 2710.03 (Mediation Communications)and RC § 4112.05 (Ohio Civil RightsCommission Investigations).
j.DNARecords Stored in the DNA Database Pursuant toRC §109.573.
k.Inmate Records released by the Department of Rehabilitationand Correction to the Department of Youth Services or a court of recordpursuant to RC§5120.21(E).
l.Records Maintained by the Department of Youth Servicespertaining to children in its custody released by the Department of YouthServices to the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction pursuant to RC §5139.05.
m.Intellectual Property Records - a record, other than afinancial or administrative record, that is produced or collected by or forfaculty or staff of a state institution of higher learning in the conduct of oras a result of study or research on an educational, commercial, scientific,artistic, technical, or scholarly issue, regardless of whether the study orresearch was sponsored by the institution alone or in conjunction with agovernmental body or private concern, and that has not been publicly released,published or patented.
n.Donor Profile Records - all records about donors orpotential donors to a public institution of higher education except the namesand reported addresses of the actual donors and the date, amount, andconditions of the actual donation.
o.Records Maintained by the Department of Job and Family ServicesPursuant to RC §3121.894 (new hire and rehire reporting for childsupport by employers).
p.Residential and Familial Information of Designated Public ServiceWorkers. The definition in RC 149.43(A)(7) includes, but is not limited to,peace officers, parole officers, probation officers, bailiffs, prosecutingattorneys, assistant prosecuting attorneys, correctional employees, countycorrections officers, community-based correctional facility employees,protective services workers, youth services employees, firefighters, EMTs, BCIIinvestigators, forensic mental health providers, psychiatric hospitalemployees, judges, magistrates and federal law enforcement officers.
Information contained in records containing the following are,for the most part, not considered public records: (i) the address of the actualpersonal residence except for the state or political subdivision in which theindividual resides; (ii) information compiled from referral or participation inan employee assistance program; (iii) the social security number, theresidential telephone number, any bank account, debit card, charge card, orcredit card number, or the emergency telephone number of, or any medicalinformation pertaining to such an individual; (iv) the name of any beneficiaryof employment benefits, including, but not limited to, life insurance benefits,provided to the individual by his/her employer; (v) the identity and amount ofany charitable or employment benefit deduction made by the individual'semployer from the individual's compensation unless the amount of the deductionis required by state or federal law; (vi) the name, residential address, thename of the employer, the social security number, the residential telephonenumber, any bank account, debit card charge care, or credit card number, or theemergency telephone number of the spouse, a former spouse or any child of theindividual, and (vii) a photograph of an undercover or plain clothes peaceofficer.
However, this exception does not apply to journalists (definedas a person engaged in, connected with, or employed by any news medium,including a newspaper, magazine, press association, news agency, or wire service,a radio or television station, or a similar medium, for the purpose ofgathering, processing, transmitting, compiling, editing, or disseminatinginformation for the general public) who may access a personal residence addressor the employer address of the spouse, former spouse or child if any of themare employed by a public office. The request from the journalist shall be inwriting, contain the name and title of the journalist and her/his/theiremployer's name and address, and state that disclosure of the information wouldbe in the public interest.
State ex rel. Carr vs. City of Akron,112 Ohio St. 3d 351 (December 2006), Ohio Supreme Court held that Federal FOIAis inapplicable to city records, that records related to promotional examswithin the fire department fall under exemption of RC §149.43(A)(1)(p), as wellas the general prohibition on releasing information in violation of state orfederal law listed in RC §149.43(A)(1)(v), which includes trade secrets asdefined in RC §1333.61(D).
q.Inthe case of a County Hospital Operated Pursuant to RC Chapter 339, or aMunicipal Hospital operated pursuant to RC Chapter 749, Information thatConstitutes a Trade Secret, as defined in RC §1333.61.
r.Information pertaining to the recreational activities of a personunder the age of eighteen. This means information that is kept in theordinary course of business by a public office, that pertains to therecreational activities of a person under the age of eighteen years, and thatdiscloses: the address or telephone number of a person under the age ofeighteen or the address or telephone number of that person's parent, guardian,custodian, or emergency contact person; the social security number, birth date,or photographic image of a person under the age of eighteen; any medicalrecord, history, or information pertaining to a person under the age ofeighteen; any additional information sought or required about a person underthe age of eighteen for the purpose of allowing that person to participate inany recreational activity conducted or sponsored by a public office or to useor obtain admission privileges to any recreational facility owned or operatedby a public office.
s.Records provided to, statements made by review board members duringmeetings of, and all work products of a child fatality review boardacting under RCSections 307.621 to 307.629, and child fatality review data submitted bythe child fatality review board to the department of health pursuant toguidelines established under RC 3701.70, or to a national child death reviewdatabase, other than the report prepared pursuant to RC §307.626(A).
t.Records provided to and statements made by the executive directorof a public children services agency or a prosecuting attorney acting pursuantto RC § 5153.171 other than theinformation released under that section.
u.Test materials, examinations, or evaluation tools used in anexamination for licensure as a nursing home administrator that the board ofexecutives of long-term services administers under RC § 4751.15 or contracts underthat section with a private or government entity to administer.
v.Records the Release of Which is Prohibited by State or Federal Law- see Parts III and IV of this Manual. In addition, there may be privacy andconfidentiality laws and regulations that are analyzed in court decisions.(e.g., Trade Secret is defined and protected under RC 1333.61 through 1333.69,and is analyzed in State ex rel. Carr vs. City of Akron, 112 Ohio St. 3d 351(2006)).
w.Proprietary information of or relating to any person that issubmitted to or compiled by the Ohio venture capital authority created under RC§150.01.
