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| To amend section 109.91 and to enact sections 109.921 | 1 |
| and 311.172 of the Revised Code to add a | 2 |
| representative of eligible rape crisis programs as | 3 |
| a member of the State Victims Assistance Advisory | 4 |
| Council, to require each person who registers as a | 5 |
| sex offender to pay a one-hundred-dollar fee, to | 6 |
| require the deposit of the fee into the Rape | 7 |
| Crisis Program Trust Fund administered by the | 8 |
| Attorney General, and to fund rape crisis centers | 9 |
| out of the Fund. | 10 |
| Section 1. That section 109.91 be amended and sections | 11 |
| 109.921 and 311.172 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as | 12 |
| follows: | 13 |
| Sec. 109.91. (A) There is hereby established within the | 14 |
| office of the attorney general the crime victims assistance | 15 |
| office. | 16 |
| (B) There is hereby established the state victims assistance | 17 |
| advisory council. The council shall consist of a chairperson, to | 18 |
| be appointed by the attorney general, three ex officio members, | 19 |
| and fifteen members to be appointed by the attorney general as | 20 |
| follows: one member who represents the Ohio victim-witness | 21 |
| association; three members who represent local victim assistance | 22 |
| programs, including one from a municipally operated program and | 23 |
| one from a county-operated program; one member who represents the | 24 |
| interests of elderly victims; one member who is a board member of | 25 |
| any statewide or local organization that exists primarily to aid | 26 |
| victims of domestic violence, or who is an employee of, or | 27 |
| counselor for, such an organization; one member who represents | 28 |
| eligible rape crisis programs; one member who is an employee or | 29 |
| officer of a county probation department or a probation department | 30 |
| operated by the department of rehabilitation and correction; one | 31 |
| member who is a county prosecuting attorney; one member who is a | 32 |
| city law director; one member who is a county sheriff; one member | 33 |
| who is a member or officer of a township or municipal police | 34 |
| department; one member who is a court of common pleas judge; one | 35 |
| member who is a municipal court judge or county court judge; and | 36 |
| two members who are private citizens and are not government | 37 |
| employees. | 38 |
| The council shall include the following ex officio, nonvoting | 39 |
| members: the attorney general, one member of the senate to be | 40 |
| designated by the president of the senate, and one member of the | 41 |
| house of representatives to be designated by the speaker of the | 42 |
| house. | 43 |
| Members of the council shall serve without compensation, but | 44 |
| shall be reimbursed for travel and other necessary expenses that | 45 |
| are incurred in the conduct of their official duties as members of | 46 |
| the council. The chairperson and members of the council appointed | 47 |
| by the attorney general shall serve at the pleasure of the | 48 |
| attorney general. The attorney general shall serve on the council | 49 |
| until the end of the term of office that qualified the attorney | 50 |
| general for membership on the council. The member of the senate | 51 |
| and the member of the house of representatives shall serve at the | 52 |
| pleasure of the president of the senate and the speaker of the | 53 |
| house of representatives, respectively. | 54 |
| (C) The victims assistance advisory council shall perform | 55 |
| both of the following duties: | 56 |
| (1) Advise the crime victims assistance office in determining | 57 |
| crime and delinquency victim service needs, determining crime and | 58 |
| delinquency victim policies for the state, and improving and | 59 |
| exercising leadership in the quality of crime and delinquency | 60 |
| victim programs in the state; | 61 |
| (2) Review and recommend to the crime victims assistance | 62 |
| office the victim assistance programs that should be considered | 63 |
| for the receipt of state financial assistance pursuant to section | 64 |
| 109.92 of the Revised Code. The financial assistance allocation | 65 |
| recommendations of the council shall be based on the following | 66 |
| priorities: | 67 |
| (a) Programs in existence on July 1, 1985, shall be given | 68 |
| first priority; | 69 |
| (b) Programs offering or proposing to offer the broadest | 70 |
| range of services and referrals to the community served, including | 71 |
| medical, psychological, financial, educational, vocational, and | 72 |
| legal services that were not in existence on July 1, 1985, shall | 73 |
| be given second priority; | 74 |
| (c) Other qualified programs shall be given last priority. | 75 |
| (D) As used in this section and section 109.92 of the Revised | 76 |
| Code, "victim assistance program" includes, but is not limited to | 77 |
