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| To amend sections 2917.31 and 3313.482 of the Revised | 1 |
| Code to increase the penalty for inducing panic | 2 |
| to a felony of the second degree when a school or | 3 |
| an institution of higher education is involved, | 4 |
| and to permit school districts to make up excess | 5 |
| calamity days by adding extra hours to the | 6 |
| remaining days in the school year. | 7 |
| Section 1. That sections 2917.31 and 3313.482 of the Revised | 8 |
| Code be amended to read as follows: | 9 |
| Sec. 2917.31. (A) No person shall cause the evacuation of | 10 |
| any public place, or otherwise cause serious public inconvenience | 11 |
| or alarm, by doing any of the following: | 12 |
| (1) Initiating or circulating a report or warning of an | 13 |
| alleged or impending fire, explosion, crime, or other catastrophe, | 14 |
| knowing that such report or warning is false; | 15 |
| (2) Threatening to commit any offense of violence; | 16 |
| (3) Committing any offense, with reckless disregard of the | 17 |
| likelihood that its commission will cause serious public | 18 |
| inconvenience or alarm. | 19 |
| (B) Division (A)(1) of this section does not apply to any | 20 |
| person conducting an authorized fire or emergency drill. | 21 |
| (C)(1) Whoever violates this section is guilty of inducing | 22 |
| panic. | 23 |
| (2) Except as otherwise provided in division (C)(3), (4), | 24 |
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(5), (6), (7), or (8) | 25 |
| misdemeanor of the first degree. | 26 |
| (3) Except as otherwise provided in division (C)(4), (5), | 27 |
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(6), (7), or (8) | 28 |
| section results in physical harm to any person, inducing panic is | 29 |
| a felony of the fourth degree. | 30 |
| (4) Except as otherwise provided in division (C)(5), (6), | 31 |
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(7), or (8) | 32 |
| section results in economic harm, the penalty shall be determined | 33 |
| as follows: | 34 |
| (a) If the violation results in economic harm of five hundred | 35 |
| dollars or more but less than five thousand dollars and if | 36 |
| division (C)(3) of this section does not apply, inducing panic is | 37 |
| a felony of the fifth degree. | 38 |
| (b) If the violation results in economic harm of five | 39 |
| thousand dollars or more but less than one hundred thousand | 40 |
| dollars, inducing panic is a felony of the fourth degree. | 41 |
| (c) If the violation results in economic harm of one hundred | 42 |
| thousand dollars or more, inducing panic is a felony of the third | 43 |
| degree. | 44 |
| (5) | 45 |
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violation of division (A)(1) of this section is a
school | 47 |
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| education, inducing panic is a felony of the second degree. | 65 |
| (6) If the violation pertains to a purported, threatened, or | 66 |
| actual use of a weapon of mass destruction, and except as | 67 |
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otherwise provided in division (C)(5), (7), or
(8) | 68 |
| section, inducing panic is a felony of the fourth degree. | 69 |
| (7) If the violation pertains to a purported, threatened, or | 70 |
| actual use of a weapon of mass destruction, and except as | 71 |
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otherwise provided in division
(C) | 72 |
| section, if a violation of this section results in physical harm | 73 |
| to any person, inducing panic is a felony of the third degree. | 74 |
| (8) If the violation pertains to a purported, threatened, or | 75 |
| actual use of a weapon of mass destruction, and except as | 76 |
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otherwise provided in division (C) | 77 |
| section, if a violation of this section results in economic harm | 78 |
| of one hundred thousand dollars or more, inducing panic is a | 79 |
| felony of the third degree. | 80 |
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| (D)(1) It is not a defense to a charge under this section | 99 |
| that pertains to a purported or threatened use of a weapon of mass | 100 |
| destruction that the offender did not possess or have the ability | 101 |
| to use a weapon of mass destruction or that what was represented | 102 |
| to be a weapon of mass destruction was not a weapon of mass | 103 |
| destruction. | 104 |
| (2) Any act that is a violation of this section and any other | 105 |
| section of the Revised Code may be prosecuted under this section, | 106 |
| the other section, or both sections. | 107 |
| (E) As used in this section: | 108 |
| (1) "Economic harm" means any of the following: | 109 |
| (a) All direct, incidental, and consequential pecuniary harm | 110 |
| suffered by a victim as a result of criminal conduct. "Economic | 111 |
| harm" as described in this division includes, but is not limited | 112 |
| to, all of the following: | 113 |
| (i) All wages, salaries, or other compensation lost as a | 114 |
| result of the criminal conduct; | 115 |
| (ii) The cost of all wages, salaries, or other compensation | 116 |
| paid to employees for time those employees are prevented from | 117 |
| working as a result of the criminal conduct; | 118 |
| (iii) The overhead costs incurred for the time that a | 119 |
| business is shut down as a result of the criminal conduct; | 120 |
| (iv) The loss of value to tangible or intangible property | 121 |
| that was damaged as a result of the criminal conduct. | 122 |
| (b) All costs incurred by the state or any political | 123 |
| subdivision as a result of, or in making any response to, the | 124 |
| criminal conduct that constituted the violation of this section or | 125 |
| section 2917.32 of the Revised Code, including, but not limited | 126 |
| to, all costs so incurred by any law enforcement officers, | 127 |
| firefighters, rescue personnel, or emergency medical services | 128 |
| personnel of the state or the political subdivision. | 129 |
| (2) "School" means any school operated by a board of | 130 |
