In Ohio, FOI panel eyes e-mail...

State and local government officials should no longer be allowed to skirt Ohio public-records laws by using private e-mail accounts to conduct official government business.

That is the view of a 22-member committee created by the legislature to examine public-records issues. The panel approved its final recommendations yesterday, including one that says electronic communication "in the course of public business should be treated consistently under existing public records laws and court decisions."

"We want to make sure nobody is gaming the process by doing public work on private devices," said Sen. David Goodman, R-New Albany, a co-chairman of the Privacy/Public Records Access Study Committee.

"It's a very sensitive area because technology is changing every day. But the general idea is if you're doing public work, it's a public record no matter what device you use."

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