x.FinancialStatements and data any person submits for any purpose to the Ohio housingfinance agency or the controlling board in connection with applying for,receiving, or accounting for financial assistance from the agency, andinformation that identifies any individual who benefits directly or indirectlyfrom financial assistance from the agency.
y.ODJFSand county agency records listed in RC §5101.29,which include:
1.Names and otheridentifying information regarding children enrolled in or attending a childday-care center or home subject to licensure or registration under RC Chapter 5104;
2.Names and otheridentifying information regarding children placed with an institution orassociation certified under RC §5103.03;
3.Names and otheridentifying information regarding a person who makes an oral or writtencomplaint regarding an institution, association, child day-care center, or homesubject to licensure or registration to the department or other state or countyentity responsible for enforcing RC Chapter 5103. or 5104.;
4.Names,documentation, and other identifying information regarding a foster caregiveror a prospective foster caregiver, including the foster caregiver applicationfor certification under RC §5103.03 and the home studyconducted pursuant to RC §5103.0324, except when thefoster caregiver's certificate has been revoked, or he/she has been indicted orotherwise charged with any offense described in RC§2151.86(C)(1).
z.Militarydischarges recorded with a county recorder under RC§317.24(B)(2).
aa.Usageinformation, including names and addresses of specific residential andcommercial customers of a municipally owned or operated public utility.
bb.JobsOhiorecords listed in RC § 187.04(C), including records created by JobsOhiounless designated as public record in contract; records received by JobsOhiofrom any person or entity that is not subject to section RC 149.43, unlessdesignated as public record in contract; records received by JobsOhio from apublic office that does not treat the records as public; and, the work papersand reports of the independent CPA engaged to perform an annual financial auditof any JobsOhio corporation or non-profit entity, and work papers and reportsof the supplemental compliance and control review, unless they are designatedas public record via contract.
cc.Identifyinginformation about any person involved in the manufacture, transportation,distribution, testing or administration of equipment or drugs used in lethalinjections for death sentences, as described in RC 2949.221(B)and (C).
dd.“Personalinformation”, as defined in RC 149.45, which includes social security numbers,driver’s license numbers, state identification numbers, state and federal taxidentification numbers, financial account numbers, and credit and debit cardnumbers.
ee.Identifyinginformation about any victim of domestic violence, human trafficking, or sexualassault who is participating in the Ohio Secretary of State’s addressconfidentiality program under RC §§111.41 to 111.47. Under this exemption, aparticipant’s voter registration records (including identifying informationincluded on an absentee voter ballot and provisional ballot application,affirmation and envelope) is protected and not made available to the public.
ff.Ordersfor active military service of an individual serving or with previous servicein the U.S. armed forces, except that such order becomes a public recordfifteen years after the published or effective date of the order.
gg.Identifying information, contact information, and other personalinformation about minors that is included in police accident reports and other suchtraffic accident records, when the accident involves a school vehicle.
hh.Protected health information included in a claim for payment orhealth claims data in any document, which identifies or could be used to identifythe subject of the information.
ii.Any depiction by photograph, film, videotape, or printed or digitalimage (a) of a victim of an offense, the release of which would be an offensiveand objectionable intrusion into the victim’s expectation of bodily privacy andintegrity; or (b) of a victim of a sexually oriented offense captured at the timethe offense actually occurred.
jj.Restricted portions of a body-worn camera or dashboard camera recording;
kk.Records, documents, reports (other than reports submitted to thedept of health that summarize trends or patterns, including recommendations to decreasedeaths, as described in RC §3707.77(B)), and information presented to the fetal-infant mortality reviewboard RC 3707.71, and statements madeby board members during meetings, and board work product, and data submitted bythe board to the department of health or national infant death review database;
ll.Records, documents, reports and information presented to the pregnancy-associatedmortality review board, statements made by board members during meetings, all boardwork product, and data submitted by the board to the department of health (otherthan biennial reports required under RC §3738.08).
mm.Except as provided in (oo) below, telephone numbers of crime victimsand witnesses, and of parties to a motor vehicle accident, as listed in law enforcementreports and records.
nn.A preneed funeral contract, and contract terms and personally identifyinginformation of a preneed funeral contract that is contained in a report submittedby or for a funeral home to the board of embalmers and funeral directors under RC4717.13(C), 4717.31(J) or 4717.41.
oo.Telephone number of a party to a motor vehicle accident who islisted in any law enforcement report or record that is required to be filed underRC 5502.11, but only during the first 30 days after the occurrence of the accident.
pp.Records pertaining to individuals who complete Ohio school firearmsafety training per RC 5502.703, who are seeking initial or ongoing permission toconvey deadly weapons or dangerous ordnance into a school safety zone.
qq.Records, documents, reports, or other information presented toa domestic violence fatality review board established under RC 307.651, statements made by boardmembers during board meetings, all board work product, and data submitted by theboard to the department of health, other than a report prepared pursuant to RC 307.656;
rr.Records, documents, and information pertaining to the address,place of employment, and similar identifying fact of crime victims and their representatives,when the prosecutor determines there are reasonable grounds for victims to be fearfulof violence and intimidation by defendants and juvenile offenders, and if the courtso orders, as set forth in RC 2930.07;
ss.Records of an existing qualified nonprofit corporation that createsa special improvement district under RC Chapter 1710 that do not pertain to a purposefor which the district is created.
A record falling within one of these exceptions is not required tobe released but may be released at the discretion of the state or local governmentalagency that holds the records unless release would violate guidelines or restrictionsset out in federal or state statutes, regulations or rules. If a record containssome information that falls within an exception, the state or local governmentalagency is required or permitted (depending upon the exception) to withhold or redactthe excepted information and release the portion that is public record.
