As Introduced

129th General Assembly
Regular Session
2011-2012
H. B. No. 343


Representative Hagan, R. 

Cosponsors: Representatives Foley, Antonio, Gerberry, Pillich, Gentile, Fedor, Driehaus, Murray, Yuko 

A BILL
To amend section 187.02; to amend, for the purpose of 1
adopting a new section number as indicated in 2
parentheses, section 3.11 (3.18); to enact new 3
section 3.11 and section 102.10 of the Revised 4
Code to establish a controlled substance testing 5
requirement for statewide elected officials, 6
members of the General Assembly, the Supreme 7
Court, the board of directors of JobsOhio, and 8
recipients of Troubled Asset Relief Program money 9
and to establish a process for recalling statewide 10
elected officials and members of the General 11
Assembly.12


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

       Section 1. That section 187.02 be amended, section 3.11 13
(3.18) be amended for the purpose of adopting a new section number 14
as indicated in parentheses, that new section 3.11 and section 15
102.10 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:16

       Sec. 3.11. (A) As used in this section, "statewide office" 17
means any of the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, 18
secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, or 19
attorney general.20

       (B) The holder of any statewide office may be removed from 21
office by the qualified voters of the state. Any member of the 22
general assembly may be removed from office by the qualified 23
voters of the member's district. The procedure to effect such a 24
removal shall be:25

       (1)(a) If the official whose removal is sought is the holder 26
of a statewide office, a petition signed by qualified electors 27
equal in number to at least fifteen per cent of the total votes 28
cast in the state for the office of governor at the most recent 29
election for that office, and demanding the election of a 30
successor to the person sought to be removed, shall be filed. If 31
the official whose removal is sought is the holder of an office 32
other than the office of secretary of state, the petition shall be 33
filed with the secretary of state. If the official whose removal 34
is sought is the secretary of state, the petition shall be filed 35
with the governor, and the governor shall fulfill all duties of 36
the secretary of state with regard to that petition.37

        (b) If the official whose removal is sought is a member of 38
the general assembly, a petition signed by qualified electors 39
equal in number to at least fifteen per cent of the total votes 40
cast in the respective district for the office of governor at the 41
most recent election for that office, and demanding the election 42
of a successor to the person sought to be removed, shall be filed 43
with the board of elections of the most populous county in the 44
district.45

       (2) A petition filed under this section shall contain a 46
general statement in not more than two hundred words of the 47
grounds upon which the removal of the official is sought. The form 48
and sufficiency of the petition shall be determined as provided in 49
the general election laws.50

       (3) If the petition is sufficient, and if the official whose 51
removal is sought does not resign within five days after the 52
sufficiency of the petition has been determined, the question of 53
removal of the official shall appear on the ballot at the next 54
general election or at a special election conducted on the day of 55
the next primary election, if the date of such election is fewer 56
than one hundred fifty days after the petition is filed. If the 57
date of the next succeeding general election or primary election 58
is one hundred fifty or more days after the petition is filed, a 59
special election shall be held to determine the question of the 60
removal of the official, and for the selection of a successor to 61
the official.62

        If the election is for the removal of the holder of a 63
statewide office, the secretary of state or, if applicable, the 64
governor, shall thereupon order and fix the day for the special 65
election. If the election is for the removal of a general assembly 66
member, the board of elections of the most populous county in the 67
member's district, after consultation with the board of elections 68
of each county with territory in the district, shall thereupon 69
order and fix the day for the special election. Such election 70
shall be held not less than thirty nor more than forty days from 71
the time of the finding of the sufficiency of such petition. The 72
election authorities shall publish notice and make all 73
arrangements for holding such election, which shall be conducted 74
and the result thereof returned and declared in all respects as 75
are the results of regular elections for the applicable office.76

       (4) The nomination of candidates to succeed the official who 77
is sought to be removed shall be made, without the intervention of 78
a primary election, by filing with the election authorities, at 79
least twenty days prior to the election, a nominating petition 80
that meets the requirements of section 3513.261 of the Revised 81
Code.82

       (5) The ballots at such a recall election shall, with respect 83
to the official whose removal is sought, submit the question: 84
"Shall (name of person) be removed from the office of (name of 85
office) by recall?"86

       Immediately following each such question, there shall be 87
printed on the ballots, the two propositions in the order set 88
forth:89

       "For the recall of (name of person)."90

       "Against the recall of (name of person)."91

       Immediately to the left of the proposition shall be placed a 92
square in which the electors may vote for either of such 93
propositions.94

       Under that question shall be placed the names of candidates 95
to fill the vacancy. The name of the official whose removal is 96
sought shall not appear on the ballot as a candidate to succeed 97
the member's self.98

       (6) In any such election, if a majority of the votes cast on 99
the question of removal are affirmative, the official whose 100
removal is sought is removed from office upon the announcement of 101
the official canvass of that election, and the candidate receiving 102
the plurality of the votes cast for candidates for that office 103
shall be declared elected. The successor of any person so removed 104
shall hold office during the unexpired term of the successor's 105
predecessor.106

        (C) No petition shall be filed under this section seeking the 107
removal of an official until the official has served for at least 108
ninety days of the term during which the official is sought to be 109
recalled. The method of removal provided in this section, is in 110
addition to such other methods as are provided by law. If, at any 111
such recall election, the incumbent whose removal is sought is not 112
recalled, the incumbent shall be repaid the incumbent's actual and 113
legitimate expenses for such election from the state treasury.114

       Sec. 3.11.        Sec. 3.18.  No person shall hold at the same time by 115
appointment or election more than one of the following offices: 116
sheriff, county auditor, county treasurer, clerk of the court of 117
common pleas, county recorder, prosecuting attorney, and probate 118
judge.119

