State ex rel. Stevenson v. King

Citations

• 169 Ohio St. 3d 61
• 201 N.E.3d 873
• 2022 Ohio 3093

Syllabus

Mandamus—Public Records Act, R.C. 149.43—Attorney fees—Petition seeking to compel the East Cleveland mayor and finance director to produce records to the city-council president related to funds received and spent by the city under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, 15 U.S.C. 9001 et seq. (\the CARES Act\) was correctly granted because the mayor and finance director failed to present sufficient evidence to support their claim that no written records existed pertaining to the application for and award of CARES Act grant money and because they failed to authenticate the evidence submitted in support of their claim that records pertaining to the appropriation and expenditure of CARES Act money had already been shared with the city council through regular financial reports—Attorney fees were improperly awarded for pro se litigant who failed to demonstrate the existence of an attorney-client relationship between the attorney who was awarded fees and herself individually or the city council.