Hamilton County’s clerk of courts can’t defy an order from all 14 of the county’s municipal court judges and block online access to thousands of older eviction cases, the Ohio Supreme Court said.
The unanimous ruling, which was handed down Wednesday, June 18, upheld a decision last year by a state appellate court. It ends a yearslong battle between Clerk of Courts Pavan Parikh and the municipal judges.
The judges said Parikh overstepped his authority in 2022 when he removed from his office’s website eviction case records that were older than three years from the date of judgment.
The municipal judges objected to Parikh’s independent action and ordered him to restore online access. Parikh had argued that as an elected official, he could exercise his discretion to remove eviction records from the website.
The Ohio Supreme Court’s opinion clarifies the law because the records have been available on the website since late-November 2024. That’s when the Supreme Court denied Parikh’s request to stay the appeals court’s decision.
Under Ohio law, according to the Supreme Court, Parikh had to comply with the municipal judge’s order.
Parikh’s decision “to restrict public access to certain court records infringes on the judges’ authority to make such decisions,” the opinion said.
Clerk’s office responds to ruling
In a statement, Parikh’s office said the policy regarding online access was put in place to safeguard citizens from being subjected to adverse housing decisions by landlords.
“A simple website search of cases does not easily differentiate between parties with similar names,” the statement said. “Our work in the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts Help Center supports our initial concern. The eviction process is broken. When eviction cases are litigated to finality by a help center attorney, over 84% of cases are dismissed.”
The Hamilton County Municipal Court hearing room where eviction court is held.
The Supreme Court’s opinion pointed out that state law requires the clerk of courts to perform duties directed by the municipal court judges. In addition, the opinion said court rules give judges – not the clerk – the discretion to restrict access to municipal court records.
There must be a balancing test by a court when considering whether to restrict access to court records, according to the opinion. The court must determine if the public’s access is outweighed by a stronger interest to restrict access.
And if the court determines that access should be restricted, it must use “the least restrictive means available,” the opinion said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Supreme Court: Clerk of Courts Pavan Parikh overstepped his authority