Dewine security cost at Super Bowl not public record

How much money it cost taxpayers to send the governor’s security detail to the Super Bowl is not a public record, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a 4-3 split decision.

Gov. Mike Dewine took 19 family members to Super Bowl 56 between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022. The Ohio State Highway Patrol sent troopers to protect the governor.

Dewine and his wife Fran paid their own expenses. But the Ohio Department of Public Safety denied a Feb. 14, 2022, public records request for the flight, hotel, meal, vehicle rental and overtime expenses for troopers who made the trip. The department said the information could be used to attack or sabotage the governor or his detail at future outings.

The Enquirer sued the Dewine administration, seeking information on how much the trip cost.

Justice Patrick Dewine, the governor’s eldest son, recused himself from the case.

Judge Betsy Schuster of the 10th District Court of Appeals, a Republican and former legal counsel to Gov. Bob Taft, sat in for Dewine.

In a 4-3 decision, the court said the requested records could be withheld because they fell under the security records exemption in the law.

Four Republicans signed onto the majority opinion. Three Democrats signed onto the dissent, written by Justice Michael Donnelly.

The Dewine administration argued that disclosure of the expense receipts could reveal the size of the security detail, which hotels and rental car vendors they use, when they refuel vehicles and other information that could be used to attack the governor.

In a dissent, Donnelly said it’s “more than a stretch” to say that keeping gas receipts secret go toward maintaining the governor’s security.

“It is obvious that all disclosures of public records come with some security concerns. As an extreme example, there is no doubt that any governor would be much safer if no one knew his or her name, what she or he looks like, or where he or she lives and works,” Donnelly said. “But the incremental concern at issue here is not, to my mind, sufficient justification for shrouding government spending in secrecy.”

Enquirer Executive Editor Beryl Love said: “The fact this decision was made along party lines speaks for itself. This was a case of a party taking care of its own and insulting Ohio taxpayers, who have a right to know how much they paid so the governor could attend the Super Bowl with his entourage. The argument that providing this information poses a security threat ... has no basis.”

Laura Bischoff is a reporter for the USA TODAY Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch and other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.