Opinion ID: 1836005
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Functional Equivalency Tests

Text: In recent years, many state courts confronted the interplay of privatization of governmental duties and statutory requirements for access to public records. Some states have statutory provisions that preclude a public body from intentionally or unintentionally circumventing public records statutes by delegating public duties to private parties. [21] As the Iowa Supreme Court has noted, its statutory provision prevents government agencies from accomplishing indirectly what they are prohibited from doing directlyavoiding disclosure. [22] Many courts have adopted functional equivalency tests for determining whether records in a private party's possession should be disclosed. Many of these tests provide stringent requirements before ordering disclosure. Some of these tests require a requesting party to show that the private party functions as a hybrid public/private entity: an entity created by, funded by, and regulated by the public body. [23] These tests appear appropriate when a private entity performs an ongoing government function. But requiring citizens to show that a private party functions as a hybrid government entity creates a loophole that would often allow public bodies to evade public records laws. As we know, public bodies often contract with independent contractors to provide government services. [17] We agree with other courts that public records laws should not permit scrutiny of all a private party's records simply because it contracts with a government entity to provide services. But we prefer the Ohio Supreme Court's test, which applies to a broader range of circumstances. For a private entity's records to fall within Ohio's public records act, three requirements must be satisfied: (1) The private entity must prepare the records to carry out a public office's responsibilities; (2) the public office must be able to monitor the private entity's performance; and (3) the public office must have access to the records for this purpose. [24] The court concluded, [Governmental entities cannot conceal information concerning public duties by delegating these duties to a private entity. [25] [18,19] We agree. Section 84-712.01(3) does not permit public bodies to conceal public records by delegating their duties to a private party. Accepting the City's argument would mock the spirit of open government. We conclude that the Ohio Supreme Court's test appears to be the most consistent with § 84-712.01's broad definition of public records, and we adapt it to determine whether a public body is entitled to documents in a private party's possession for purposes of disclosure. Specifically, under § 84-712.01, requested materials in a private party's possession are public records if the following requirements are met: (1) The public body, through a delegation of its authority to perform a government function, contracted with a private party to carry out the government function; (2) the private party prepared the records under the public body's delegation of authority; (3) the public body was entitled to possess the materials to monitor the private party's performance; and (4) the records are used to make a decision affecting public interest. Here, the mayor delegated to Miller's team his authority to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by public officials and set the boundaries of the investigation. The investigators created the records under the City's delegated authority, and the information contained therein proved essential to the mayor's decision in terminating a public official. The City does not claim that the mayor did not have the right to obtain copies of the investigators' records to monitor their performance. And any claim to the contrary lacks credibility  the City having paid $26,000 for this information. The mayor admitted that he terminated Lewis' employment because of the information. Thus, the district court was not clearly wrong in finding that the records belonged to the City and that it relied on the information in the reports, even if it declined to take possession of the materials or pay for a final written report documenting the team's recommendations. We conclude that the investigators' written reports and documents were public records under § 84-712.01.