Abortion-rights group sues Ohio Department of Health over records

From The Columbus Dispatch Fearing that Ohio Right to Life wields “improper” influence over the Ohio Department of Health, an abortion-rights group is suing the state for records of phone calls and emails exchanged with abortion opponents.

The Health Department refused to turn over records, saying that the request from NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio Foundation was “overly broad” and that the agency lacks the ability to search for specific emails and phone records.

NARAL has filed a lawsuit asking the Ohio Supreme Court to order the Health Department to turn over records it requested on Oct. 27. The justices referred the case to mediation yesterday, halting any additional filings.

The Health Department rejected the organization’s request for records reflecting phone calls to two telephone numbers associated with Ohio Right to Life and emails exchanged with people whose email addresses end with “ohiolife.org.”

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Portsmouth City Solicitor says job evaluations are public records

From the Portsmouth Daily Times In a memo dated Dec. 19, Portsmouth City Solicitor John Haas responded to a legal opinion on Ohio public records and the pending city manager job evaluation.

“Councilman Kevin W. Johnson requested a written legal opinion on whether the documents generated by individual council members relating to the evaluation of the job performance of the City Manager is a public record subject to public disclosure,” Haas wrote. “It is my legal opinion that the records are public records under Ohio statutory and case law.”

Earlier in December, Portsmouth City Council chose an evaluation method from the International City/County Management Association.

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Suit challenges Ohio law shielding execution drug makers

From The Blade

The governor’s signature had just enough time to dry before a lawsuit was filed challenging a new law to shield the identity of the makers of Ohio’s execution drugs and others involved in the process.

The federal suit was filed late Tuesday by four death row inmates, including Grady L. Brinkley, who was convicted in the 2000 shooting of his 18-year-old Toledo girlfriend, Shantae Smith.

Other plaintiffs include Ronald Phillips, of Summit County, whose execution is set for Feb. 11; Raymond Tibbetts, of Hamilton County, set to die on March 12, and Robert Van Hook, also of Hamilton County, who has a Nov. 17 execution date. The Ohio Supreme Court has not set a date for Brinkley.

The suit argues that House Bill 663, signed by Gov. John Kasich on Friday, violates the First Amendment rights of the death row inmates by offering at least temporary anonymity to a compounding pharmacy that agrees to manufacture the state’s preferred execution drug and permanent anonymity to most of the rest of the execution team.

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Judges advocate for law to slap down nuisance lawsuits

From The Columbus Dispatch It’s unusual for a panel of judges to engage in outright advocacy in a ruling.

The Eighth District Ohio Court of Appeals crossed that line last week in urging state lawmakers to pass a law to help preserve freedom of speech and the press in Ohio.

In a ruling against Ohio coal magnate Robert Murray in a defamation suit he filed against a weekly newspaper, the appellate judges upheld the trial court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the Chagrin Valley Times.

The often-combative Murray, the court agreed, is a public figure and was not defamed by the newspaper’s reporting, a column and an editorial cartoon.

But, the court’s opinion didn’t end there.

The judges suggested that Ohio needs a law that quickly slaps down nuisance lawsuits designed to discourage public or press comment on issues of public concern.

“Given Ohio’s particularly strong desire to protect individual speech, as embodied in its Constitution, Ohio should adopt an anti-SLAPP statute to discourage punitive litigation designed to chill constitutionally protected speech,” the court wrote.

Journalism professor Jonathan Peters, who formerly worked at the University of Dayton, has the details in his story in the Columbia Journalism Review .

Problems outweigh need for speed on execution secrecy law

Editor’s note: ONA Executive Director Dennis Hetzel wrote this column for the Plain Dealer and Cleveland.com on House Bill 663, which would add more secrecy to Ohio’s lethal injection executions. The Ohio Senate made further improvements in the bill, but ONA continues to oppose it becoming law. At this writing, the bill has passed the Legislature and awaits Gov. John Kasich’s decision to sign or veto. By Dennis Hetzel

The State of Ohio botched its last execution. The convicted killer struggled for nearly 25 minutes before finally succumbing. Officials attributed it to the difficulty in obtaining the drug "cocktail" needed – drugs that few companies want to sell for executions in response to public pressure, their own beliefs or mandates from their governments overseas. Other states face similar problems and related lawsuits.

