State ex rel. Crenshaw v. Maple Hts. Police Dept.

Citations

• 2022 Ohio 3920

Syllabus

Motion to dismiss Civ.R. 12(B)(6) public records Public Records Act R.C. 149.43 mandamus petition for a writ of mandamus R.C. 2731.04 case caption pleading deficiency subject-matter jurisdiction requisites for mandamus adequate remedy adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law mandamus is not a substitute for an appeal untimely appeal notice of appeal. The relator sought a writ of mandamus pursuant to the Public Records Act, as well as damages and fees, related to two public-records requests she made to the respondent. The trial court dismissed her first petition based on noncompliance with R.C. 2731.04 she had failed to bring the action in the name of the state on relation of the person applying. The relator did not timely appeal this dismissal and we, therefore, cannot review it. But where the relator filed a second, similar petition with the trial court — seeking the same public records as before but correcting the case caption to comply with the statute — it was error for the trial court to dismiss the petition at the motion-to-dismiss stage merely because the relator did not appeal the dismissal of her first petition. The trial court had reasoned that the relator's ability to appeal the earlier dismissal was an \adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law\ precluding mandamus relief, but relators in mandamus cases under the Public Records Act need not establish the lack of an adequate remedy because the Act provides that mandamus is the appropriate remedy. Because the relator did not need to establish a lack of an adequate remedy, it was error for the trial court to dismiss her second petition for failure to do so. In the absence of any citation to the Rules of Civil Procedure in the respondent's motion to dismiss, we construed the motion as asserting a failure to state a claim under Civ.R. 12(B)(6) because the movant argued for dismissal based on the alleged existence of an adequate remedy at law before answering the petition. We did not need to consider