Court Opinion

ID: 9942919
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-02-22 14:07:18.816498+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:45:12.604850
License: Public Domain

[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as State
ex rel. Ware v. Galonski, Slip Opinion No. 2024-Ohio-613.]

                                           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. 2024-OHIO-613
                  THE STATE EX REL . WARE v. GALONSKI,1 CLERK.
  [Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it
         may be cited as State ex rel. Ware v. Galonski, Slip Opinion No.
                                       2024-Ohio-613.]
Mandamus—Public-records               requests—R.C.          149.43—Requested            records
        provided—Writ denied as moot and statutory damages denied.
 (No. 2023-0176—Submitted December 12, 2023—Decided February 22, 2024.)
                                        IN MANDAMUS.
                                    __________________
        Per Curiam.
        {¶ 1} Relator, Kimani E. Ware, filed this original action in mandamus under
Ohio’s Public Records Act, R.C. 149.43, seeking (1) a writ of mandamus to compel
respondent, Summit County Clerk of Courts Tavia Galonski, to provide documents

1. Ware asserted his claim against Sandra Kurt, who was the Summit County Clerk of Courts when
the complaint was filed. The current clerk, Tavia Galonski, is automatically substituted as a party
to this action under S.Ct.Prac.R. 4.06(B).
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in response to a public-records request and (2) an award of statutory damages under
R.C. 149.43(C)(2). Ware also has filed motions to strike the clerk’s evidence and for
leave to file additional evidence. We deny Ware’s motions, deny the mandamus
claim as moot, and deny the request for statutory damages.
              FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
        {¶ 2} Ware is an inmate at the Richland Correctional Institution. He alleges
that on May 25, 2022, he sent a public-records request to the clerk of courts by
certified mail, requesting several documents filed in “case no. 20329.” According to
Ware, a certified-mail receipt shows that the clerk’s office received the public-
records request on June 7, 2022. Ware filed this original action on February 3, 2023,
alleging that the clerk had not responded to his request.
        {¶ 3} The clerk moved to dismiss Ware’s complaint. Among other things,
the clerk asserted that her office did not receive Ware’s public-records request and
that her office sent the requested records to Ware on February 17, 2023, soon after
he filed his complaint in this case. We denied the motion to dismiss and granted an
alternative writ, ordering the parties to submit evidence and file briefs. 170 Ohio
St.3d 1409, 2023-Ohio-1444, 208 N.E.3d 837. After the clerk filed her evidence,
Ware filed a motion to strike it, alleging that the clerk had failed to serve the evidence
on him. Ware also filed a motion for leave to file additional evidence.
                                      ANALYSIS
                                    Ware’s Motions
        {¶ 4} Ware has filed two motions: a motion to strike evidence filed by the
clerk and a motion for leave to file his own additional evidence. We deny both
motions.
        {¶ 5} In moving to strike the clerk’s evidence, Ware alleges that the clerk
did not serve the evidence on him as required by S.Ct.Prac.R. 3.11(B)(1). In her
opposition to the motion to strike, the clerk acknowledges that there was a
typographical error in the certificates of service filed with her evidence: they state

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that the evidence was served “by e-mail” to Ware’s physical address at the prison.
But the clerk has submitted an affidavit of an employee of the Summit County
Prosecuting Attorney’s office attesting that the clerk’s evidence was served on
Ware by regular mail the same day it was filed.
       {¶ 6} S.Ct.Prac.R. 3.11(E)(1) authorizes a party who has been “adversely
affected” by another party’s failure to provide service in accordance with
S.Ct.Prac.R. 3.11(B) to file a motion to strike the document that was not served.
Under S.Ct.Prac.R. 3.11(E)(2), we may deny a motion to strike if we determine
“that service was made as required by this rule or that service was not made but the
movant was not adversely affected.” We deny Ware’s motion to strike because
there is credible evidence that the clerk properly served her evidence on Ware.
Moreover, Ware does not argue that he was adversely affected by the alleged failure
of service.
       {¶ 7} Ware also filed a motion for leave to file additional evidence—
evidence that, according to him, undermines the clerk’s arguments and evidence.
We deny the motion as untimely. S.Ct.Prac.R. 12.06(B) permits a relator to file a
motion for leave to file rebuttal evidence “within the time permitted for the filing
of relator’s reply brief.” Ware filed his motion for leave more than three weeks
after his reply brief was due.
                             Ware’s Mandamus Claim
       {¶ 8} Mandamus is an appropriate remedy to compel compliance with the
Public Records Act. R.C. 149.43(C)(1)(b). The clerk argues that we should dismiss
Ware’s complaint because he did not comply with R.C. 2969.25, which imposes
special filing requirements on inmates who file civil actions against government
employees. This argument lacks merit, however, because the requirements of R.C.
2969.25 do not apply to original actions filed in this court. State ex rel. McDougald
v. Greene, 155 Ohio St.3d 216, 2018-Ohio-4200, 120 N.E.3d 779, ¶ 8-10.

