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| To amend section 4719.99 and to enact sections | 1 |
| 4719.25, 4719.251, 4719.252, 4719.253, 4719.254, | 2 |
| 4719.255, 4719.256, and 4719.257 of the Revised | 3 |
| Code to prohibit making a political call without | 4 |
| providing certain source identification, to | 5 |
| prohibit initiating a political call that uses | 6 |
| artificial or prerecorded voice messages to any | 7 |
| telephone number that appears on a no-automated | 8 |
| political call list to be developed, operated, and | 9 |
| maintained by the Attorney General, and to provide | 10 |
| for the act's enforcement by the Attorney General. | 11 |
| Section 1. That section 4719.99 be amended and sections | 12 |
| 4719.25, 4719.251, 4719.252, 4719.253, 4719.254, 4719.255, | 13 |
| 4719.256, and 4719.257 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as | 14 |
| follows: | 15 |
| Sec. 4719.25. As used in sections 4719.25 to 4719.257 of the | 16 |
| Revised Code: | 17 |
| (A) "Campaign committee," "candidate," "legislative campaign | 18 |
| fund," "political action committee," "political contributing | 19 |
| entity," and "political party" have the same meanings as in | 20 |
| section 3517.01 of the Revised Code. | 21 |
| (B) "Political call" means a telephone call made by, on | 22 |
| behalf of, or in connection with a candidate, campaign committee, | 23 |
| political party, political action committee, political | 24 |
| contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, ballot issue, or | 25 |
| other political purpose, including any related survey. | 26 |
| Sec. 4719.251. (A) No person that wholly or partly engages in | 27 |
| making political calls directly or through one or more persons | 28 |
| either from a location in this state, or from a location outside | 29 |
| this state to persons in this state, shall do either of the | 30 |
| following: | 31 |
| (1) Make or cause to be made a political call without | 32 |
| disclosing both of the following at the beginning of the call: | 33 |
| (a) The name of the entity that ultimately requested that the | 34 |
| call be made or, otherwise, the name of the caller; | 35 |
| (b) If the call is a service for which payment is rendered, | 36 |
| the name of the entity paying for that service. | 37 |
| (2) Initiate or cause to be initiated to a telephone number, | 38 |
| more than thirty days after the number appears on the no-automated | 39 |
| political call list provided under section 4719.252 of the Revised | 40 |
| Code, any political call that uses artificial or prerecorded voice | 41 |
| messages. | 42 |
| (B) If a political call is part of a telephone bank, as | 43 |
| defined in section 3517.20 of the Revised Code, the political call | 44 |
| shall include the disclaimer required under division (C) of that | 45 |
| section with any information required to be disclosed at the | 46 |
| beginning of a political call under division (A)(1) of this | 47 |
| section. | 48 |
| Sec. 4719.252. (A)(1) The attorney general shall provide for | 49 |
| the development, operation, and maintenance of a secured | 50 |
| electronic database constituting the "no-automated political call | 51 |
| list," established for the purpose of division (A)(2) of section | 52 |
| 4719.251 of the Revised Code. The list shall be updated not less | 53 |
| than quarterly and shall consist only of telephone numbers of | 54 |
| those telephone service subscribers that have requested inclusion | 55 |
| on the list in accordance with procedures prescribed by rule under | 56 |
| division (B) of this section. The list also shall be made | 57 |
| available in printed form. | 58 |
| (2) The attorney general may contract with any entity for the | 59 |
| development, operation, and maintenance of the no-automated | 60 |
| political call list. Any such contract shall be awarded to the | 61 |
| lowest responsive and responsible bidder and shall require timely | 62 |
| remittance to the attorney general of any distribution fee | 63 |
| collected, as prescribed by rule under division (B) of this | 64 |
| section. | 65 |
| (3) The no-automated political call list shall be made | 66 |
| available to any person upon request pursuant to procedures | 67 |
| prescribed by rule under division (B) of this section, which | 68 |
| procedures shall include payment of the distribution fee. | 69 |
| (B) The attorney general shall adopt rules to carry out this | 70 |
| section, including rules specifying a reasonable amount to be paid | 71 |
| by a person as a distribution fee to obtain a copy of or access to | 72 |
| the list. | 73 |
| (C) All fees required under division (B) of this section | 74 |
| shall be paid or remitted to the attorney general and deposited to | 75 |
| the credit of the no-automated political call list fund, which is | 76 |
| hereby created in the state treasury, to be used for the purpose | 77 |
| of paying the costs of developing, operating, and maintaining the | 78 |
| list, including any costs arising under a contract authorized by | 79 |
| division (A) of this section. | 80 |
| Sec. 4719.253. (A) The no-automated political call list and | 81 |
| any information received or maintained by the attorney general or | 82 |
| any contractor in a connection with a telephone number or | 83 |
| subscriber for the purpose of developing, operating, and | 84 |