The answer to the problem, according to some Ohio legislators and Attorney General Mike DeWine, is more secrecy.

As introduced, House Bill 663 offered anonymity and immunity to all the key players. The names of drug suppliers were secret forever. Even the courts were blocked from obtaining information through subpoena or discovery. Businesses were restricted from the kinds of contracts they could sign with other businesses. The bill inserted government into the relationship between physicians and their professional organizations.

The latest version, which has passed the House and is in the Ohio Senate, is better, and we appreciate the bipartisan effort to improve it. Judges could see this information in some circumstances. Records would eventually become public – in 20 years. Lawmakers also narrowed broad language that invited the courts to find fresh restrictions on access to information. However, major issues remain.

The fundamental problem may be the lethal injection method itself. In essence, the state must coerce private-sector companies to do something they apparently don't want to do, or are saying they won't do unless they receive anonymity. Companies say they face significant harassment and threats, but Ohio has laws to prosecute legitimate threats and harassment. We haven't seen evidence of this need for special protection. Only extreme circumstances should restrict your right to protest or limit your access to basic information about businesses that do controversial things with taxpayer dollars.

Testimony in the House made it clear that this bill will spawn new, expensive litigation, and witnesses demonstrated that there is no way for the state to guarantee total anonymity to a drug company or pharmacy. For one thing, many claims will occur at the federal level. Constitutional challenges remain. Interference by the Legislature with court procedures, the medical profession and private sector contracts isn't resolved.

Given these issues, it's reasonable to ask whether this bill is appropriate for the fast track in the closing weeks of a two-year legislative session.

Supporters say the matter is urgent, because executions can't occur in Ohio until this gets resolved. Meanwhile, there has been no consideration of the recommendations of the Ohio Supreme Court Death Penalty Task Force that have been available since April. The argument that the victims of these awful crimes deserve swifter closure is an important one but not a compelling reason to pass a problematic bill. Perhaps legislators can wait a little longer to make sure they craft a good law.

Ohio has an important tradition of an execution process that is quite transparent. This is consistent with our public records law and supported by numerous court decisions that say records must be open with rare exceptions drawn as narrowly as possible.

Everyone should embrace that notion, particularly when the "problem" to resolve is the best process for the state to end human lives. House Bill 663 is highly unlikely to make the execution process faster and more humane, but it unquestionably will make it harder for citizens to hold government accountable for its actions.

Additional Coverage of Execution Secrecy Bill

• Rep. Jim Buchy’s column for Cleveland.com on why the bill should become law
• Plain Dealer editorial: Watered-down death penalty bill still not acceptable
• Toledo Blade Editorial: Killing transparency
• Lima News editorial: Sacrificing transparency a bad option in lethal-injection bill

Ohio public records training now online

From The Marion Star Can I get a copy of a crash report? When can my school board discuss business in secret? Those questions and others will be answered in three hours of public records training, which is now available online.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced Monday that three hours of training on which records are open to the public is now available on his website, sunshinelaw.ohioattorneygeneral.gov. The training, which is required of elected officials or a representative from their staff, is divided into 13 video lessons.

The training was recorded from live sessions that occurred this year. Across Ohio, about 1,200 people attended these sessions in 2014. However, many others couldn't carve out the time.

"It can be difficult, at times, to make the training in person," Matthew DeTemple, executive director of the Ohio Township Association, said at a news conference.

DeTemple said trustees often work full-time jobs and might not be free to attend a session in Columbus. By putting the classes online, more township officials will be able to comply with their obligation to be trained in public records laws.

The online lessons have quizzes. Those who finish all 13 lessons will receive a certificate of completion, DeWine said. Attorneys can use the online training for three hours of continuing legal education.

"Ohio sunshine laws allow citizens to be knowledgeable about how their government works, and they help keep all levels of government accountable," DeWine said at the news conference.

Many of the public records disputes sent to the attorney general's mediation program, which helps resolve record disputes with local government officials and residents, could have been resolved with a better understanding of the law, he added.

Dennis Hetzel, president of the Ohio Coalition for Open Government, said the online courses were a good supplement to the in-person training.

"This continues the efforts the attorney general's office has made to move the ball down the field a bit in terms of making this information accessible," Hetzel said.

***

How do I access online public records training?