| education or any school for which the state board of education | 131 |
| prescribes minimum standards under section 3301.07 of the Revised | 132 |
| Code, whether or not any instruction, extracurricular activities, | 133 |
| or training provided by the school is being conducted at the time | 134 |
| a violation of this section is committed. | 135 |
| (3) "Weapon of mass destruction" means any of the following: | 136 |
| (a) Any weapon that is designed or intended to cause death or | 137 |
| serious physical harm through the release, dissemination, or | 138 |
| impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors; | 139 |
| (b) Any weapon involving a disease organism or biological | 140 |
| agent; | 141 |
| (c) Any weapon that is designed to release radiation or | 142 |
| radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life; | 143 |
| (d) Any of the following, except to the extent that the item | 144 |
| or device in question is expressly excepted from the definition of | 145 |
| "destructive device" pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(4) and | 146 |
| regulations issued under that section: | 147 |
| (i) Any explosive, incendiary, or poison gas bomb, grenade, | 148 |
| rocket having a propellant charge of more than four ounces, | 149 |
| missile having an explosive or incendiary charge of more than | 150 |
| one-quarter ounce, mine, or similar device; | 151 |
| (ii) Any combination of parts either designed or intended for | 152 |
| use in converting any item or device into any item or device | 153 |
| described in division (E)(3)(d)(i) of this section and from which | 154 |
| an item or device described in that division may be readily | 155 |
| assembled. | 156 |
| (4) "Biological agent" has the same meaning as in section | 157 |
| 2917.33 of the Revised Code. | 158 |
| (5) "Emergency medical services personnel" has the same | 159 |
| meaning as in section 2133.21 of the Revised Code. | 160 |
| (6) "Institution of higher education" means any of the | 161 |
| following: | 162 |
| (a) A state university or college as defined in division | 163 |
| (A)(1) of section 3345.12 of the Revised Code, community college, | 164 |
| state community college, university branch, or technical college; | 165 |
| (b) A private, nonprofit college, university or other | 166 |
| post-secondary institution located in this state that possesses a | 167 |
| certificate of authorization issued by the Ohio board of regents | 168 |
| pursuant to Chapter 1713. of the Revised Code; | 169 |
| (c) A post-secondary institution with a certificate of | 170 |
| registration issued by the state board of career colleges and | 171 |
| schools under Chapter 3332. of the Revised Code. | 172 |
| Sec. 3313.482. (A) Annually, prior to the first day of | 173 |
| September, the board of education of each city, local, and | 174 |
| exempted village school district shall adopt a resolution | 175 |
| specifying a contingency plan under which the district's students | 176 |
| will make up days on which it was necessary to close schools for | 177 |
| any of the reasons specified in division (B) of section 3317.01 of | 178 |
| the Revised Code, if any such days must be made up in order to | 179 |
| comply with the requirements of that section and sections 3313.48 | 180 |
| and 3313.481 of the Revised Code. The resolution shall provide in | 181 |
| the plan for making up at least five full school days. No | 182 |
| resolution adopted pursuant to this division shall conflict with | 183 |
| any collective bargaining agreement into which a board has entered | 184 |
| pursuant to Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code and that is in | 185 |
| effect in the district. | 186 |
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| adopts under division (A) of this section, if a school district | 188 |
| closes or evacuates any school building for any of the reasons | 189 |
| specified in division (B) of section 3317.01 of the Revised Code, | 190 |
| or as a result of a bomb threat or any other report of an alleged | 191 |
| or impending explosion, and if, as a result of the closing or | 192 |
| evacuation, the school district would be unable to meet the | 193 |
| requirements of sections 3313.48, 3313.481, and 3317.01 of the | 194 |
| Revised Code regarding the number of days schools must be open for | 195 |
| instruction or the requirements of the state minimum standards for | 196 |
| the school day that are established by the department of education | 197 |
| regarding the number of hours there must be in the school day, the | 198 |
| school district may increase the length of one or more other | 199 |
| school days for the school that was closed or evacuated, in | 200 |
| increments of one-half hour, to make up the number of hours or | 201 |
| days that the school building in question was so closed or | 202 |
| evacuated for the purpose of satisfying the requirements of those | 203 |
| sections regarding the number of days schools must be open for | 204 |
| instruction or the requirements of those standards regarding the | 205 |
| number of hours there must be in the school day. Notwithstanding | 206 |
| the provisions of sections 3313.48, 3313.481, and 3317.01 of the | 207 |
| Revised Code and the requirements of the state minimum standards | 208 |
| for the school day that are established by the department of | 209 |
| education and notwithstanding the content of the contingency plan | 210 |
| it adopts under division (A) of this section, a school district | 211 |
| that makes up, as described in this division, all of the hours or | 212 |
| days that its school buildings were so closed or evacuated shall | 213 |
| be deemed to have complied with the requirements of those sections | 214 |
| regarding the number of days schools must be open for instruction | 215 |
| and the requirements of those minimum standards regarding the | 216 |
| number of hours there must be in the school day. | 217 |
| Section 2. That existing sections 2917.31 and 3313.482 of the | 218 |
| Revised Code is hereby repealed. | 219 |