Title: State ex rel. Brown v. Wauford

State: ohio

Issuer: Ohio Supreme Court

Document:

[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as 
State ex rel. Brown v. Wauford, Slip Opinion No. 2011-Ohio-2858.] 
 
 
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-2858 
THE STATE EX REL. BROWN, APPELLANT, v. WAUFORD, DIR., APPELLEE. 
THE STATE EX REL. BROWN, APPELLANT, v. OLIVER, DIR., APPELLEE. 
[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it 
may be cited as State ex rel. Brown v. Wauford,  
Slip Opinion No. 2011-Ohio-2858.] 
Res judicata — Claim for access to documents under R.C. 3125.16 already 
litigated. 
(Nos. 2011-0137 and 2011-0138 — Submitted June 8, 2011 — Decided  
June 16, 2011.) 
APPEALS from the Court of Appeals for Hancock County, No. 5-10-24, and 
the Court of Appeals for Seneca County, No. 13-10-31. 
_____________________ 
Per Curiam. 
{¶ 1} We affirm the judgments of the courts of appeals dismissing the 
complaints of appellant, Frank C. Brown, a child-support obligor, for writs of 
mandamus to compel appellees, Hancock County Department of Job and Family 
Services Director Judith A. Wauford and Seneca County Department of Job and 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
2 
 
Family Services Director Kathy Oliver, to provide access to and copies of certain 
child-support records under R.C. 3125.16, Ohio Adm.Code 5101:12-1-20.1, the 
United States Constitution, and other provisions.  Because these appeals raise 
similar issues, we consolidate them for purposes of decision. 
{¶ 2} As the courts of appeals correctly concluded, Brown having 
previously unsuccessfully raised these claims in both counties by motions filed in 
juvenile courts and appeal, see, e.g., In re Brown, Seneca Cty. C.P., Juv. Div. No. 
20720086, and Hageman v. Brown, Hancock App. Nos. 5-09-20 and 5-09-21, 
2009-Ohio-5432, res judicata barred all subsequent actions, including Brown’s 
mandamus claims, based upon any claim arising out of the transactions or 
occurrences that were the subject matter of the previous actions.  See State ex rel. 
Trafalgar Corp. v. Miami Cty. Bd. of Commrs., 104 Ohio St.3d 350, 2004-Ohio-
6406, 819 N.E.2d 1040, ¶ 22.  “Mandamus is not a substitute for an unsuccessful 
appeal.”  State ex rel. Marshall v. Glavas, 98 Ohio St.3d 297, 2003-Ohio-857, 784 
N.E.2d 97, ¶ 6.1 
Judgments affirmed. 
 
O’CONNOR, C.J., and PFEIFER, LUNDBERG STRATTON, O’DONNELL, 
LANZINGER, CUPP, and MCGEE BROWN, JJ., concur. 
__________________ 
 
Frank C. Brown Jr., pro se. 
 
Mark C. Miller, Hancock County Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee 
Judith A. Wauford. 
                                                          
 
1 We deny the motion by Oliver in case No. 2011-0138 for an order striking Brown’s merit brief 
and for an order dismissing his appeal.  Although we agree that Brown’s brief does not comply 
with some of the mechanical requirements of S.Ct.Prac.R. 8.4(A), “[i]n order to promote justice, 
the court exercises a certain liberality in enforcing a strict attention to its rules, especially as to 
mere technical infractions.”  Drake v. Bucher (1966), 5 Ohio St.2d 37, 40, 34 O.O.2d 53, 213 
N.E.2d 182; State ex rel. Morgan v. New Lexington, 112 Ohio St.3d 33, 2006-Ohio-6365, 857 
N.E.2d 1208, ¶ 22.  This is consistent with “the fundamental tenet of judicial review in Ohio * * * 
that courts should decide cases on their merits.”  State ex rel. Becker v. Eastlake (2001), 93 Ohio 
St.3d 502, 505, 756 N.E.2d 1228.   
January Term, 2011 
 
3
 
Derek W. DeVine, Seneca County Prosecuting Attorney, and David J. 
Claus, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellee Kathy Oliver. 
_____________________