| maintaining the list is not a public record for purposes of | 85 |
| section 149.43 of the Revised Code. | 86 |
| (B) No person shall recklessly disclose or use such | 87 |
| information for any purpose other than the purpose of developing, | 88 |
| operating, or maintaining the list; enforcing section 4719.251 of | 89 |
| the Revised Code; as necessary, pursuing an action under section | 90 |
| 4719.255 of the Revised Code; or, as necessary, complying with a | 91 |
| lawful court order or subpoena directing disclosure of the list or | 92 |
| other information. | 93 |
| Sec. 4719.254. Any company that provides a local telephone | 94 |
| directory to a telephone service subscriber in this state shall | 95 |
| include in the directory a notice describing the no-automated | 96 |
| political call list and providing complete information on | 97 |
| procedures the subscriber should follow to have its telephone | 98 |
| number listed on the list. | 99 |
| Sec. 4719.255. (A) If, by the attorney general's own | 100 |
| inquiries or as a result of complaints, the attorney general has | 101 |
| reasonable cause to believe that a person has been or is engaged | 102 |
| in an act or practice that violates a provision of section | 103 |
| 4719.251 of the Revised Code, the attorney general may do either | 104 |
| of the following: | 105 |
| (1) Bring an action to obtain a declaratory judgment, | 106 |
| temporary restraining order, or preliminary or permanent | 107 |
| injunction. If the attorney general shows by a preponderance of | 108 |
| the evidence that the person has violated or is violating a | 109 |
| provision of section 4719.251 of the Revised Code, the court may | 110 |
| issue a temporary restraining order or preliminary or permanent | 111 |
| injunction without bond. On motion of the attorney general, or its | 112 |
| own motion, the court may impose a civil penalty of not more than | 113 |
| five thousand dollars for each day of violation of any such order | 114 |
| or injunction. | 115 |
| (2) Bring a class action on behalf of subscribers for damage | 116 |
| caused by the violation. | 117 |
| (B) No action for recovery may be brought by the attorney | 118 |
| general under division (A)(1) or (2) of this section more than two | 119 |
| years after the occurrence of the violation. | 120 |
| (C) On motion of the attorney general and without bond, the | 121 |
| court may make appropriate orders, including appointment of a | 122 |
| referee or receiver, for sequestration of assets, to reimburse | 123 |
| subscribers found to have been injured, or to grant other | 124 |
| appropriate relief. The court may assess the expenses of a referee | 125 |
| or receiver against the violator. Any money or property recovered | 126 |
| by the attorney general in an action under division (A)(2) of this | 127 |
| section that cannot with due diligence within five years be | 128 |
| restored to subscribers shall be unclaimed funds subject to | 129 |
| Chapter 169. of the Revised Code. | 130 |
| (D) In addition to the other remedies provided in this | 131 |
| section, the attorney general may request, and the court may | 132 |
| impose, a civil penalty of not more than two thousand dollars for | 133 |
| each violation of section 4719.251 of the Revised Code. | 134 |
| (E) Civil penalties ordered under division (A)(1) or (D) of | 135 |
| this section shall be paid as follows: one-fourth of the amount to | 136 |
| the treasurer of the county in which the action is brought and | 137 |
| three-fourths to the political calling enforcement fund, which is | 138 |
| hereby created in the state treasury, to be used to pay the costs | 139 |
| of the office of the attorney general in enforcing section | 140 |
| 4719.251 of the Revised Code. | 141 |
| Sec. 4719.256. It is an affirmative defense in an action | 142 |
| brought under section 4719.255 of the Revised Code that the | 143 |
| defendant established and implemented, with due care, reasonable | 144 |
| practices and procedures to prevent the alleged violation. If the | 145 |
| court holds that the defendant purposely or knowingly violated a | 146 |
| provision of section 4719.251 of the Revised Code, the court may | 147 |
| increase the amount of any award by up to three times. | 148 |
| Sec. 4719.257. The powers, remedies, and penalties provided | 149 |
| by sections 4719.25 to 4719.256 of the Revised Code are in | 150 |
| addition to any other power, remedy, or penalty provided by law. | 151 |
| Sec. 4719.99. (A) Prior to July 1, 1996, whoever violates | 152 |
| section 4719.02, 4719.05, or 4719.06, division (C), (D), or (E) of | 153 |
| section 4719.07, section 4719.08, or division (A) of section | 154 |
| 4719.09 of the Revised Code is guilty of a felony of the fourth | 155 |
| degree. On or after July 1, 1996, whoever violates section | 156 |
| 4719.02, 4719.05, or 4719.06, division (C), (D), or (E) of section | 157 |
| 4719.07, section 4719.08, or division (A) of section 4719.09 of | 158 |
| the Revised Code is guilty of a felony of the fifth degree. | 159 |
| (B) Whoever violates division (B) of section 4719.253 of the | 160 |
| Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on a | 161 |
| first offense and a felony of the fifth degree on each subsequent | 162 |
| offense. | 163 |
| Section 2. That existing section 4719.99 of the Revised Code | 164 |
| is hereby repealed. | 165 |