State ex rel. Lowery v. City of Cleveland

Here, the city submitted the records for in camera inspection, presented evidence and argument to support its claimed exemptions to public release, and asked the court to decide the issues. Under the circumstances, the city cannot now claim it lacked a fair opportunity to present evidence to support its claimed exemptions.

We agree that public officials must be given an adequate opportunity to present evidence about claimed exemptions. “A governmental body refusing to *128release records has the burden of proving that the records are excepted from disclosure by R.C. 149.43.” State ex rel. Natl.…