Ohio Revised Code
Chapter 5120 | Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Section 5120.21 | Records.

Effective: March 31, 2003
Latest Legislation: House Bill 510 - 124th General Assembly
(A) The department of rehabilitation and correction shall keep in its office, accessible only to its employees, except by the consent of the department or the order of the judge of a court of record, and except as provided in division (C) of this section, a record showing the name, residence, sex, age, nativity, occupation, condition, and date of entrance or commitment of every inmate in the several institutions governed by it. The record also shall include the date, cause, and terms of discharge and the condition of such person at the time of leaving, a record of all transfers from one institution to another, and, if such inmate is dead, the date and cause of death. These and other facts that the department requires shall be furnished by the managing officer of each institution within ten days after the commitment, entrance, death, or discharge of an inmate.
(B) In case of an accident or injury or peculiar death of an inmate, the managing officer shall make a special report to the department within twenty-four hours thereafter, giving the circumstances as fully as possible.
(C)(1) As used in this division, "medical record" means any document or combination of documents that pertains to the medical history, diagnosis, prognosis, or medical condition of a patient and that is generated and maintained in the process of medical treatment.
(2) A separate medical record of every inmate in an institution governed by the department shall be compiled, maintained, and kept apart from and independently of any other record pertaining to the inmate. Upon the signed written request of the inmate to whom the record pertains together with the written request of either a licensed attorney at law or a licensed physician designated by the inmate, the department shall make the inmate's medical record available to the designated attorney or physician. The record may be inspected or copied by the inmate's designated attorney or physician. The department may establish a reasonable fee for the copying of any medical record. If a physician concludes that presentation of all or any part of the medical record directly to the inmate will result in serious medical harm to the inmate, the physician shall so indicate on the medical record. An inmate's medical record shall be made available to a physician or to an attorney designated in writing by the inmate not more than once every twelve months.
(D) Except as otherwise provided by a law of this state or the United States, the department and the officers of its institutions shall keep confidential and accessible only to its employees, except by the consent of the department or the order of a judge of a court of record, all of the following:
(1) Architectural, engineering, or construction diagrams, drawings, or plans of a correctional institution;
(2) Plans for hostage negotiation, for disturbance control, for the control and location of keys, and for dealing with escapes;
(3) Statements made by inmate informants;
(4) Records that are maintained by the department of youth services, that pertain to children in its custody, and that are released to the department of rehabilitation and correction by the department of youth services pursuant to section 5139.05 of the Revised Code;
(5) Victim impact statements and information provided by victims of crimes that the department considers when determining the security level assignment, program participation, and release eligibility of inmates;
(6) Information and data of any kind or medium pertaining to groups that pose a security threat;
(7) Conversations recorded from the monitored inmate telephones that involve nonprivileged communications.
(E) Except as otherwise provided by a law of this state or the United States, the department of rehabilitation and correction may release inmate records to the department of youth services or a court of record, and the department of youth services or the court of record may use those records for the limited purpose of carrying out the duties of the department of youth services or the court of record. Inmate records released by the department of rehabilitation and correction to the department of youth services or a court of record shall remain confidential and shall not be considered public records as defined in section 149.43 of the Revised Code.
(F) Except as otherwise provided in division (C) of this section, records of inmates committed to the department of rehabilitation and correction as well as records of persons under the supervision of the adult parole authority shall not be considered public records as defined in section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

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