       Sec. 102.10.  (A) As used in this section:120

       (1)(a) Except as provided in division (A)(1)(b) of this 121
section, "controlled substance test failure" means that an 122
individual is determined by a chemical test to have a 123
concentration of any of the controlled substances specified in 124
division (A)(1)(j) of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code, or 125
metabolites of such a controlled substance, in the individual's 126
urine that equals or exceeds any of the applicable levels 127
established in that division for urine.128

       (b) An individual shall not be determined to have a 129
controlled substance test failure if the individual obtained the 130
controlled substance pursuant to a prescription issued by a 131
licensed health professional authorized to prescribe drugs and the 132
individual injected, ingested, or inhaled the controlled substance 133
in accordance with the health professional's directions.134

       (2) "Licensed health professional authorized to prescribe 135
drugs" and "prescription" have the same meanings as in section 136
4729.01 of the Revised Code.137

       (3) "Statewide elected official" means any of the offices of 138
governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor of 139
state, treasurer of state, or attorney general.140

       (4) "TARP recipient" means an officer, executive, or 141
corporate staff member of a financial institution that receives or 142
has received funding from the troubled asset relief program.143

       (B)(1) Before taking office or fulfilling an individual's 144
appointment and once every year thereafter, statewide elected 145
officials, members of the general assembly, justices of the 146
supreme court, and members of the board of directors of JobsOhio 147
shall be subject to a controlled substance test to determine 148
whether the official, member, justice, or director has a 149
controlled substance test failure. The costs of such testing shall 150
be paid by such official, member, justice, or director.151

       (2) Once every year TARP recipients shall be subject to a 152
controlled substance test to determine whether the recipient has a 153
controlled substance test failure. The costs of such testing shall 154
be paid by the recipient.155

       (C) To be considered valid, the controlled substance test 156
shall be performed according to rules adopted by the Ohio ethics 157
commission that shall provide for the test to be conducted in a 158
manner that assures a reasonable degree of dignity while 159
reasonably preventing substitution or contamination of any 160
specimen taken for the test. The rules shall also provide for a 161
manner in which the controlled substance test will be administered 162
before the individual takes office or fulfills the individual's 163
appointment, as applicable, and randomly, on a yearly basis.164

       (D) Refusal to submit to a controlled substance test as 165
authorized under this section is an admission that the official, 166
member, justice, director, or recipient has a controlled substance 167
test failure. 168

       (E)(1) If a statewide elected official, member of the general 169
assembly, or justice of the supreme court is determined by a 170
controlled substance test conducted under this section to have a 171
controlled substance test failure, the Ohio ethics commission 172
shall refer the officer, member, or justice to an alcohol and drug 173
addiction program certified under section 3793.06 of the Revised 174
Code. Such an official, member, or justice may also be subject to 175
the following, if the criteria for such action otherwise applies: 176
impeachment under Sections 23 and 24 of Article II, Ohio 177
Constitution; removal under Section 17 of Article IV, Ohio 178
Constitution; removal under Section 38, Article II, Ohio 179
Constitution and sections 3.07 to 3.10 of the Revised Code; recall 180
under section 3.11 of the Revised Code; or any other sanction 181
authorized by law or rule covering the respective official, 182
member, or justice.183

       (2) If a member of the board of directors of JobsOhio is 184
determined by a controlled substance test conducted under this 185
section to have a controlled substance test failure, the member 186
shall be deemed to not fulfill the qualifications for the 187
appointment to the board under section 187.02 of the Revised Code 188
and shall be removed by the governor.189

       (3) If a TARP recipient is determined by a controlled 190
substance test conducted under this section to have a controlled 191
substance test failure, the Ohio ethics commission shall refer the 192
recipient to an alcohol and drug addiction program certified under 193
section 3793.06 of the Revised Code.194

       Sec. 187.02.  (A) To qualify for appointment to the board of 195
directors of JobsOhio, an individual must satisfy all of the 196
following:197

       (1) Has an understanding of generally accepted accounting 198
principles and financial statements;199

       (2) Possesses the ability to assess the general application 200
of such principles in connection with the accounting for 201
estimates, accruals, and reserves;202

       (3) Has experience preparing, auditing, analyzing, or 203
evaluating financial statements that present a breadth and level 204
of complexity of accounting issues that are generally comparable 205
to the breadth and complexity of issues that can reasonably be 206
expected to be presented by the JobsOhio corporation's financial 207
statements, or experience actively supervising one or more persons 208
engaged in such activities;209

       (4) Has an understanding of internal controls and the 210
procedures for financial reporting;211

       (5) Has an understanding of audit committee functions;212

       (6) Fulfills the requirements for controlled substance tests 213
required by section 102.10 of the Revised Code.214

       (B) Specific experience demonstrating the qualifications 215
required by division (A) of this section may be evidenced by any 216
of the following:217

       (1) Education and experience as a principal financial 218
officer, principal accounting officer, controller, public 219
accountant or auditor, or experience in one or more positions that 220
involve the performance of similar functions;221

       (2) Experience actively supervising a principal financial 222
officer, principal accounting officer, controller, public 223
accountant, auditor, or person performing similar functions;224

       (3) Experience overseeing or assessing the performance of 225
companies or public accountants with respect to the preparation, 226
auditing, or evaluation of financial statements;227

       (4) Other experience considered relevant by the governor 228
consistent with division (A) of this section.229

       (C) Each individual appointed to the board of directors shall 230
be a citizen of the United States. At least six of the individuals 231
appointed to the board shall be residents of or domiciled in this 232
state.233

       Section 2.  That existing sections 3.11 and 187.02 of the 234
Revised Code are hereby repealed.235