Why Open Government?

"...a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is afraid of its people." President John F. Kennedy, 1962

When our government—local, state, or federal—doesn’t act appropriately, citizens primarily have two means of effecting change. They can vote or they can run for public office themselves. However, the vote is rendered meaningless if the voters don’t know the actions and decisions of their representatives.

Open government laws are the assurance of our elected and appointed officials that they will perform their actions in public, so that when the time comes for citizens to exercise their right to vote, that vote will be an informed, thoughtful exercise of democratic principles.

The Attorney General’s Overview of Ohio’s Open Records and Open Meetings Law pdf.


There are two areas where open government laws play a role: public records and meetings of decision-makers on every level of government.

In the absence of adequate enforcement or meaningful penalties, noncompliance with open records regulations is common. The Ohio General Assembly and Supreme Court keep adding exceptions to open records law to keep information from Ohioans.

Too often, our officials seek to avoid public meetings. They may act legally, but while adhering to the letter of the law, they disregard its spirit. In other cases, laws are actually broken.

Recent attempts to fix Ohio’s open government problem have fallen short. In the absence of serious effort by Ohio’s government, the Money in Politics Project has some recommendations.