Legal guardian

Ohio's Safe at Home program lets eligible survivors of domestic violence, stalking, trafficking and sexual assault keep their home addresses out of public records. The secretary of state's office provides a substitute mailing address, receiving and forwarding mail and legal papers to certified participants, who must attest to safety fears and be certified through a trained application assistant. Certification lasts four years and can be renewed. Sex offenders and child-victim offenders are ineligible.

A separate property protection, available since April 2022, lets participants file a Real Property Confidentiality Notice after acquiring ownership, removing addresses and parcel details from public-facing county records while preserving ownership and lien notices. The order matters: certification must come before the property purchase to qualify. The issue gained attention after Cuyahoga County restricted street-level home images on its public site over resident safety concerns, prompting renewed focus on existing legal tools like Safe at Home for protecting personal information tied to property and residency.

The U.S. Department of Justice has sued the Kansas City, Kansas school district (KCKPS) over guidance on transgender students, alleging it violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment by letting staff develop gender transition plans without notifying parents. Officials describe it as the first such lawsuit against a school district. The complaint cites guidance instructing staff to loop in a principal, who may withhold a student's transgender status from parents on a case-by-case basis. Civil Rights Division head Harmeet Dhillon said the department would not tolerate "radical gender ideology" in schools, while U.S. Attorney Ryan Kriegshauser said withholding such information undermines trust between families and educators. The district, Kansas's fifth-largest with over 20,000 students, says it is disappointed by the suit, insists it complies with federal law, and calls the material nonbinding guidance rather than policy. The suit follows a Department of Education probe and the Trump administration's earlier funding threats over similar policies in Maryland and Michigan.

The case is part of broader administration efforts targeting transgender rights, including threats to cut federal funding from schools with similar policies, executive actions recognizing only two sexes, and moves to ban gender-affirming care for minors. The Justice Department has also sought healthcare providers' records on transgender youth, though several courts have blocked those efforts. The lawsuit follows a Supreme Court ruling in March blocking a California policy that barred automatic parental notification of a student's gender identity change.