PD-stock-Ohio-Supreme-Court.jpg

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday that police departments at some of the state's private colleges and universities are public officers and subject to Ohio's Public Records Act.

(Plain Dealer file photo)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Documents kept by an Ohio private university's police department should be available to the public, the state's high court said in decision Thursday that could open up police records at many private universities across the state.

Otterbein University was ordered to hand over police documents to a campus publication, because the university's police department was established by state law and performs a key action of the government, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision.

The case, Schiffbauer v. Banaszak, was brought by Anna Schiffbauer, editor of Otterbein360.com. Schiffbauer sued campus police chief Larry Banaszak after he denied to release police reports and other documents, claiming that since the university and the police department were private entities, its records are not subject to Ohio's Public Records Act.

The Court rejected that argument, saying under state law, officers in a private university are given the same power and authority as a city police officer or county sheriff's deputy.

"The department is created under a statute for the express purpose of engaging in one of the most fundamental functions of government: the enforcement of criminal laws, which includes power over citizens as necessary for that enforcement," the court wrote.

The decision only applies to private colleges or universities that created a police department under Ohio Revised Code 1713.50, and not schools that use security guards, court spokeswoman Kathy Maloney said.

That includes police departments at Case Western Reserve University and John Carroll University. Officials at both schools had not heard of the ruling when first contacted by Northeast Ohio Media Group Thursday and needed time to review the decision.

"We will take steps required to comply with the court's ruling, while at the same time honoring federal and state privacy protections that apply to faculty, staff and students," Case Western said in a statement released late Thursday.

Baldwin Wallace University uses security officers, not sworn police officers, according to its website.

Attorney General Mike DeWine said he was pleased with the decision.

"The Court agreed with our arguments that private college police departments are performing a function of the state in exercising police powers," DeWine said in a statement. "When statutes are unclear, public offices are encouraged to err on the side of openness and transparency, and today's decision is consistent with that."

Update: This post has been updated with a statement from Case Western Reserve University.