Clerk of Courts
Public Record Request

INFORMATION REGARDING PUBLIC RECORDS:

We may ask you to put your request in writing and we may ask for further information.  If so, it is only to assist us to expedite the processing of your request, to better understand exactly what is being requested.  (For example, we need your address if you requested the copy be mailed to you.)  Otherwise, you are not required to provide any information about yourself or the reason for your request.  (ORC §149.43)

SOME OF THE INFORMATION WHICH IS NOT CONSIDERED PUBLIC:

  • Social security number;
  • An individual’s state or federal tax identification number;
  • An individual’s driver’s license number or state identification number;
  • An individual’s checking account number, savings account number, credit card number, or debit card number;
  • An individual’s demand deposit account number, money market account number, mutual fund account number, or any other financial or medical account number. (ORC §§149.43 and 149.45)
  • A document or information in a document exempt from disclosure under state, federal, or the common law;
  • Personal identifiers — “Personal identifiers” means social security numbers, except for the last four digits; financial account numbers, including but not limited to debit card, charge card, and credit card numbers; employer and employee identification numbers; and a juvenile’s name in an abuse, neglect, or dependency case, except for the juvenile’s initials or a generic abbreviation such as “CV” for “child victim;”
  • Documents or case files sealed by court order;
  • Except as relevant to the juvenile’s prosecution later as an adult, a juvenile’s previous disposition in abuse, neglect, and dependency cases, juvenile civil commitment files, post-adjudicatory residential treatment facility reports, and post-adjudicatory releases of a juvenile’s social history;
  • Notes, drafts, recommendations, advice, and research of judicial officers and court staff;
  • Health care documents, including but not limited to physical health, psychological health, psychiatric health, mental health, and counseling documents;
  • Drug and alcohol use assessments and pre-disposition;
  • Treatment facility reports;
  • Guardian ad litem reports, including collateral source documents attached to or filed with the reports;
  • Home investigation reports, including collateral source documents attached to or filed with the reports;
  • Child custody evaluations and reports, including collateral source documents attached to or filed with the reports;
  • Domestic violence risk assessments;
  • Supervised parenting time or companionship or visitation records and reports, including exchange records and reports;
  • Financial disclosure statements regarding property, debt, taxes, income, and expenses, including collateral source documents attached to or filed with records and statements;
  • Asset appraisals and evaluations. (Sup. R. 44, 45 and 48; ORC §§2151.281, 3105.171(E)(3), and 3109.04)
  • Expunged or sealed documents.

Information which is not considered public is available to any party to, or attorney of record, in the case where viewing or copies are requested, with appropriate identification.  (This does not apply to sealed or expunged cases.)

Public Records Policy

 

RETENTION:

Public documents are retained in our office according to our Retention Schedules filed and pursuant to Sup. R. 26.  Documents preceding those time guidelines may have been destroyed.

Public Record Request Forms Available

The Clerk has created a Public Records Request Form for the general public as well as title searchers, that may be utilized and submitted to the Clerk of Courts.  It is the goal of the Guernsey County Clerk of Courts that all requests for public records should be satisfied within three (3) business days following the office’s receipt of the request.  If processing the request will take longer, the request should be acknowledged in writing.

General Public Record Request Form:  Public Record Request – General (Fillable)

TITLE SEARCHERS:  Not all case files are not located in the Clerk of Courts office and may not be available immediately.  By completing the request, the staff can prepare your request and advise you when available prior to your travel.

Title Searcher Public Record Request Form:  Public Record Request – Title Searchers (Fillable)

Please email your request to: kswank@guernseycounty.org and ppatterson@guernseycounty.org

These Public Record Request Forms are used by the Clerk of Courts of Common Pleas Court – General Division ONLY.   This includes Civil, Criminal, and Domestic. 

If you need records for Probate Court you will need to reach out to that office.

Most of our tax lien images are available through online record search.