As Passed by the House 1
122nd General Assembly 4
Regular Session Am. Sub. S. B. No. 77 5
1997-1998 6
SENATORS GILLMOR-WHITE-LATTA-SCHAFRATH-GARDNER-CARNES- 8
KEARNS-SUHADOLNIK-GAETH-FINAN- 9
REPRESENTATIVES CORE-WESTON-REID-HAINES-WILSON-SULZER 10
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A B I L L
To amend sections 117.10, 117.18, 117.20, and 117.38 14
of the Revised Code to require certain public 16
offices to publish a notice announcing the
completion and availability of their annual 17
financial reports instead of publishing the
reports themselves, to make other changes 18
regarding these reports, to require notification 19
of the Auditor of State upon the creation or
dissolution of a public office, to allow the 20
Auditor of State to audit the accounts of
Medicaid providers receiving public money, to 21
authorize employees designated by the Auditor of 22
State to issue subpoenas and exercise other
authority, and to specify that the rulemaking 23
procedure the Auditor of State must now follow in 24
adopting rules under certain statutes applies to
all rules the Auditor of State adopts. 25
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO: 27
Section 1. That sections 117.10, 117.18, 117.20, and 29
117.38 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows: 31
Sec. 117.10. The auditor of state shall audit all public 40
offices as provided in this chapter. He THE AUDITOR OF STATE 41
also may audit the accounts of private institutions, 42
associations, boards, and corporations receiving public money for 44
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their use and may require of them annual reports in such form as 45
he THE AUDITOR OF STATE prescribes. 46
THE AUDITOR OF STATE MAY AUDIT THE ACCOUNTS OF ANY PROVIDER 48
AS DEFINED IN SECTION 5111.06 OF THE REVISED CODE, IF REQUESTED 49
BY THE OHIO DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN SERVICES. 50
If a public office has been audited by an agency of the 52
United States government, the auditor of state may, if he is 53
satisfied that the federal audit has been conducted according to 55
principles and procedures not contrary to those of the auditor of 56
state, use and adopt the federal audit and report in lieu of an 57
audit by his THE AUDITOR OF STATE'S own office.
WITHIN THIRTY DAYS AFTER THE CREATION OR DISSOLUTION OR THE 59
WINDING UP OF THE AFFAIRS OF ANY PUBLIC OFFICE, THAT PUBLIC 60
OFFICE SHALL NOTIFY THE AUDITOR OF STATE IN WRITING THAT THIS 61
ACTION HAS OCCURRED.
Sec. 117.18. (A) The auditor of state and each assistant 70
ANY EMPLOYEE DESIGNATED BY THE auditor of state may, in the 72
performance of any audit, issue and serve subpoenas and 73
compulsory process or direct service thereof by a sheriff or 74
constable, compel the attendance of witnesses and the production 75
of records before him, administer oaths, and apply to a court of 76
competent jurisdiction to punish for disobedience of subpoena, 77
refusal to be sworn, refusal to answer as a witness, or refusal 78
to produce records. Sheriffs and constables shall receive the 79
same fees as for like services in similar cases, and witnesses 80
shall receive the same fees as are allowed in the court of common 81
pleas.
(B) The auditor of state, any deputy inspector and 83
supervisor of public offices, and, subject to the approval of ANY 85
EMPLOYEE DESIGNATED BY the auditor of state, any assistant 86
auditor of state may exercise any authority granted by this 87
section on behalf of any public accountant conducting an audit 88
pursuant to this chapter when so requested. 89
Sec. 117.20. (A) In adopting rules pursuant to sections 98
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117.101, 117.11, 117.12, 117.13, 117.19, 117.38, and 117.43 100
CHAPTER 117. of the Revised Code, the auditor of state or his THE 101
AUDITOR OF STATE'S designee shall do both of the following: 102
(1) Before adopting any such rule, except a rule of an 104
emergency nature, do each of the following: 105
(a) At least thirty-five days before any public hearing on 107
the proposed rule-making action, mail notice of the hearing to 108
each public office and to each statewide organization that he THE 109
AUDITOR OF STATE OR DESIGNEE determines will be affected or 111
represents persons who will be affected by the proposed 112
rule-making action;
(b) Mail a copy of the proposed rule to any person or 114
organization that requests a copy within five days after receipt 115
of the request; 116
(c) Consult with appropriate state and local government 118
agencies, or with persons representative of their interests, 119
including statewide organizations of local government officials, 120
and consult with accounting professionals and other interested 121
persons; 122
(d) Conduct, on the date and at the time and place 124
designated in the notice, a public hearing at which any person 125
affected by the proposed rule, including statewide organizations 126
of local government officials, may appear and be heard in person, 127
by his attorney, or both, and may present his THE PERSON'S OR 128
ORGANIZATION'S position or contentions orally or in writing. 130
(2) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(2) of 132
this section, comply with divisions (B) to (E) of section 111.15 133
of the Revised Code. The auditor of state is not required to 134
attach a rule summary and fiscal analysis to any copy of a 135
proposed rule, or proposed rule in revised form, that is filed 136
with the joint committee on agency rule review, the secretary of 137
state, or the director of the legislative service commission 138