Go to sunshinelaw.ohioattorneygeneral.gov, register online and watch the sessions. In-person training will continue across Ohio next year.

To use the mediation program, which works out public records disputes with local government officials, fill out a form online or call the public records unit at 888-958-5088.

Canton City Council's meeting at Football Hall of Fame legal, officials say

From The Canton RepositoryA majority of city council members heard details about the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s proposed expansion during a private meeting last week at the Hall.      The Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce organized the meeting and invited council members to attend. Eight or nine of Canton City Council’s 13 members were there.      Generally, when a majority of council members are involved in a prearranged meeting, the session is considered a public meeting, and notices must be posted as part of Ohio’s open meeting — or Sunshine Law — regulations.      But because this meeting was organized by the Chamber and was only for information purposes, the Sunshine Law didn’t apply, council members and other officials said.      The meeting occurred as council began reviewing a $5 million grant toward a $24.3 million improvement of Fawcett Stadium. City officials have committed verbally to awarding the grant, but council must formally approve the move.Council members said they didn’t take action during the meeting, nor did they deliberate the project or grant. Dennis P. Saunier, the chamber’s president and chief executive officer, said the meeting was an opportunity to update council members on economic development projects from the past year. The proposed Hall of Fame Village project is part of those developments, he said.The chamber has conducted similar meetings in the past, but presentations generally were part of council sessions or committee meetings. Saunier said the event was held at the Hall of Fame to give council a “flavor of the building.”Continue Reading>>

Ohio sunshine laws training now available online

From The Dispatch Sunshine laws training for elected officials – and anyone interested in government transparency -- now is available online, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today.

A new website allows government officials and the public to register and watch a series of 13 videos, ranging from 6 to 36 minutes in length, to complete the free, three-hour course on public records and open meetings laws.

The course, which features a quiz at the end of each video, can be completed at the user’s pace and need not be completed in one sitting. The videos capture material from in-person training sessions, which will continue to be offered. A link allows users to ask questions of DeWine's staff of experts on Ohio's Sunshine laws.

A certificate of completion awaits those who finish the videos and complete all the quizzes.

State law requires elected officials, or their designees, to complete Sunshine laws training once during their term. About 1,200 officials completed in-person training last year.

DeWine and his office hope the self-study online course will expand the number of government officials and employees taking public records training.

Representatives of the Ohio Newspaper Association and Ohio Township Association endorsed the online offering at a news conference this morning. The course also counts as three hours of continuing legal education for lawyers.

“Promoting open and transparent government is a priority of the Ohio attorney general’s office,” DeWine said. “I hope that this new online format will increase convenience and accessibility to our Sunshine laws training.”

Questions about Sheriff Cox’s status kept secret

From the Dayton Daily News Miami County commissioners said Thursday they will submit legal questions regarding the running of the sheriff’s office to the county prosecutor, but will not make those questions public.

The commissioners have said they were drawing up questions on legal and financial issues as a result of the county having both a sheriff and an acting sheriff.

Chief Deputy David Duchak was sworn in Nov. 12 as acting sheriff at the request of Sheriff Charles Cox to do required county jail inspections and other physical duties of the sheriff, as needed. Cox is recovering from complications following surgery.

Prosecutor Tony Kendell and Assistant Prosecutor Chris Englert met for an hour Thursday in executive session with commissioners. Afterward, commissioners issued a statement saying they were advised the questions are protected by attorney-client privilege.

The commissioners said that while they wish the sheriff a full recovery, Cox’s absences in the last 12 to 18 months “have created issues that we feel need to be addressed.”

Once they get answers commissioners said they “will be able to take the appropriate action to ensure the current situation in the sheriff’s office does not jeopardize Miami County in any way.”

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Beacon Journal editorial: Ohio's newly opened checkbook

Editorial from The Akron Beacon Journal

Josh Mandel last week launched a worthy initiative to bring greater transparency and accountability to state government. By creating a website called OhioCheckbook.com, the state treasurer continued a push to make financial records easily available to the public. The state’s first online checkbook gives every citizen easier access to the details of $408 billion in state spending, from 2008 to 2014.

More than 30 states have put their spending in digital form. Mandel points to the ability of users of the Ohio site to do more, using Google-type searches, by agency, spending category or other variables. Such flexibility greatly enhances the usefulness of the site, already an advance over requests for paper records.

