Please urge Gov. Mike DeWine to veto a new provision that will make Ohio less transparent by enabling additional costs to public records requests to law enforcement.

A change in open government and public records was snuck into House Bill 315. They have added language to House Bill 315 that says body cam footage and dash cam footage can only be provided by a police department after charging the public $75 per hour (with a cap of $750) for the agency to “retrieve, download, review, redact, seek legal advice regarding, and produce the video record.”

Take Action Before Gov. DeWine Signs the Bill

WE NEED YOU!

How will families understand police incidents? How will reporters get access to footage? How can they hide transparency behind a costly payment scheme?

TAKE ACTION | Call Governor DeWine: (614)-466-3555

Use the script below:

"Hello Governor DeWine, my name is <name> and live in <town>. I am calling to request that you use your power of line item veto on a portion of House Bill 315. This bill now includes language that says citizens requesting public records, like dash camera or body camera footage, have to pay for the cost of finding and producing that footage, and have to pay for the cost of police departments "seeking legal advice regarding" that footage.

A citizen will have to pay hundreds of dollars before the police department will even start the process of finding or reviewing camera footage. This language fines families who want to understand a tragedy that occurred to a loved one. This language fines anyone who wants to ensure transparency and oversight. This language creates a barrier between our community and the truth. I ask that you veto this language in House Bill 315. Thank you."

Tell the Governor we don't need a paywall between us and public records!