03/03/2026 Case Announcements 2

CASE ANNOUNCEMENTS

March 3, 2026 [Cite as 03/03/2026 Case Announcements #2, 2026-Ohio-714.]

MERIT DECISIONS WITHOUT OPINIONS

2025-1417. State ex rel. Schaffer v. Butler Cty. Sheriff's Office.

In Mandamus. On respondents' motions to dismiss. Motions granted. Respondents' joint motion to stay discovery denied as moot. Relator's motion to compel discovery denied. Cause dismissed.

Fischer, DeWine, Hawkins, and Shanahan, JJ., concur.

Deters, J., concurs but would deny relator's motion as moot. Brunner, J., dissents, with an opinion.

Kennedy, C.J., not participating.

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BRUNNER, J., dissenting. {¶ 1} Because relator, Alex Schaffer, has alleged facts that if true would entitle him to a writ of mandamus, I dissent from this court's dismissal of this action.

{¶ 2} In his complaint, Schaffer alleges that in 2025, he sent public-records requests by email to respondents, the Butler County Sheriff's Office, Jonathan Eric Davidson, and Combined Public Communications, L.L.C., seeking copies of call logs and recordings of phone calls made by an inmate who was housed at the Butler County Jail for approximately six years, ending in September 2024. Respondents have filed motions to dismiss, arguing that the requested call logs and recordings are not public records. In support of their argument, they point to a recent Twelfth District Court of Appeals determination that the same call logs that Schaffer requests here are not public records. See Cincinnati Enquirer v. Butler Cty. Sheriff's Office, 2025-Ohio- 4621 (12th Dist.). But we are not bound by the Twelfth District's decision, and none of the respondents has cited authority that would allow us to conclude that as a matter of law the call

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{¶ 3} I would deny Schaffer's motion to compel discovery, but I would order the parties to complete discovery within 15 days, and I would issue a scheduling order for submission of evidence and briefing.

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