As the lame-duck session heads to a close, there is still time for the legislature to act to make sure the innovations will survive Mandel’s tenure as state treasurer, which will come to a close in four years. The vehicle to do so is House Bill 175, which has received two hearings.

The bill has drawn no opposition. In support are a wide range of groups, among them the Ohio Newspaper Association, the Ohio Public Interest Research Group, Common Cause and the Buckeye Institute. Liberal or conservative, they support making access to records quick and easy.

Legislators in Ohio far too often have narrowed the public’s access to government records, impeding the flow of information necessary for democracy to function. Quickly passing H.B. 175, codifying Mandel’s program, would be a welcome ray of sunshine.

Execution drug secrecy bill has unintended consequences, opponents testify

From The Columbus Dispatch A law hiding the source of drugs used in Ohio executions could trigger wide-ranging unintended consequences, including disruptions in health care and violations of federal interstate-commerce law, opponents charged yesterday.

Few critics expressed opposition to capital punishment, which is legal in Ohio and resumed in 1999.

Instead, Public Defender Tim Young warned that House Bill 663 “is likely to cause long-term, far-reaching consequences.”

The bill “sacrifices so much of what we all know about good government: openness, transparency, accountability, oversight and limits on governmental intrusion into contracts, private businesses and the medical profession,” Young testified at a hearing of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

In other states where similar laws shielding the source of lethal drugs were enacted, extensive litigation resulted.

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Ohiocheckbook.com should be a great tool for editors and reporters

By Dennis Hetzel, OCOG President This week State Treasurer Josh Mandel launched his OhioCheckbook.com website.  I was given a test drive on Tuesday, and it’s an impressive tool that could generate interesting stories and save time for any reporter writing about state spending.

You can quickly drill into the detail, including payments to individual vendors and contact information for the departmental official responsible for the expenditure.  You also can export data directly into Excel, so you aren’t limited to PDF formats.  (For example, in about two minutes, I found out the state of Ohio has spent about $242,000 so far in 2014 at Hilton hotels, and I exported detail of every expenditure.)

The database does not include local government spending, which would be quite an undertaking to add.  Mandel’s website continues to offer a searchable database of state employee and public school district salaries. Salaries paid by charter schools aren’t available either. We’d obviously like to see those items added in the future. Still,  this probably places Ohio in the forefront of ready access to spending information.

I should add that ONA has supported House Bill 175, which would mandate by statute that the state treasurer offer such a database.  If it becomes law, this means future treasurers couldn’t discontinue doing this without a statutory change. The bill is pending in the Ohio Senate. ONA has not taken a position on disputes that still may be lingering over what state agency or office is the best place to house this database.

Here is a link to the Dayton Daily News story on the new website.  You’ll learn that, yes, the taxpayers spent money at Victoria’s Secret – but it’s not what you think.  Also be sure to check out Mandel’s news release.

Ohio Innocence Project sues Columbus police for murder case records

From The Columbus Dispatch The Ohio Innocence Project contends it is illegal, and undermines accountability, for Columbus police to refuse to release records on closed murder cases until the killers die behind bars or are freed from prison.

An attorney with the group, based at the University of Cincinnati College Of Law, sued Police Chief Kim Jacobs in the Ohio Supreme Court on Friday over her division’s refusal to release investigative records in a murder case.

Columbus police have refused to release case files in murder cases since 2010, interpreting an appellate-court ruling as forbidding the release of records as long as defendants still have potential appeals.

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Plain Dealer editorial: Ohio death penalty secrecy bill should disappear

Editorial from The Plain Dealer The Ohio House of Representatives has shown that the appearance of being tough on crime is more important than being transparent about the way the state puts someone to death.

Faced with an execution protocol fraught with problems, the House recently voted 62-27 to allow the state to keep secret the name of lethal-injection drug providers so that they won't be reluctant to participate.

House Bill 663, introduced by Republican legislators Jim Buchy of Greenville and Matt Huffman of Lima, would also prevent doctors assisting in the administration of the death penalty from having their state medical licenses revoked.

Using surreptitious means to carry out the death penalty is unacceptable. The Senate should refuse to take up House Bill 663, but if it does and the Senate approves it, Gov. Kasich should veto it.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine claims that, without the protections, the state would be unable to carry out executions. This editorial board has long opposed the death penalty. But on practical grounds, if DeWine's statement is true, Ohio should get out of the execution business. What this bill proposes is wrong.

