What really happened when a state employee shot and killed a colleague during a training session on April 9?
Despite the clear public interest in that question, Gov. Mike DeWine's state government is not willingly answering.
Even worse, the state's law enforcement agency is failing to follow a recent Ohio Supreme Court ruling on public records. And the prisons department, where the shooting took place, has slow-walked basic records requests, including the personnel file of the accused shooter.
In 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled initial reports of crimes such as a police report and witness statements must be released when requested. Based on earlier rulings, this also includes 911 calls and initial reports by responding officers. The ruling did not cover documents detailing detective work needed to solve cases, work often classified as confidential law enforcement records.
After years of Ohio police departments declaring more and more basic information to be confidential, the ruling was a somewhat rare victory for public records access and provided hope the days of police reports omitting basic facts might be over.
The ability to view witness statements has proved helpful to journalists trying to accurately report on important events. Even if an officer keeps a report narrative brief, a witness can offer more details that help us inform our readers.
Unfortunately, the Ohio State Highway Patrol is ignoring the court's ruling in the death of Ohio Department of Corrections Lt. Rodney Osborne.
On Monday, 13 days after the incident, the patrol released a heavily redacted copy of its report on the shooting, indicating a reckless homicide charge was being considered. The rest of the document, including witness statements, was heavily redacted and useless.
Our efforts to secure a more complete report, with an assist from our attorney, have not worked as of this writing.
The response of the Ohio Department of Corrections has been equally disappointing. It took 17 days after the tragedy for the department to provide the personnel file mentioned earlier. Most government agencies hand over personnel files of public employees within a few business days, if not quicker. And DRC released Osborne's file many days earlier.
Situations like these show why public records are important to all of us, especially the Osborne family which is seeking answers amid their grief.
As our attorney Jack Greiner said the other day, "This is a time for enhanced transparency, not limited transparency."
Rest assured we are continuing our efforts to secure these records and others that help us accurately report on our community.
Michael Shearer is executive editor of The Columbus Dispatch and Dispatch.com. He can be reached at 614-245-0358 or mshearer@dispatch.com.
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