under division (D) or (E) of section 111.15 of the Revised Code; 139
however, if the auditor of state or his THE AUDITOR OF STATE'S 140
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designee prepares a rule summary and fiscal analysis of the 142
original version of a proposed rule for purposes of complying 143
with section 121.24 of the Revised Code, he THE AUDITOR OF STATE 144
OR DESIGNEE shall attach a copy of the rule summary and fiscal 145
analysis to each copy of the original version of the proposed 146
rule that he files FILED under division (D) or (E) of section 147
111.15 of the Revised Code. 149
(B) The auditor of state shall diligently discharge the 151
duties imposed by divisions (A)(1)(a), (b), and (c) of this 152
section, but failure to mail any notice or copy of a proposed 153
rule, or to consult with any person or organization, shall not 154
invalidate any rule. 155
(C) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of the Revised 157
Code, the auditor of state may prepare and disseminate, to public 158
offices and other interested persons and organizations, advisory 159
bulletins, directives, and instructions relating to accounting 160
and financial reporting systems, budgeting procedures, fiscal 161
controls, and the constructions by the auditor of state of 162
constitutional and statutory provisions, court decisions, and 163
opinions of the attorney general. The bulletins, directives, and 164
instructions shall be of an advisory nature only. 165
(D) As used in this section, "rule" includes the adoption, 167
amendment, or rescission of a rule. 168
Sec. 117.38. A financial report of each EACH public 177
office, other than a state agency, SHALL FILE A FINANCIAL REPORT 178
for each fiscal year shall be made in accordance with forms 180
prescribed by rule by the. THE auditor of state MAY PRESCRIBE 181
FORMS BY RULE OR MAY ISSUE GUIDELINES, OR BOTH, FOR SUCH REPORTS. 182
IF THE AUDITOR OF STATE HAS NOT PRESCRIBED A RULE REGARDING THE 183
FORM FOR THE REPORT, THE PUBLIC OFFICE SHALL SUBMIT ITS REPORT ON 184
THE FORM UTILIZED BY THE PUBLIC OFFICE.
The report shall be certified by the proper officer or 186
board and filed with the auditor of state within ninety SIXTY 187
days after the close of the fiscal year, except that public 189
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offices filing REPORTING pursuant to generally accepted 190
accounting principles shall file their reports within one hundred 192
fifty days after the close of the fiscal year. The auditor of 193
state may extend the deadline for filing a financial report and 194
establish terms and conditions for any such extension. At the 195
time the report is filed with the auditor of state, the chief 197
fiscal officer, except as otherwise provided in section 319.11 of 198
the Revised Code, shall publish NOTICE in a newspaper published 200
in the political subdivision or taxing district such portions of 201
the report as prescribed by the auditor of state, and if there is 202
no such newspaper, then in a newspaper of general circulation in 203
the political subdivision or taxing district. THE NOTICE SHALL 204
STATE THAT THE FINANCIAL REPORT HAS BEEN COMPLETED BY THE PUBLIC 205
OFFICE AND IS AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC INSPECTION AT THE OFFICE OF 206
THE CHIEF FISCAL OFFICER.
The report shall contain the following: 208
(A) Amount of collections and receipts, and accounts due 210
from each source; 211
(B) Amount of expenditures for each purpose; 213
(C) Income of each public service industry owned or 215
operated by a municipal corporation, and the cost of such 216
ownership or operation; 217
(D) Amount of public debt of each taxing district, the 219
purpose for which each item of such debt was created, and the 220
provision made for the payment thereof. The substance of the 221
report shall be published at the expense of the state in an 222
annual volume of statistics, which shall be submitted to the 223
governor. The auditor of state shall transmit the report to the 224
general assembly at its next session. 225
Any public office, other than a state agency, that does not 227
file its financial report at the time required by this section 228
shall pay to the auditor of state twenty-five dollars for each 229
day the report remains unfiled after the filing date; provided, 230
that the penalty payments shall not exceed the sum of seven 231
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hundred fifty dollars. The auditor of state may waive all or any 232
part of the penalty assessed under this section upon the filing 233
of the past due financial report. All sums collected from such 234
penalties shall be placed in the public audit expense fund--local 236
government. The auditor of state may deduct penalties not paid 237
within one year from the required filing date from any funds 238
under the auditor of state's control belonging to the public 240
office. If funds are withheld from a county because of the 241
failure of a taxing district located in whole or in part within 242
the county to file, the county may deduct the amount of penalty 243
from any revenues due the delinquent district. 244
Every county agency, board, or commission shall provide to 246
the county auditor, not later than the first day of March each 247
year unless a later date is authorized by the county auditor, all 248
information determined by the county auditor to be necessary for 249
the preparation of the report required by this section. 250
Section 2. That existing sections 117.10, 117.18, 117.20, 252
and 117.38 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed. 254