Opinion
No. 77-1393
Decided July 12, 1978.
Mandamus — To compel inspection of judge's financial disclosure statement on file in Juvenile Court — Writ will not lie.
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Cuyahoga County.
On October 3, 1977, appellants, Citizens' Bar Association and two of its members, Thomas W. Lippitt and Martha I. Lippitt, filed a complaint for a writ of mandamus in the Court of Appeals for Cuyahoga County, seeking to compel Judge John J. Toner, clerk of the Juvenile Division of the Court of Common Pleas, to allow appellants to inspect the financial disclosure statement there on file of Judge Angelo J. Gagliardo of the Juvenile Division of that court.
Appellants contend that this disclosure statement is a public record and thus available for inspection. Appellants contend further that respondent Judge Gagliardo is required by Canon 6 of the Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct to file a financial disclosure statement with the clerk of the court where he serves, and that the clerk, respondent Judge Toner, has custody of such statement and must provide a copy, at cost, to the public.
On October 12, 1977, appellees filed a motion to dismiss, which was granted on October 19, 1977.
The cause is now before this court upon an appeal as of right.
Mr. Thomas W. Lippitt, pro se. Mr. John T. Corrigan, prosecuting attorney, and Ms. Mary A. Lentz, for appellees.
R.C. 149.43 states in part:
"As used in this section, `public record' means any record required to be kept by any governmental unit * * *.
"All public records shall be open at all reasonable times for inspection. Upon request, a person responsible for public records shall make copies available at cost, within a reasonable period of time."
In State, ex rel. Beauty Supply Co., v. State Bd. of Cosmetology (1977), 49 Ohio St.2d 245, 246, this court stated:
"This court has thus enunciated a twofold test to determine the existence of `public records': (1) the records must be kept by a governmental unit, and (2) the records must be specifically required to be kept by law. Affirmative application of these two elements in a given circumstance mandates that the records be available for inspection and copying." (Emphasis added.)
R.C. 102.02 requires Judge Gagliardo to file a financial disclosure statement with the secretary of the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline. Thus, that statement so filed is a "public record" pursuant to R.C. 149.43. As such, it is subject to public inspection at locations designated by the appropriate ethics commission. R.C. 102.02(A).
The Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court is not one of those designated locations.
Although Canon 6 of the Code of Judicial Conduct states that an additional report be filed with the clerk of the court where the judge presides, that filing is not required by statute. Therefore, the financial disclosure statement filed in the Cuyahoga County Juvehile Court is not a "public record." Respondent Judge Toner is under no legal duty to produce the document, and thus a writ of mandamus will not lie.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is affirmed.
Judgment affirmed.
O'NEILL, C.J., HERBERT, CELEBREZZE, W. BROWN, P. BROWN, SWEENEY and LOCHER, JJ., concur.