Rep. Liston introduces bipartisan bill to shield personal information of mental health providers

State Reps. Beth Liston (D-Dublin) and Laura Lanese (R-Grove City) today introduced House Bill (HB) 61, bipartisan legislation to add certain mental health workers to the list of those exempt from disclosing identifying personal information under Ohio public records laws.

“Mental healthcare providers are often put in difficult positions while serving their patients,” said Rep. Liston. “HB 61 is a bipartisan, commonsense bill that will allow providers to be able to do their work without having to fear for the security of themselves or their families.”

Under HB 61, forensic mental health providers, mental health evaluation providers, and regional psychiatric hospital employees would be exempt from having their residential and familial information disclosed to the public. It would also allow the employee or provider’s address to be redacted from any public office’s records except from records of the county auditor, but would have the option to ask the county auditor to replace their name with their initials in public databases.

Ohio passed similar bipartisan legislation in 2018 to expand personal information exemptions to include judges.

The bill sits before the House Civil Justice Committee. No hearings have been scheduled on the bill to date.