Rule 3341-1-06 | Public Records.
(A) Policy statement and purpose
To ensure compliance with the Ohio Public Records Act
(B) Policy
It is the policy of Bowling Green State University (the "university") to comply fully with the letter and the spirit of the Ohio Public Records Act (the "Act"). In accordance with this Policy, we shall release a public record to a requester within a reasonable period of time unless that record meets a statutory or other legally-recognized exemption from making the record publicly available.
(1) What is a public record?
A public record includes any document, device, or item, regardless of physical form or characteristic, including an electronic record (such as an email), created or received by, or coming under the jurisdiction of any university office, that is kept by a university office and serves to document the : organization, functions, policies, decisions, procedures, operations, or other activities of the office.
(2) What is a public records request?
A public records request is any request (whether oral or written) made to the university to inspect a public record, or to have a public record copied in any medium and mailed, electronically transmitted or otherwise provided to a requester.
The public records request must describe records with sufficient clarity to allow the university to identify, retrieve and review the records. The university may deny all or any part of a public records request that is ambiguous or overbroad or if the university cannot reasonably identify what public records are being requested. If a request is denied for any of those reasons, the university shall inform the requester of the manner in which the university maintains and accesses public records in the ordinary course of business and ask the requester to revise the request. The goal is to clarify and narrow ambiguous, overbroad or inarticulable requests in order to create a successful revised request.
A public records request does not need to be made in writing. The Office of General Counsel may ask the requester to make their request in writing, may ask for their identity, and may ask about the intended use of the information requested, but only if it would benefit the requester by making it easier for the university to identify, locate, and deliver the public records sought. If the Office of General Counsel asks for any of these items, it must first disclose to the requestor that a written request is not mandatory and that they may decline to reveal themselves or the intended use.
(C) General procedures for processing a request
The general procedures for processing a public records request are as follows:
(1) Public records requests will be centrally handled by the University's Public Records Officer in the Office of General Counsel.
(2) In the event that a request is initially received by a department other than the Office of General Counsel, each such request, whether written or verbal, must be forwarded to the Public Records Officer in the Office of General Counsel in a timely manner for further processing, unless the Office of General Counsel has delegated to the department the duty to respond to a defined class or classes of routine requests.
(3) The Office of General Counsel will ask the office, department, or unit that has custody or control over the records to identify records that are responsive to the public records request.
(4) The Office of General Counsel will evaluate the request and all records provided by the custodian to ascertain if any statutory or other federal or state law exemptions apply and, if so, whether the university should assert those exemptions or waive them. Waivers dealing with material matters, if any, will be discussed with the concerned Vice President, the President, and/or the Board of Trustees, as appropriate. If necessary, redactions will be made by the Office of General Counsel.
(5) If copies are requested, the Office of General Counsel will either:
(a) forward the records directly to the requesting party; or
(b) ask the office, department, or unit having custody of the records to forward the records to the requester. If records are requested merely for inspection, the Office of General Counsel will discuss that matter on a case-by-case basis with the relevant office, department, or unit.
(6) The final transmittal to the requester will identify any redactions or refusals to supply the requested records and cite a legal basis for the refusal and/or redaction. The transmittal will also notify the requester of a university contact person to respond to any additional questions on the matter.
(7) With respect to a request to review records only, all public records responsive to the request shall be promptly prepared and made available for inspection to the requester at all reasonable times during regular business hours. To avoid unnecessary delays, appointments will be made, when practicable, for the inspection of records.
(8) The Office of General Counsel may charge the requester for the actual costs incurred per page for copying records and, if the records are mailed, may charge the requester for the actual costs of postage. The Office of General Counsel may also charge the requester for the actual costs incurred for the provision of the record through a storage transfer or on a storage device, such as a flash drive.
The decision to charge for part or all of the actual costs incurred will depend on one or more of the following considerations: the ability of the requester to pay, the administrative burden of the university to charge for and collect nominal fees, and whether the purposes of the Act will be furthered by a waiver of costs.
Depending on the actual costs involved with a particular request, the Office of General Counsel may require that the costs incurred for copying the records and the costs incurred for other supplies used in the mailing, delivery, or transmission of the documents be charged in advance of supplying the records to the requester.
In no event will the university charge for the labor costs incurred for identifying, compiling, or copying materials. In addition, the university will not charge for the provision of a .pdf document or a response contained in an email that is electronically provided to the requester.
(9) The university may limit the number of records requested by a person that it will transmit by United States mail to ten per month, unless the person certifies to the university in writing that the person does not intend to use or forward the requested records, or the information contained in them, for commercial purposes. For purposes of this paragraph, "commercial" is narrowly construed and does not include reporting or gathering news, reporting or gathering information to assist citizen oversight or understanding of the operation or activities of the university.
(D) Special procedures for law enforcement video records
(1) The university's law enforcement agency will charge for the actual cost of preparing a video record for production or inspection, not to exceed seventy-five dollars per hour of video produced, nor seven hundred fifty dollars total. Actual cost means all costs incurred by the state or local law enforcement agency in reviewing, blurring or otherwise obscuring, redacting, uploading, or producing the video records. Actual cost includes, but is not limited to, the storage medium on which the record is produced, staff time, and any other relevant overhead necessary to comply with the request.
(2) The university's law enforcement agency will require a requester to prepay the actual cost of preparing a video record for production or inspection. It will provide an estimate of the actual cost within five business days of receiving the request.
The university's law enforcement agency is not required to start preparing a video record for production or inspection until the requester pays the estimated actual cost in full.
The university's law enforcement agency will notify the requester if the final actual cost is more than the estimated actual cost. The requester may be required to pay the difference between the final actual cost and the estimated cost if the requester is notified in advance that the final actual cost is more than the estimated actual cost, but the additional charge may not be more than twenty per cent of the estimated actual cost.
(3) Copies of video records must be produced within a reasonable period of time. Video records must be made available for inspection promptly. "Prompt" and "reasonable" take into account the time it takes the office to retrieve, download, review, redact, seek legal advice regarding, and produce the video record, as well as other facts and circumstances of the records requested. The obligation to produce a video record within a reasonable period of time, or make it available for inspection promptly, does not start until the requester pays the estimated actual cost in full.
Video records will only be available for inspection during regular business hours.
(E) Posting
This Policy will be posted in a conspicuous place in those offices, departments, units and other work locations of the university most likely to receive records requests from members of the public; on the Office of General Counsel's web site; and in manuals or handbooks of general policies and procedures for all employees of the university.
Last updated October 22, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Supplemental Information
Amplifies: 3341.
Prior Effective Dates: 3/16/2015, 11/24/2022, 6/23/2025