Not only would the bill shelter drug-supplying pharmacies from identification, it also would void contracts that dictate the drugs sold cannot be used in executions. The availability of lethal-injection drugs became an issue after their manufacturers balked at their use to carry out the death penalty.

The bill also interferes with the medical community's longstanding pact about preserving life.

The Ohio State Medical Association does not take a position on capital punishment, but a letter to the House Policy & Legislative Oversight Committee from OSMA president Mary J. Wall expresses concern about any law that indemnifies doctors for assisting with the death penalty.

Licensed Ohio doctors must abide by the American Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics or the American Osteopathic Association Policy Compendium, which forbid their members from participating in legal executions.

"These codes articulate the enduring values of medicine as a profession and are a statement of the values to which physicians commit themselves individually and collectively," Wall's statement reads.

As this editorial board has said before, the death penalty is not a satisfactory deterrent to crime and can be abused by prosecutors who use it as tool for garnering guilty pleas.

This bill is the wrong answer to the wrong question.

Shielding identities of execution-drug makers could subject Ohio to lawsuits

From The Plain Dealer The experience of other states suggest that Ohio would subject itself to lawsuits by keeping secret the makers of drugs used for executions.

Leaks of the information also could undercut the attempts at secrecy, according to a Northeast Ohio Media Group examination of four states that already have laws shielding the identify of execution-drug makers.

Ohio lawmakers were warned of the potential problems in testimony last week, but went ahead and passed House Bill 663, allowing compounding pharmacies to remain anonymous for 20 years. The bill's co-sponsor said the small-scale drug companies are reluctant to make the lethal-injection drugs unless their participation could be kept secret.

Attorney General Mike DeWine and other proponents of the reforms in HB 663 say they are needed if Ohio is to resume executions next February, once a court-ordered moratorium ends.

But legal challenges are pending against similar secrecy rules already on the books elsewhere, including Arizona, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The lawsuits have been filed by media outlets claiming the public has a right to know how the states kill people and by death-row inmates asserting they need the information to determine whether they can challenge their execution on the basis of cruel and unusual punishment.

Mike Brickner of the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio predicted HB 663, if passed, would be challenged in court. He said the ACLU would consider filing such a lawsuit should the bill become law.

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Democrats’ lawsuit ends as Mandel gives up records

From The Columbus Dispatch After more than three months and an Ohio Supreme Court filing, state Treasurer Josh Mandel turned over public records requested by the Ohio Democratic Party — on Election Day.

The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday granted the Democrats’ motion to dismiss their lawsuit seeking records from Republican Mandel after his office delivered the documents following sessions with a court-appointed mediator.

The Democrats sued Mandel on Sept. 3 after the treasurer’s office failed to turn over records initially requested on July 18.

The records, largely associated with Mandel’s hiring of two companies to conduct telephone “town halls” with Ohioans at a cost of nearly $130,000, consist of routine contracts, bills, purchase orders, agreements and other paperwork.

Democrats had accused Mandel, who won re-election on Nov. 4 over state Rep. Connie Pillich, D-Cincinnati, of using tax funds to promote himself in an election year. Mandel denied the charges.

Mandel’s office also turned over two emails, which had emerged previously, between the fundraiser for his unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign, Scott Guthrie, and Eric Synenberg, a Mandel staff member, concerning Benjamin Suarez.

Suarez, a North Canton, Ohio, businessman, was accused of illegally channeling $100,000 each to the federal campaigns of Mandel and Rep. Jim Renacci, R-Wadsworth, in the 2012 election.

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ASNE joins amicus brief in favor of immediate access to civil complaints

From the American Society of News Editors ASNE joined an amicus brief drafted by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which argues in favor of immediate access to civil court documents.

In this particular case, Courthouse News Service v. Planet, the brief highlights the importance of immediate access to civil complaints in the face of a decision by a federal District Court in California that there is no First Amendment right of access to these documents and, hence, there is no right to access civil complaints until the first court hearing in the case.

Our brief, filed with the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit, argues that such a First Amendment right, or at least a common law right, exists and is necessary to ensure the public is informed about and can oversee and even participate in the case from the start.

