Case Title: State ex rel. Striker v. Frary

Citation: 2011-Ohio-4705

Docket Number: 

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 2011-09-21T00:00:00Z

Document:
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as 
State ex rel. Striker v. Frary, Slip Opinion No. 2011-Ohio-4705.] 
 
 
 
 
 
NOTICE 
This slip opinion is subject to formal revision before it is published in 
an advance sheet of the Ohio Official Reports.  Readers are requested 
to promptly notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of Ohio, 
65 South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, of any typographical or 
other formal errors in the opinion, in order that corrections may be 
made before the opinion is published. 
 
SLIP OPINION NO. 2011-OHIO-4705 
THE STATE EX REL. STRIKER, APPELLANT, v. FRARY, CLERK, ET AL., 
APPELLEES. 
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it 
may be cited as State ex rel. Striker v. Frary,  
Slip Opinion No. 2011-Ohio-4705.] 
Mandamus — Public records — R.C. 149.43 — Court clerks have no duty to 
provide access to records not in their possession — Judgment denying 
writ affirmed. 
(No. 2011-0570 — Submitted September 7, 2011 — Decided  
September 21, 2011.) 
APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Richland County, 
No. 10 CA 01, 2011-Ohio-1021. 
___________________ 
 
Per Curiam. 
{¶ 1} We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals denying a writ of 
mandamus to compel appellees, Richland County Common Pleas Court Clerk 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
2 
 
Linda Frary and Mansfield Municipal Court Clerk Daniel F. Smith, to provide 
access to certain records pursuant to R.C. 149.43, Ohio’s Public Records Act.  As 
to the records that Striker requested but claims he did not receive, appellees have 
no duty to provide records that they did not possess.  See State ex rel. Striker v. 
Smith, __ Ohio St.3d __, 2011-Ohio-2878, __ N.E.2d __, ¶ 28.  Nor was Striker 
entitled to records that he requested initially in his mandamus complaint.  State ex 
rel. Am. Civ. Liberties Union of Ohio, Inc. v. Cuyahoga Cty. Bd. of Commrs., 128 
Ohio St.3d 256, 2011-Ohio-625, 943 N.E.2d 553, ¶ 33.  Appellees complied with 
their applicable duties. 
Judgment affirmed. 
O’CONNOR, C.J., and PFEIFER, LUNDBERG STRATTON, O’DONNELL, 
LANZINGER, CUPP, and MCGEE BROWN, JJ., concur. 
__________________ 
 
Lori McGinnis, for appellant. 
 
James J. Mayer Jr., Richland County Prosecuting Attorney, and Daniel J. 
Benoit, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee Frary. 
 
David L. Remy, Mansfield Law Director, for appellee Smith. 
______________________