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| To amend sections 2743.58 and 2744.02 and to enact | 1 |
| section 4561.50 of the Revised Code to limit the | 2 |
| use of drones by law enforcement agencies and | 3 |
| prohibit the defense of sovereign immunity with | 4 |
| regard to a prohibited use of drones. | 5 |
| Section 1. That sections 2743.58 and 2744.02 be amended and | 6 |
| section 4561.50 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows: | 7 |
| Sec. 2743.58. The prosecuting attorney and any officer or | 8 |
| employee of the office of the prosecuting attorney or of the law | 9 |
| enforcement agency shall be immune from any civil liability that | 10 |
| might otherwise be incurred as the result of providing information | 11 |
| on criminally injurious conduct and related matters to the | 12 |
| attorney general, unless such information was obtained in | 13 |
| violation of division (A) of section 4561.50 of the Revised Code. | 14 |
| Sec. 2744.02. (A)(1) For the purposes of this chapter, the | 15 |
| functions of political subdivisions are hereby classified as | 16 |
| governmental functions and proprietary functions. Except as | 17 |
| provided in division (B) of this section, a political subdivision | 18 |
| is not liable in damages in a civil action for injury, death, or | 19 |
| loss to person or property allegedly caused by any act or omission | 20 |
| of the political subdivision or an employee of the political | 21 |
| subdivision in connection with a governmental or proprietary | 22 |
| function. | 23 |
| (2) The defenses and immunities conferred under this chapter | 24 |
| apply in connection with all governmental and proprietary | 25 |
| functions performed by a political subdivision and its employees, | 26 |
| whether performed on behalf of that political subdivision or on | 27 |
| behalf of another political subdivision. | 28 |
| (3) Subject to statutory limitations upon their monetary | 29 |
| jurisdiction, the courts of common pleas, the municipal courts, | 30 |
| and the county courts have jurisdiction to hear and determine | 31 |
| civil actions governed by or brought pursuant to this chapter. | 32 |
| (B) Subject to sections 2744.03 and 2744.05 of the Revised | 33 |
| Code, a political subdivision is liable in damages in a civil | 34 |
| action for injury, death, or loss to person or property allegedly | 35 |
| caused by an act or omission of the political subdivision or of | 36 |
| any of its employees in connection with a governmental or | 37 |
| proprietary function, as follows: | 38 |
| (1) Except as otherwise provided in this division, political | 39 |
| subdivisions are liable for injury, death, or loss to person or | 40 |
| property caused by the negligent operation of any motor vehicle by | 41 |
| their employees when the employees are engaged within the scope of | 42 |
| their employment and authority. The following are full defenses to | 43 |
| that liability: | 44 |
| (a) A member of a municipal corporation police department or | 45 |
| any other police agency was operating a motor vehicle while | 46 |
| responding to an emergency call and the operation of the vehicle | 47 |
| did not constitute willful or wanton misconduct; | 48 |
| (b) A member of a municipal corporation fire department or | 49 |
| any other firefighting agency was operating a motor vehicle while | 50 |
| engaged in duty at a fire, proceeding toward a place where a fire | 51 |
| is in progress or is believed to be in progress, or answering any | 52 |
| other emergency alarm and the operation of the vehicle did not | 53 |
| constitute willful or wanton misconduct; | 54 |
| (c) A member of an emergency medical service owned or | 55 |
| operated by a political subdivision was operating a motor vehicle | 56 |
| while responding to or completing a call for emergency medical | 57 |
| care or treatment, the member was holding a valid commercial | 58 |
| driver's license issued pursuant to Chapter 4506. or a driver's | 59 |
| license issued pursuant to Chapter 4507. of the Revised Code, the | 60 |
| operation of the vehicle did not constitute willful or wanton | 61 |
| misconduct, and the operation complies with the precautions of | 62 |
| section 4511.03 of the Revised Code. | 63 |
| (2) Except as otherwise provided in sections 3314.07 and | 64 |
| 3746.24 of the Revised Code, political subdivisions are liable for | 65 |
| injury, death, or loss to person or property caused by the | 66 |
| negligent performance of acts by their employees with respect to | 67 |
| proprietary functions of the political subdivisions. | 68 |
| (3) Except as otherwise provided in section 3746.24 of the | 69 |
| Revised Code, political subdivisions are liable for injury, death, | 70 |
| or loss to person or property caused by their negligent failure to | 71 |
| keep public roads in repair and other negligent failure to remove | 72 |
| obstructions from public roads, except that it is a full defense | 73 |
| to that liability, when a bridge within a municipal corporation is | 74 |
