{"id":203879,"date":"2026-03-16T20:37:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T01:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=203879"},"modified":"2026-03-16T20:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T01:37:10","slug":"yost-releases-2026-yellow-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/03\/16\/yost-releases-2026-yellow-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Yost releases 2026 “Yellow Book”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VW independent staff\/submitted information<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost today released the 2026 edition of the Ohio Sunshine Laws manual, which clarifies that messaging applications and platforms that automatically delete records should not be used to conduct public business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0Sunshine Laws manual, affectionately called the \u201cYellow Book,\u201d is issued annually during the national observance of Sunshine Week (March 15-21 this year). The manual is a guide to Ohio\u2019s Public Records and Open Meetings laws and aims to help citizens and public servants understand their rights and responsibilities under the law.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Dave Yost<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

In the 2026 edition, the \u201cpractical pointers\u201d for records management include this new directive: \u201cAvoid using platforms or applications that automatically delete records.\u201d Applications used to exchange digital communications \u2013 texts, images or videos \u2013 that automatically disappear from the recipient\u2019s device and servers after a set time or upon being viewed should not be used for public business. Common examples of these applications include Signal, WhatsApp and Snapchat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSelf-destructing messages are for movie characters, not public officials,\u201d Yost said. \u201cUsing disappearing messages will only self-destruct your career and your credibility.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Ohio law, whether something is public record depends on its content, not the platform used to send it. Automatically deleting communications before they can be reviewed or retained could violate the Public Records Act, the manual says, which is why such transient-messaging apps should not be used to conduct public business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Yellow Book\u2019s introduction, Yost invokes a recent Ohio case to underscore why transparency is essential.\u00a0Ohio v. Wade Steen, et al<\/em>\u00a0involved two members of the State Teachers Retirement System who conspired about a $65 billion investment through secret communications outside of normal public board rules. In February, a judge ruled that the two had violated their fiduciary duties. Both were prohibited from serving on the STRS board in the future. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Yost writes, \u201c<\/em>Such misconduct undermines public trust and underscores the consequences of secrecy in government: It violates the duties owed to the public and inflicts lasting damage on the strengths of our institutions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to publishing the manual, the Public Records Unit of Yost\u2019s office also offers free\u00a0Sunshine Laws training,\u00a0as does the Ohio Auditor of State\u2019s Office. In Ohio, public officials (or a designated representative) must take this training at least once per elected term. The sessions are also open to the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VW independent staff\/submitted information COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost today released the 2026 edition of the Ohio Sunshine Laws manual, which clarifies that messaging applications and platforms that automatically delete records should not be used to conduct public business. The\u00a0Sunshine Laws manual, affectionately called the \u201cYellow Book,\u201d is issued annually during the national […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-203879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-27 23:53:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203879"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":203881,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203879\/revisions\/203881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}