Justia Ohio Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision of the court of appeals entering summary judgment in favor of Appellees - Portage County Board of Commissioners (Board), Portage County Solid Waste Management District Board of Commissioners (SWMD), and Portage County Court of Common Pleas, holding that the summary judgment is reversed as to the Board and the SWMD.Appellant claimed that the Board violated the Open Meetings Act, Ohio Rev. Code 121.22, and the Public Records Act, Ohio Rev. Code 149.43, by failing to conduct SWMD business in public meetings and by failing to prepare maintain, and produce accurate minutes of SWMD business. The Supreme Court held (1) the court of appeals erred in finding, as a matter of law, that the Board's use of a consent agenda in the manner described in the complaint did not violate the Open Meetings Act; (2) the court of appeals erred in granting summary judgment on Appellant's mandamus claim as it related to the minutes of certain SWMD meetings; and (3) Appellant's remaining allegations of error were without merit. View "State ex rel. Ames v. Portage County Board of Commissioners" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the orders of the Public Utilities Commission requiring Allied Erecting & Dismantling Co., Inc. to pay for electricity consumed during a three-year period in which the Ohio Edison Company failed to bill Allied for one of its electric meters, holding that Allied failed to demonstrate reversible error.Ohio Edison estimated the amount owed based on Allied's historical electricity usage. The Commission determined that Ohio Edison provided sufficient evidence supporting the accuracy of its estimates and that Ohio Edison's estimated back bill was fair and reasonable. Allied appealed, challenging the Commission's orders on two grounds. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Allied failed to demonstrate that the Commission erred in deciding the complaint in Ohio Edison's favor. View "In re Complaint of Allied Erecting & Dismantling Co. v. Ohio Edison Co." on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) affirming the decision of the tax commissioner denying Appellant's complaint challenging the continuing property tax exemption for a real estate parcel owned by the state and operated as the Ohio State University Airport (OSU Airport), the BTA's decision was reasonable and lawful.On appeal, Appellant argued that, given its use as of the tax lien date, the airport parcel did not qualify for exemption. Specifically, Appellant argued that either the entire airport should be taxed or that certain areas of the parcel should be split-listed as taxable. The Supreme Court affirmed BTA's decision continuing the exemption for the entire airport parcel, holding (1) Ohio Rev. Code 5715.271 placed the burden of proving entitled to continued exemption on OSU, and therefore, the BTA properly required OSU to bear that burden; (2) this Court lacked jurisdiction to grant relief to OSU on its evidentiary arguments; and (3) OSU proved that the airport was entitled to exemption under Ohio Rev. Code 3345.17. View "O'Keefe v. McClain" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court dismissed this action seeking a writ of procedendo ordering Judge Thomas J. Pokorny to rule on Relator's motions to dismiss counterclaims in consolidated cases pending in the court of common pleas, holding that the case was moot.Relator brought four actions against the Portage County Solid Waste Management District and the Portage County Board of Commissioners alleging violations of the Open Meetings Act, Ohio Rev. Code 121.22, related to the public business of the district conducted by the board. The district and the board filed amended counterclaims, and Relator filed motions to dismiss the counterclaims. Because Judge Pokorny already denied the motions for which Relator sought to compel a ruling in procedendo, the Supreme Court dismissed this action as moot. View "State ex rel. Ames v. Pokorny" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court granted Relators a writ of mandamus ordering the Trumbull County Board of Elections and its members (collectively, the Board) to remove the issue of Sandra Breymaier's recall from the June 1, 2021 special-election ballot, holding that the measure did not comply with ballot-access requirements.A group of Newton Falls electors presented to the clerk of the city council a petition to recall Breymaier, a city council member. The Mayor informed the Board that the Newton Falls city council had passed a motion to schedule a special election for June 1, 2021 on Breymaier's recall. The Board set the recall election to occur on June 1. Relators, including Breymaier, commenced this action seeking writs of prohibition and mandamus to prevent the Board from holding the recall election and ordering the Board to remove the recall measure from the June 1 ballot. The Supreme Court denied the writ of prohibition because the Board did not exercise quasi-judicial authority but granted a writ of mandamus