[Cite as State ex rel. Fine v. Kalo, 2020-Ohio-3310.]

STATE OF OHIO ) IN THE COURT OF APPEALS 

 )ss: NINTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT 

COUNTY OF LORAIN ) 

STATE OF OHIO EX REL. ALBERT C. 

FINE 

 Relator 

 v. 

TED KALO, LORAIN MUNICIPAL 

COURT 

 Respondent 

C.A. No. 20CA011633 

ORIGINAL ACTION IN 

MANDAMUS 

Dated: June 15, 2020 

 

 PER CURIAM. 

{¶1} Relator Albert C. Fine has filed a petition asking this Court for a writ of mandamus 

ordering Respondent, Ted Kalo, Clerk of the Lorain Municipal Court, to provide him with 

documents he requested, but did not receive, in a public records request. Because Mr. Fine’s 

petition does not comply with the mandatory requirements of R.C. 2969.25, this Court must 

dismiss this action. 

{¶2} R.C. 2969.25 sets forth specific filing requirements for inmates who file a civil 

action against a government employee or entity. Mr. Kalo, clerk of the Lorain Municipal Court, 

is a government employee and Mr. Fine, incarcerated in the Northeast Ohio Correctional Center, 

is an inmate. R.C. 2969.21(C) and (D). A case must be dismissed if the inmate fails to comply 

with the mandatory requirements of R.C. 2969.25 in the commencement of the action. State ex 

rel. Graham v. Findlay Mun. Court, 106 Ohio St.3d 63, 2005-Ohio-3671, ¶ 6 (“The requirements 

of R.C. 2969.25 are mandatory, and failure to comply with them subjects an inmate’s action to 
C.A. No. 20CA011633 

Page 2 of 3 

 

dismissal.”). Mr. Fine failed to comply with the requirements regarding his motion to waive 

prepayment of the cost deposit. 

{¶3} An inmate seeking waiver of filing fees, as Mr. Fine did here, must file an affidavit 

of indigency. The affidavit must include, among other things, “[a] statement that sets forth the 

balance in the inmate account of the inmate for each of the preceding six months, as certified by 

the institutional cashier[.]” R.C. 2969.25(C)(1). The statute requires specific information be 

provided: an affidavit that “does not include a statement setting forth the balance in [an] inmate 

account for each of the preceding six months” fails to comply with R.C. 2969.25(C)(1). State ex 

rel. Roden v. Ohio Dept. of Rehab. & Corr., Slip Opinion No. 2020-Ohio-408, ¶ 6 (emphasis 

sic.). Mr. Fine’s affidavit of indigency only states that he does not have anything of value to pay 

the cost associated with this action; it does not meet any of the requirements of the statute. “‘R.C. 

2969.25(C) does not permit substantial compliance[,]’” it requires strict adherence by the filing 

inmate. Id. at ¶ 8, citing State ex rel. v. Neil v. French, 153 Ohio St.3d 271, 2018-Ohio-2692, ¶ 

7. Therefore, Mr. Fine’s affidavit does not comply with the mandatory requirements of R.C. 

2969.25(C)(1). 

{¶4} Because Mr. Fine did not comply with the mandatory requirements of R.C. 

2969.25, this case is dismissed. Costs are taxed to Mr. Fine. The clerk of courts is hereby 

directed to serve upon all parties not in default notice of this judgment and its date of entry upon 

the journal. See Civ.R. 58. 

 

 LYNNE S. CALLAHAN 

 FOR THE COURT 
C.A. No. 20CA011633 

Page 3 of 3 

 

SCHAFER, J. 

TEODOSIO, J. 

CONCUR. 

APPEARANCES: 

ALBERT C. FINE, Pro se, Relator. 

PATRICK D. RILEY, Law Director, and Joseph T. LaVeck, Assistant Law Director & Police 

Legal Advisor, for Respondent.