Kowalski won’t have to repay legal costs for censure suit

by Judy Stringer

In what may be the final court action in a two-year legal tussle between Hudson City Council and council member Nicole Kowalski, a Summit County Court of Common Pleas Judge ruled that Kowalski does not have to repay the city for attorney and court fees related to a suit she filed after being censured by the council. 

In the December 2022 suit, Kowalski asked the Summit County Court Of Common Pleas to vacate the censure and compel the city to release unredacted copies of evidentiary documents used on Dec. 6 to censure her. 

Judge Tammy O’Brien dismissed the first part of that case in February 2024, citing “lack of subject matter jurisdiction.” Then, on July 12, O’Brien ruled that the Dec. 6 records council President Foster provided are protected by attorney-client privilege and not subject to the Ohio Public Records Act. Following that finding, the city asked the court to sanction Kowalski for the costs associated with the legal proceedings. 

In her Jan. 29 ruling denying any sanctions, however, O’Brien said the Kowalski’s suit was not “frivolous” or “improper” nor was it filed in bad faith as required by the Ohio statute cited in the city’s sanction claim.   “No evidence exists to support the city of Hudson’s position that the public records request obviously served merely to harass the city of Hudson as would be required under the statute. To the contrary, the evidence suggests that her request was served in an effort to clear her name,” the judge wrote.