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       {¶ 9} Ware’s mandamus claim, however, lacks merit because it is moot.
Providing the requested records to the relator generally renders moot a public-records
mandamus claim. State ex rel. Striker v. Smith, 129 Ohio St.3d 168, 2011-Ohio-
2878, 950 N.E.2d 952, ¶ 22. Because Ware acknowledges that the clerk has
produced the requested records, we deny the request for a writ of mandamus as moot.
                       Ware’s Request for Statutory Damages
       {¶ 10} Ware also seeks an award of statutory damages for the clerk’s alleged
failure to comply with the Public Records Act. If a respondent takes an unreasonable
amount of time to produce records in response to a public-records request, the relator
may be entitled to an award of statutory damages even if the mandamus claim is
moot. See State ex rel. Kesterson v. Kent State Univ., 156 Ohio St.3d 13, 2018-Ohio-
5108, 123 N.E.3d 887, ¶ 13-15, 22. R.C. 149.43(C)(2) allows a requester to recover
$100 for each business day during which a public office or person responsible for the
requested public records failed to comply with an obligation arising under R.C.
149.43(B), beginning on the date of commencement of the public-records action, up
to a maximum of $1,000.
       {¶ 11} To be eligible for statutory damages, Ware must prove by clear and
convincing evidence that he delivered his public-records request to the clerk “by hand
delivery, electronic submission, or certified mail,” R.C. 149.43(C)(2). See State ex
rel. Ware v. Giavasis, 163 Ohio St.3d 359, 2020-Ohio-5453, 170 N.E.3d 788,
¶ 31-32. Ware alleges that the clerk’s office received his request by certified mail on
June 7, 2022. The clerk disputes that claim; she alleges that her office did not receive
any public-records request from Ware on June 7 and that her office first learned of
Ware’s request when he filed this original action in February 2023.             Ware’s
entitlement to statutory damages depends on our resolution of this factual dispute.
       {¶ 12} Both parties have submitted evidence in support of their factual
assertions. Ware’s evidence includes his own affidavit stating that he sent his request
to the clerk by certified mail in May 2022 and that the clerk’s office received the

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                                 January Term, 2024

request in June 2022. Ware also provided tracking information showing that the
clerk’s office received certified mail from him on June 7. The clerk’s evidence
includes affidavits from two clerk’s office employees responsible for responding to
public-records requests. Both employees testified that they first learned of Ware’s
request on February 9, 2023. One of the employees testified that after he learned of
Ware’s request, he “conducted a search and found no requests received from Kimani
E. Ware on June 7, 2022 via certified mail or other means.” The clerk also provided
an affidavit from her counsel in this case, an assistant prosecutor in the Summit
County Prosecuting Attorney’s office, who testified that the office received certified
mail from Ware that contained only a copy of a judgment entry that was issued by
the Ninth District Court of Appeals in another case filed by Ware. The clerk argues
that this evidence suggests that Ware is engaging in a “public records scam” whereby
he sends miscellaneous documents to public offices that do not require a response,
obtains certified-mail receipts, and then later claims that he had sent a request for
records.
       {¶ 13} The clerk’s assertion that Ware is running a public-records scam is
highly plausible. Indeed, public officials have repeatedly testified that they have no
record of having received a public-records request purportedly sent by Ware. See,
e.g., Giavasis at ¶ 3, 8, 31; State ex rel. Ware v. Byrd, 8th Dist. Cuyahoga No. 112488,
2023-Ohio-3158, ¶ 20, 27; State ex rel. Ware v. Stone, 5th Dist. Stark No.
2021CA00042, 2022-Ohio-1151, ¶ 3, 27-28, 34; State ex rel. Ware v. Walsh, 9th
Dist. Summit No. 30051, 2021-Ohio-4585, ¶ 3, 20-21. But we need not determine
whether Ware has engaged in misconduct to dispose of Ware’s request for statutory
damages or otherwise resolve this case. The clerk has not asked that we sanction
Ware for misconduct, so we will leave that question for another day. To resolve this
case, we need only determine whether Ware has met his burden of proving by clear
and convincing evidence that he delivered his public-records request to the clerk by

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certified mail and that the clerk failed to comply with an obligation under R.C.
149.43(B). See Giavasis at ¶ 26-27, 31-32.
       {¶ 14} Ware has not met his burden. Although he submitted evidence
showing that the clerk’s office received something from him on June 7, 2022, he has
not submitted evidence establishing that what he sent was a public-records request.
His sworn statement that he sent such a request is rebutted by the clerk’s evidence
that no such request was ever received. Thus, he “has not satisfied the heightened
burden of proof necessary for an award of statutory damages,” id., 163 Ohio St.3d
359, 2020-Ohio-5453, 170 N.E.3d 788, at ¶ 32 (denying statutory damages when the
evidence was “evenly balanced”). See also State ex rel. Griffin v. Doe, 165 Ohio
St.3d 577, 2021-Ohio-3626, 180 N.E.3d 1123, ¶ 8. Accordingly, we deny Ware’s
request for statutory damages.
                           Ware’s Allegations of Bad Faith
       {¶ 15} Ware also argues that the clerk acted in bad faith under R.C.
149.43(C)(3)(b)(iii) by providing him the records he sought “only after” he filed his
complaint in this action. We do not find any evidence of bad faith in the record.
Moreover, the provision on which Ware relies has no application here because it
relates to a possible award of attorney fees. As a pro se litigant, Ware has no right to
attorney fees. See Fant v. Regional Transit Auth. Bd. of Trustees, 50 Ohio St.3d 72,
552 N.E.2d 639 (1990).
                                  CONCLUSION
       {¶ 16} For the foregoing reasons, we deny Ware’s motion to strike, deny his
motion for leave to file additional evidence, deny as moot his request for a writ of
mandamus, and deny his request for statutory damages.
                                                                          Writ denied.
       FISCHER, DEWINE, DONNELLY, STEWART, and DETERS, JJ., concur.
       KENNEDY, C.J., and BRUNNER, J., concur in judgment only.
                                 _________________

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                              January Term, 2024

       Kimani E. Ware, pro se.
       Sherri Bevan Walsh, Summit County Prosecuting Attorney, and Marrett W.
Hanna, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for respondent.
                             _________________

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