Ohio House passes legislation that would require greater online access to a variety of public records

From The Daily Record The Ohio House has passed legislation that would require greater online access to a variety of public records, with increased efforts to implement uniform standards for how those records are made available.

HB 324, titled the Public Records Act, passed Thursday on an unanimous vote of 92-0 and heads to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.

The bill would require the state auditor to establish and administer a new website for public records, providing access to an array of documents and data from different state agencies.

Offices that post records online would have to make efforts to ensure the documents or data are searchable and downloadable, in electronic formats that can be used by the general public.

HB 324 also would create a new DataOhio Board to make recommendations annually about online public records access.

Additionally, the legislation would establish a "local government information exchange grant program" to provide up to $10,000 to local governments for their online data efforts.

"Not only will we provide greater, clearer access to data for good governance and taxpayer accountability, but we believe this comprehensive set of data initiatives will spur job growth and business attainment in our state," said Rep. Christina Hagan (R-Alliance), a primary sponsor of the bill.

While all lawmakers voted in favor the bill, Democrats did attempt one amendment to add language opening JobsOhio's books to public perusal.

"We have a responsibility to keep track of how the public dollars are being spent and what our return on investment is," said Rep. Matt Lundy (D-Elyria).

The amendment failed on a vote of 53-37.

SPJ President Dana Neuts urges Ohio lawmakers to vote no on bill exempting executions from public records

From The Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists urges Ohio lawmakers to vote “no” to House Bill 663, the so-called Secret Executions Bill. SPJ joins its Region 4 leaders and the Ohio Newspaper Association in denouncing the bill.

While HB 663’s primary aim is to protect medical professionals who carry out executions and drug makers who make the drugs used in executions, it would also make all information and records related to an execution or death sentence confidential. The legislation, if passed, would make the already difficult job of covering capital punishment more difficult for reporters, which ignores Ohio sunshine laws and compromises transparency.

More specifically, the bill would make information about lethal injection formulations secret, just as Ohio grapples with critical decisions about how to carry out executions while avoiding cruel and unusual treatment of condemned inmates. When it comes to carrying out a death sentence, more transparency and more reporting should be required, not less.

The Ohio House Policy and Legislative Oversight Committee is conducting its second hearing on the bill today and Wednesday, with a possible vote at 3:30 p.m. ET Wednesday at the Columbus Statehouse, Room 115. The bill, introduced Nov. 10, would become law March 20, 2015 if passed.

SPJ urges Ohio journalists and others concerned with open government and sunshine laws to tell lawmakers to vote “no” on this bill. Representatives from the Ohio Newspaper Association and SPJ will be at this week’s hearings about the bill to testify against it.

To support transparency, we encourage opponents of the bill to:

• Contact bill sponsors Rep. Jim Buchy, R-Greenville, at 614-466-6344 and Rep. Matt Huffman, R-Lima, at 614-466-9624. • Sign a petition against the bill, drafted by Ohioans to Stop the Death Penalty at www.otse.org. • Contact other members of the House Policy and Legislative Oversight Committee, listed here. • Show up at the Statehouse hearings this week.

Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press. For more information about SPJ, please visit spj.org.

South Euclid has paid more than $25K in legal fees for ongoing records dispute

From The Plain Dealer South Euclid has paid its lawyers more than $25,000 since 2011 to defend the city against a taxpayer's public records lawsuits.

Law Director Michael Lograsso has earned about $8,300 directly from the disputes, and the city has paid the firm Nicola, Gudbranson & Cooper another $17,000, according to Finance Director James Smith. Some of the cost will be covered by insurance.

South Euclid property owner Emilie DiFranco has sued the city three times for failing to deliver public records she requested. DiFranco also filed a request for sanctions against council Clerk Keith Benjamin and Lograsso earlier this year.

Lograsso said a portion of the legal fees were incurred because DiFranco keeps appealing the courts' rulings.

Lograsso works for his own firm and part-time for the city. South Euclid pays him a $59,000 salary, plus $137.50 an hour for certain services.

The city pays outside firms $150 hourly. The law department spent about $775,000 from the general fund in 2012-13, and expects to spend $400,000 this year.

In February, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in DiFranco's favor in two cases stemming from a 2011 records request. The city had to pay DiFranco up to $1,000 after she waited months for the documents, but it was not responsible for her attorney fees, the court ruled.

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