House bill preserves journalists’ access to public records
Committee amended, passed a bill meant to protect privacy of public service workers.
The Ohio House Civil Justice Committee progressed a bill Tuesday to shield certain public service workers’ timesheets from public view, but amended the proposal to protect journalists’ access to the records.
House Bill 265, passed by a 14-1 committee vote, is largely advocated for by firefighters and police officers — two occupations whose past, present and future work schedules can be accessed via public record request under current law.
The bill, among other things, would shield those work schedules from public disclosure for three years.
H.B. 265 backers raise the possibility that a nefarious individual could obtain a public service worker’s work schedule and then prey on that worker’s home while they’re at work.
“First responders are protecting us 365 days 24/7. Anything we can do for them I feel is a step in the right direction,” said state Rep. Thomas Hall, R-Madison Twp., who introduced the bill alongside Rep. Scott Wiggam, R-Wayne County.
An amendment to the proposal was unanimously adopted Tuesday that ensures reporters can maintain their ability to access such records.
This follows a Springfield News-Sun report listing 11 examples of how public employee timesheet and payroll records have been used by this news outlet and others to investigate concerns such as public employees misreporting their time, working a second job while on the clock, or taking excessive vacation time or overtime.
The amendment added Tuesday was proposed by the Ohio News Media Association, according to Executive Director Monica Nieporte, whose trade organization represents many newspapers in Ohio, including this one.
She thanked the committee for taking the organization’s concerns around public records access seriously and said she holds no reservations about the bill moving forward.
“I think it provides the access that reporters would need to verify facts, if they were working on a story,” Nieporte said. “That was our main concern.”
Hall told this news organization that the bipartisan support the bill received was a real win, especially on a topic as touchy as public records and privacy.
With its blessing from the committee, H.B. 265 is now ready to be voted on by the entire House, once taken up by Republican leadership.