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State ex rel. Fant v. Mengel

Supreme Court of Ohio
Feb 5, 1992
62 Ohio St. 3d 455 (Ohio 1992)

Summary

In Fant, a writ of mandamus to compel access to public records was denied because the requested information had not been recorded at all.

Summary of this case from State ex Rel. Cater v. N. Olmsted

Opinion

No. 90-1900

Submitted October 21, 1991 —

Decided February 5, 1992.

APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Franklin County, No. 90AP-531.

Appellant, Henry J. Fant, filed a complaint for a writ of mandamus in the Court of Appeals for Franklin County, requesting that appellee, Marcia J. Mengel, Clerk of the Supreme Court of Ohio, turn over to him the "full-name [ sic] and title of the person in respondent Mengel's office that was responsible for receiving and filing the original record in Case No. 89-1168 on appeal from the Franklin County Court of Appeals." The court of appeals granted appellee's motion for summary judgment, based on her affidavit that no such document, device, or item existed under her jurisdiction.

The cause is before the court upon an appeal as a matter of right.

Henry J. Fant, pro se. Lee I. Fisher, Attorney General, and Shawn H. Nau, for appellee.


For the purposes of the Public Records Act, R.C. 149.011 defines "records" as including:

"* * * any document, device, or item, regardless of physical form or characteristic, created or received by or coming under the jurisdiction of any public office of the state or its political subdivisions, which serves to document the organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the office."

The information sought by appellant is not a document, device, or item, as required by this definition; therefore, it is not a record. Since the information in question is not a record, it is not a public record subject to disclosure under R.C. 149.43. Moreover, the Public Records Act does not compel appellee to create a new document to satisfy appellant's demands. State, ex rel. Scanlon, v. Deters (1989), 45 Ohio St.3d 376, 379, 544 N.E.2d 680, 683.

The judgment of the court of appeals is affirmed.

Judgment affirmed.

MOYER, C.J., SWEENEY, HOLMES, DOUGLAS, WRIGHT, H. BROWN and RESNICK, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

State ex rel. Fant v. Mengel

Supreme Court of Ohio
Feb 5, 1992
62 Ohio St. 3d 455 (Ohio 1992)

In Fant, a writ of mandamus to compel access to public records was denied because the requested information had not been recorded at all.

Summary of this case from State ex Rel. Cater v. N. Olmsted
Case details for

State ex rel. Fant v. Mengel

Case Details

Full title:THE STATE, EX REL. FANT, APPELLANT, v. MENGEL, CLERK, APPELLEE

Court:Supreme Court of Ohio

Date published: Feb 5, 1992

Citations

62 Ohio St. 3d 455 (Ohio 1992)
584 N.E.2d 664

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