Public records tossed?

NORWALK — Missing disciplinary records from the employment file for Huron County Sheriff Todd Corbin might have been improperly destroyed, but it was so long ago that it doesn't matter. Assistant Prosecutor Jacob Stephens That's according to assistant Huron County prosecutor Jacob Stephens, who defended the sheriff's office at a hearing in Common Pleas Court on Friday. "Even if the court finds certain records to have been destroyed, it would be outside the (five-year) statute of limitations," Stephens told visiting Judge David Stucki. But Stephens also claimed in a court filing that disciplinary records were removed from employment files and placed in another file. They were not destroyed, he wrote. The Register made repeated requests for the disciplinary files but has not received them and has not been provided any explanation for why they are being withheld if they do exist. Stephens also suggested in the court filing that "if such records were destroyed under a previous administration at the Huron County sheriff's office prior to the commencement of Sheriff Corbin's term in office, of which no such destruction is conceded, such destruction could only have occurred prior to January 2017, well outside of the applicable five-year statute of limitations." Tracy Thom, a public records advocate, filed a writ of mandamus with the court in April seeking to force the sheriff's office to give an accounting for what records have been destroyed and to stop the sheriff's office from continuing to destroy records unlawfully. But her case was dismissed on a technicality on Friday and there was no resolution or order barring the sheriff's office from continuing to "purge" records from employment files. Her request was an "extraordinary" avenue to seek relief, Stucki ruled, and Thom failed to attach an affidavit to her filing on which the court could rule. Thom Before his ruling, Thom told the judge she received an email in response to a public records request from the sheriff's office manager informing her that the disciplinary records from Corbin's file that she was requesting had been purged per the county's records retention schedule. "But there's no records retention schedule that allows the destruction of those records," she said. "These are permanent records and cannot be destroyed." A sheriff doesn't have the right to toss them, she said. "Just because a man becomes sheriff it doesn't mean he can destroy his own disciplinary file," Thom told the judge. Although he acknowledged earlier in the hearing that the records may have been destroyed, Stephens suggested the email from the office manager did not explicitly state that. "They want to have it both ways," Thom said after the hearing. "But the fact is the records have not been provided and they're saying that's OK because it's outside the statute of limitations. In other words, 'we didn't get caught in time.'" Corbin was elected in 2016 and became sheriff in 2017, which is likely the approximate time since when the records were purged. The sheriff's office has not provided any information about when the purging was done, or why the records have not been provided. "These are permanent records and they should be available," Thom said. It's also unclear how many records, in all, have been improperly destroyed or otherwise made unavailable since Corbin became sheriff. Background check records for his cousin, a deputy hired in 2012, are not in his personnel file, and there are no records that show his cousin disclosed his prior arrest record before becoming a deputy. He was arrested several times and charged with domestic violence and theft, according to police reports from other departments, but there is no indication in the employment records that was disclosed prior to his being hired. "This is a victory," Thom said. "Now the public knows that the sheriff is either destroying or hiding public records. Those records belong to the public and now we know those records aren't being properly maintained. If they're kept in a separate file, why aren't they being provided?" The Register has made numerous public records requests to the sheriff's office that have gone unfulfilled, including for disciplinary reports, incident and investigative reports. Chief Deputy David Ditz "We remain concerned that both the sheriff's office and the prosecutor's office do not understand their responsibilities to properly manage public records and facilitate the release of records," the Register wrote to Corbin, Chief Deputy David Ditz, county prosecutor James Joel Sitterly and the sheriff's office manager. "We also are concerned the sheriff's office has improperly purged records, and continues to improperly purge items unlawfully. Neither the sheriff nor the prosecutor has refuted this or addressed it." There was no response as of late Friday. The records requests sent to the sheriff date back months, and there's been no explanation for why records that should exist don't exist or are not being made available. The records requests that are currently outstanding are for supplemental contracts and proposed supplemental contracts between the sheriff's office and outside agencies; complete employment records for a former dispatcher; and missing disciplinary records, background check information and other employment records for Corbin and his cousin who is a deputy. The Register also has asked for records that would reflect whether any deputy has been suspended or put on paid leave since April 1 pending an internal investigation, but the sheriff has been unable to answer that question for about two weeks or say, one way or the other, if there are records that reflect it. It's not clear if the sheriff's office and the prosecutor's office are intentionally withholding public records, whether records are still being destroyed or if they simply don't understand their obligations to properly maintain public records under the law and make them available when requested. Thom said she has not decided whether she will refile her court action. After the hearing, Chief Deputy Ditz and the sheriff's office manager left the courtroom and refused to comment about outstanding record requests and about what other records were destroyed. Corbin and Sitterly did not attend Friday's hearing.