Ohioans will now likely have to pay hundreds of dollars to see police videos after Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed a large bill into law late Thursday night that includes a provision allowing police departments to charge for dashboard, jailhouse surveillance, and body camera footage.
DeWine declined to exercise his line-item veto power over the provision, citing the burden on small police departments inundated with time-consuming requests for body camera footage. However, media organizations, civil liberties groups, and transparency advocates argue that the amendment to Ohio's Sunshine Law, which was tucked into a last-minute omnibus bill and never received any public debate, will make police oversight prohibitively expensive.
