Ohio Supreme Court orders Columbiana County Sherriff to provide convicted killer with jail records

Terry Brown

The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Columbiana County Sheriff Brian McLaughlin must obtain and provide public records in possession of a private company contracted to operate the county jail.

In a 6-1 decision, the Court found that the sheriff’s Office could not redirect requests for jail records to the private operators but has a legal duty to obtain the records and fulfill public records requests.

The ruling came in response to a public records request filed by Terry Brown, an inmate at the Belmont Correctional Institution, seeking records from the Columbiana County Jail.

Brown is challenging a sentence of 25 years to life after being convicted of aggravated murder and abuse of a corpse in connection with the 2017 shooting death of Brown's roommate Scottie Johnson in Wellsville.

The sheriff’s office had previously claimed that the records were in the hands of private companies and that it did not have access to them.

The Court determined that by state law, the sheriff’s office must have access to all records and documents created by the private operators related to the facility and inmates. Regardless of whether the documents are in the possession of the public office or the private operator, the records are public, and the sheriff’s office has to provide them to the public.

The Court ordered the sheriff’s office to either gather the requested records or notify Brown within 21 days that the records do not exist.

In May a visiting judge granted the county prosecutor's request to declare Brown a "vexatious litigator" due to the large number of legal actions he continues to file from prison. Brown was ordered to cease his court actions without first getting the judge's permission.