| a program that provides at least one of the following: | 78 |
| (1) Services to victims of any offense of violence or | 79 |
| delinquent act that would be an offense of violence if committed | 80 |
| by an adult; | 81 |
| (2) Financial assistance or property repair services to | 82 |
| victims of crime or delinquent acts; | 83 |
| (3) Assistance to victims of crime or delinquent acts in | 84 |
| judicial proceedings; | 85 |
| (4) Assistance to victims of crime or delinquent acts under | 86 |
| the operation of any political subdivision of the state or a | 87 |
| branch of the criminal justice system set forth in division | 88 |
| (B)(1)(a), (b), or (c) of section 5502.61 of the Revised Code; | 89 |
| (5) Technical assistance to persons or organizations that | 90 |
| provide services to victims of crime or delinquent acts under the | 91 |
| operation of a branch of the criminal justice system set forth in | 92 |
| division (B)(1)(a), (b), or (c) of section 5502.61 of the Revised | 93 |
| Code. | 94 |
| A victim assistance program does not include the program for | 95 |
| the reparation of crime victims established pursuant to Chapter | 96 |
| 2743. of the Revised Code. | 97 |
| (E) As used in this section, "eligible rape crisis program" | 98 |
| has the same meaning as in section 109.921 of the Revised Code. | 99 |
| Sec. 109.921. (A) As used in this section: | 100 |
| (1) "Eligible rape crisis program" means any program that | 101 |
| operates in this state, that is a victim witness assistance | 102 |
| program operated by a prosecuting attorney or a program operated | 103 |
| by a government-based or nonprofit entity, and that provides a | 104 |
| full continuum of services to victims of sexual assault, including | 105 |
| hotlines, victim advocacy, and support services, from the onset of | 106 |
| the need for services through the completion of healing. | 107 |
| (2) "Sexual assault" means any of the following: | 108 |
| (a) A violation of section 2907.02, 2907.03, 2907.04, | 109 |
| 2907.05, or former section 2907.12 of the Revised Code; | 110 |
| (b) A violation of an existing or former municipal ordinance | 111 |
| or law of this or any other state or the United States that is or | 112 |
| was substantially equivalent to any section listed in division | 113 |
| (A)(2)(a) of this section. | 114 |
| (B) There is hereby created in the state treasury the rape | 115 |
| crisis program trust fund, consisting of money paid into the fund | 116 |
| pursuant to section 311.172 of the Revised Code and any money | 117 |
| appropriated to the fund by the general assembly or donated to the | 118 |
| fund. The attorney general shall administer the fund. The attorney | 119 |
| general may use not more than five per cent of the moneys | 120 |
| deposited or appropriated into the fund to pay costs associated | 121 |
| with administering this section and shall use at least ninety-five | 122 |
| per cent of the moneys deposited or appropriated into the fund for | 123 |
| the purpose of providing funding to eligible rape crisis programs | 124 |
| under this section. | 125 |
| (C) The attorney general shall adopt rules under Chapter 119. | 126 |
| of the Revised Code that establish procedures for eligible rape | 127 |
| crisis programs to apply to the attorney general for funding out | 128 |
| of the rape crisis program trust fund and procedures for the | 129 |
| attorney general to distribute money out of the fund to eligible | 130 |
| rape crisis programs. | 131 |
| (D) An eligible rape crisis program that receives funding out | 132 |
| of the rape crisis program trust fund shall use the money received | 133 |
| only to provide one or more of the services described in division | 134 |
| (A)(1) of this section to or for victims of sexual assault. | 135 |
| Sec. 311.172. (A) The sheriff shall charge a fee of one | 136 |
| hundred dollars when a person registers under section 2950.04 of | 137 |
| the Revised Code. The fee shall be in addition to any fee that may | 138 |
| be charged under section 311.171 of the Revised Code. | 139 |
| (B) The sheriff shall not refuse to register a person who | 140 |
| does not pay the fee required by this section. At the end of each | 141 |
| calendar year, the sheriff shall report to the attorney general | 142 |
| all fees that have been due and unpaid for more than one year and | 143 |
| that the sheriff has not previously reported. The attorney general | 144 |
| shall recover those fees in a civil action. | 145 |
| (C) The sheriff shall transmit on or before the twentieth day | 146 |
| of the following month all money collected during a month under | 147 |
| this section to the treasurer of state to be credited to the rape | 148 |
| crisis program trust fund created by section 109.921 of the | 149 |
| Revised Code. | 150 |
| Section 2. That existing section 109.91 of the Revised Code | 151 |
| is hereby repealed. | 152 |