because the city council had not duly passed a motion to set the recall election for June 1. View "State ex rel. Fritz v. Trumbull County Board of Elections" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) affirming the City of Cleveland's taxation of Hazel Willacy's stock-option income that she realized in 2016, holding that Willacy's propositions of law lacked merit.Willacy earned the disputed stock options in 2007 from her former employer while she was working in Cleveland. In 2009, Willacy retired and moved to Florida without having exercised any of the options. In 2014 and 2015, Willacy exercised the majority of the options and immediately resold the shares. In 2016, Willacy exercised the remaining options. Her former employer withheld her municipal-income-tax obligation and paid it to Cleveland. Willacy sought a refund on the grounds that she did not live or work in Cleveland. The refund was denied, and the BTA affirmed the denial. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Cleveland's taxation of Willacy's 2016 compensation was required under municipal law and did not violate her due process rights under either the United States or Ohio constitutions. View "Willacy v. Cleveland Board of Income Tax Review" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) upholding the tax commissioner's denial of a municipality's request for an exemption for tax years 2015, 2016, and 2017, holding that the BTA reasonably and lawfully upheld the denial of an exemption.The village of Obetz enacted an ordinance in 2017 in an effort to reinstate the tax-exempt status of real property under a tax-increment-financing (TIF) arrangement after it expired in 2014. The commissioner explained that the 2017 could not retroactively reinstate the exemption for tax years 2015, 2016, and 2017 because Ohio Rev. Code 5709.40(G) provides that an exemption may begin no earlier than a tax year that "commences after the effective date of the ordinance." The BTA affirmed, agreeing that the 2017 ordinance created a new exemption rather than extending the earlier one so that section 5708.40(G) barred the exemption from applying during the relevant tax years. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the BTA's decision was reasonable and lawful. View "Obetz v. McClain" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Board of Tax Appeals (BTA) affirming the journal entry issued by Ohio Tax Commissioner Jeffrey McClain adopting a per-acre valuation table for use by county auditors in assessing land that qualifies for "current agricultural use valuation" (CAUV), holding that substantial evidence supported the BTA's decision.For three reasons, the BTA found no abuse of discretion on the part of the tax commissioner in adopting the CAUV unit-value table. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Ohio Adm.Code 5703-25-34(E) furnished no basis for challenging the CAUV journal entry; and (2) the BTA correctly determined that the tax commissioner did not abuse his discretion in adopting the valuation table. View "Johnson v. McClain" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court granted a writ of mandamus compelling Secretary of State Frank LaRose to reappoint Bryan Williams to the Summit County Board of Elections, holding that the Summit County Republican Party Executive Committee did not meet its burden of proof to show that LaRose's reasons for rejecting Williams' appointment were not valid and that he abused his discretion.Williams had already served two terms as a member of the Board when the Committee submitted a recommendation to Secretary LaRose to reappoint Williams for a third term. LaRose rejected the recommendation, citing concerns about the overall performance of the board. The Committee then filed its complaint for a writ of mandamus to compel LaRose to reappoint Williams to the Board. The Supreme Court granted the writ, holding that LaRose abused his discretion in rejecting Williams' appointment. View "State ex rel. Summit County Republican Party Executive Committee v. LaRose" on Justia Law

The Supreme Court granted a writ of mandamus sought by Relator to compel the production of the public records he requested, holding that Relator was entitled to both the writ and to statutory damages.Relator, an inmate at the Toledo Correctional Institution (TCI), sought from Respondent, the public-records custodian at TCI, information about the number of staff and inmates at TCI who had been exposed to or who had contracted COVID-19. Respondent offered to provide the information if Relator paid ten cents for a copy of the document. Relator then made another request. When Respondent did not provide documents responsive to the request, Relator sought a writ of mandamus. The Supreme Court granted the writ and awarded statutory damages, holding that Respondent had a clear legal duty to offer to provide the records to Relator at no cost and that Respondent was substantively and procedurally eligible for an award of statutory damages. View "State ex rel. Griffin v. Sehlmeyer" on Justia Law