*Best Practices

To create an open and transparent government, the AOS suggests implementing the following best practices.
Note: These suggestions are not required by Ohio's Sunshine Laws.

1 The public office employs a method to track public records requests, such as record requested, date received and date provided.

2 To assist the public in making a request for records the public office has standard request forms that are available to requestors to use if they wish, as well as for the staff to use when a request is made via phone.

3 The public office provides an acknowledgment to the requestor when a public records request is received, consistent with how the request was made.

4 To assist the public in making a request for records, the public office has publicized (website, public records poster, etc.) the name or office title of the records custodian and his/her contact information. Further, the public office’s staff has been trained on how to route public records requests to the record custodian, who also has been trained on fulfilling the public records requests, including guidelines for negotiating ambiguous or large requests.

5 All elected officials or their designees, as well as community school administrators, have taken the required public-records training within the applicable time frame.

6 The public office has an online presence that provides the office’s agendas, policies, and schedules.

7 The public office has an online presence that provides access to official documents, such as the annual budget, salaries, and contact information.