Justia Government & Administrative Law Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court denied a writ of mandamus sought by Michela Huth compelling the Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County, Inc. (AWL) to inform her how AWL maintains and accesses its records in the ordinary course of business, holding that Huth failed to establish that she was entitled to the writ.Huth sent a AWL, a county humane society, a public-records request for a copy of all criminal complaints filed in any court by agents employed by AWL. After AWL asked Huth to narrow her request, she filed her complaint for a writ of mandamus requiring AWL to inform her how it maintains its records and how those records are accessed in the ordinary course of AWL's operations. The Supreme Court denied the writ and denied her request for damages and attorney fees, holding that AWL was not required to provide AWL the requested information and that Huth was not entitled to statutory damages, court costs, or attorney fees. View "State ex rel. Huth v. Animal Welfare League of Trumbull County, Inc." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court granted a writ of mandamus ordering the Mahoning County Board of Elections to place Eric Ungaro's name on the November 2022 general election ballot as an independent candidate for the office of state representative, holding that Ungaro successfully established that he was entitled to the writ.Ungaro filed a statement of candidacy and nominating petition to run as an independent candidate for the office of state representative of the 59th Ohio House District in the November 2022 general election. The Board rejected the petition by a vote of three to one. Ungaro then filed this action seeking a writ of mandamus ordering the Board to place his name on the ballot. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the Board abused its discretion by invalidating Ungaro's petition in an arbitrary fashion. View "State ex rel. Ungaro v. Mahoning County Bd. of Elections" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied a writ of mandamus ordering Trumbull County Board of Elections and its director and Secretary of State Frank LaRose (collectively, Respondents) to place Sarah Thomas Kovoor's name on the November 8, 2022 general election ballot for the office of judge of the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas, holding that Relators were not entitled to relief.Relators, the Trumbull County Republican Central Committee and Kovoor, sought a writ of mandamus ordering Respondents to certify Kovoor to the November 2022 general election ballot. Secretary LaRose voted against certifying Kovoor as candidate. The Supreme Court denied the writ of mandamus, holding that Relators did not show a clear legal right to have Kovoor's name placed on the general election ballot as a candidate for the judge of the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas. View "State ex rel. Trumbull County Republican Central Committee v. Trumbull County Bd. of Elections" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals granting a writ of mandamus compelling East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King and the East Cleveland mayor and finance director (collectively, Appellants) to produce documents in response to a public-records request but reversing the court of appeals' judgment granting an award of attorney fees, holding that the writ was properly granted.In this mandamus action, the court of appeals denied two of Appellee's claims for relief but granted a third issuing a writ of mandamus directing Appellants to produce certain documents. In a subsequent order, the court of appeals ordered Appellants to pay attorney fees. The Supreme Court reversed in part, holding that the court of appeals (1) properly granted a writ of mandamus for the production of public records; but (2) improperly granted the award of attorney fees. View "State ex rel. Stevenson v. King" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the summary judgment entered by the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas in favor of Warrensville Heights in this real property dispute, holding that the agreement between the parties in this case was valid and enforceable.The Beachwood City School District Board of Education sought approval from the state board of education for a transfer of territory it annexed in 1990 to the Beachwood City School District. The Warrensville Heights City School District Board of Education, whose district the annexed territory was a part of, objected. In 1997, Beachwood and Warrensville Heights agreed that the territory would not transfer to the Beachwood City School District but that the districts would share the tax revenue generated from real property located within the territory. The court of common pleas granted summary judgment for Warrensville Heights, concluding that the parties' agreement was not valid. The court of appeal reversed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the 1997 agreement required neither approval nor a fiscal certificate and therefore was valid and enforceable. View "Beachwood City School District Bd. of Education v. Warrensville Heights City School District Bd. of Education" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals ordering the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation to return the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) to its previous classifications after reclassifying OKI as a "special public authority," holding that the Bureau abused its discretion.The Bureau assigns each Ohio employer to a classification, for purposes of setting workers' compensation premium rates, based on the degree of hazard presented in the employer's business. While the Bureau had long assigned OKI to classifications applicable to private employers, in 2018 the Bureau reclassified OKI as a type of public-employer taxing district resulting in a higher premium. OKI sought a writ of mandamus ordering the Bureau to return it to its previous classifications, but the court of appeals denied the writ. The Supreme Court reversed and granted a limited writ of mandamus, holding that it was insufficient for the Bureau to simply consider OKI to be a public employer and a taxing district without making further explanation. View "State ex rel. Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Region of Workers' Compensation" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals denying a writ of mandamus against the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Annette Chambers-Smith, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority, and the Ohio Bureau of Sentencing Computation (collectively, DRC), holding that there was no error.Appellant, an inmate, filed an original action in the court of appeal seeking a writ of mandamus to compel DRC to correct what he alleged were inaccurate records pertaining to him and alleging that he had a right to be released from custody under Ohio Rev. Code 2967.15(B). The court of appeals denied the writ. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Appellant failed to show error, let alone plain error, in the judgment of the court of appeals. View "State ex rel. Anderson v. Chambers-Smith" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court dismissed this original action seeking a writ of mandamus against Geauga County ordering the county to proceed under Ohio Rev. Code 305.14 with the submission and approval of Judge Timothy Grendell's application for appointment of counsel, holding that the case was moot.Judge Grendell, judge of the Geauga County Court of Common Pleas, brought this action seeking a writ of mandamus and also filed a motion for a peremptory writ of mandamus and a motion to strike the County's notice of mootness. The Supreme Court denied the motion to strike as futile, dismissed the case, and denied Judge Grendell's motion for a peremptory writ, holding that the case was moot. View "State ex rel. Grendell v. Geauga County Board of Commissioners" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court denied the claims brought by Erik Jones in this expedited election case, holding that Jones was not entitled to a writ of mandamus based on the doctrine of laches.Jones filed a declaration of candidacy and petition to appear on the August 2, 2022 primary ballot as a candidate for the Republican Party State Central Committee, but the Lorain County Board of Elections did not certify his name to the ballot based on the instructions in Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose's Directive 2022-34 to reject declarations and petitions filed after February 2, 2022 by state-central-committee-member candidates. Jones subsequently sought a writ of mandamus compelling LaRose to instruct the county boards of elections to accept declarations of candidacy filed before May 4, 2022. The Supreme Court denied the claims, holding that Jones's unreasonable delay in bringing this lawsuit resulted in prejudice to the Board in its administration of the election. View "State ex rel. Jones v. LaRose" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court granted in part and denied in part a writ of mandamus compelling the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) to produce records requested under Ohio's Public Records Act, Ohio Rev. Code 149.43, holding that Relator was entitled to mandamus relief as to certain requests.In addition to his mandamus request, Relator sought an award of statutory damages and leave to amend his mandamus complaint to include additional respondents. The Supreme Court granted the writ in part, holding (1) DRC withheld some of the requested records based on a public records exception that was inapplicable in this case; (2) this Court denies Relator's request for leave to add certain entities as respondents; and (3) Relator was not eligible to receive statutory damages. View "State ex rel. Reese v. Ohio Dep't of Rehabilitation & Correction Legal Dep't" on Justia Law