State ex rel. Cordell v. Paden

In this original action brought by Relator seeking a writ of mandamus to compel the Guernsey County Sheriff to release records related to a criminal case against Bryan Bates, the Supreme Court denied Relator's petition for a writ of mandamus and denied her request for court costs but awarded her statutory damages in the amount of $1,000.When the sheriff did not respond to Relator's requests seeking public records relating to the criminal case State v. Bates, Relator brought this action seeking a writ of mandamus to compel the sheriff to provide the requested records. The Supreme Court (1) denied Relator's mandamus claim because Relator failed to prove that the requested records existed or that they were in the custody of the sheriff's office, (2) denied Relator's request for court costs because the Court denied Relator's mandamus claim, and (3) granted Relator the maximum amount of statutory damages because Relator showed that the sheriff's response was incomplete. View "State ex rel. Cordell v. Paden" on Justia Law