| involved, that the municipal corporation does not have the | 75 |
| responsibility for maintaining or inspecting the bridge. | 76 |
| (4) Except as otherwise provided in section 3746.24 of the | 77 |
| Revised Code, political subdivisions are liable for injury, death, | 78 |
| or loss to person or property that is caused by the negligence of | 79 |
| their employees and that occurs within or on the grounds of, and | 80 |
| is due to physical defects within or on the grounds of, buildings | 81 |
| that are used in connection with the performance of a governmental | 82 |
| function, including, but not limited to, office buildings and | 83 |
| courthouses, but not including jails, places of juvenile | 84 |
| detention, workhouses, or any other detention facility, as defined | 85 |
| in section 2921.01 of the Revised Code. | 86 |
| (5) In addition to the circumstances described in divisions | 87 |
| (B)(1) to (4) of this section, a political subdivision is liable | 88 |
| for injury, death, or loss to person or property when civil | 89 |
| liability is expressly imposed upon the political subdivision by a | 90 |
| section of the Revised Code, including, but not limited to, | 91 |
| 92 | |
| 5591.37 of the Revised Code. Civil liability shall not be | 93 |
| construed to exist under another section of the Revised Code | 94 |
| merely because that section imposes a responsibility or mandatory | 95 |
| duty upon a political subdivision, because that section provides | 96 |
| for a criminal penalty, because of a general authorization in that | 97 |
| section that a political subdivision may sue and be sued, or | 98 |
| because that section uses the term "shall" in a provision | 99 |
| pertaining to a political subdivision. | 100 |
| (C) An order that denies a political subdivision or an | 101 |
| employee of a political subdivision the benefit of an alleged | 102 |
| immunity from liability as provided in this chapter or any other | 103 |
| provision of the law is a final order. | 104 |
| Sec. 4561.50. (A) No law enforcement agency, or any person | 105 |
| acting on behalf of a law enforcement agency, shall operate a | 106 |
| drone in order to obtain evidence or any other information, except | 107 |
| in circumstances in which any of the following apply: | 108 |
| (1) The United States secretary of homeland security has | 109 |
| determined that credible intelligence indicates that there is high | 110 |
| risk of a terrorist attack by a specific person or organization | 111 |
| and the operation of the drone is necessary to address the threat | 112 |
| of that terrorist attack; | 113 |
| (2) The law enforcement agency has obtained a search warrant | 114 |
| pursuant to section 2933.21 of the Revised Code and the operation | 115 |
| of the drone is in accordance with that warrant; | 116 |
| (3) The operation of a drone by a law enforcement agency, or | 117 |
| any person acting on behalf of the law enforcement agency, is | 118 |
| based upon a reasonable suspicion that swift action is needed to | 119 |
| prevent imminent harm to life or serious damage to property, or to | 120 |
| forestall the imminent escape of a suspect or the destruction of | 121 |
| evidence. | 122 |
| (B) No information collected while operating a drone, and no | 123 |
| evidence derived therefrom, shall be used as evidence in any | 124 |
| trial, hearing, or other proceeding before any court, agency, or | 125 |
| other authority of the state or a political subdivision of the | 126 |
| state if the information was obtained in violation of this section | 127 |
| or if the information was obtained pursuant to an authorized use | 128 |
| under divisions (A)(1) to (3) of this section but was beyond the | 129 |
| scope of that authorized use. | 130 |
| (C) Any person aggrieved or adversely affected by an alleged | 131 |
| violation of division (A) of this section may commence a civil | 132 |
| action for damages, including reasonable attorney's fees, against | 133 |
| any person, the state, or the political subdivision alleged to be | 134 |
| in violation of this section. If a violation has occurred, | 135 |
| sovereign immunity shall not apply to the proceeding or limit or | 136 |
| bar recovery of damages. | 137 |
| (D) No drone shall be equipped with any weapon of any kind. | 138 |
| (E) As used in this section: | 139 |
| (1) "Drone" means any aircraft to which all of the following | 140 |
| apply: | 141 |
| (a) The aircraft does not carry a human operator; | 142 |
| (b) The aircraft uses aerodynamic forces to provide vehicle | 143 |
| lift; | 144 |
| (c) The aircraft can fly autonomously or be piloted remotely. | 145 |
| (2) "Law enforcement agency" means a police department, the | 146 |
| office of a sheriff, the state highway patrol, a county | 147 |
| prosecuting attorney, the attorney general, or a state or local | 148 |
| governmental body that enforces criminal laws and that has | 149 |
| employees who have a statutory power of arrest. | 150 |
| Section 2. That existing sections 2743.58 and 2744.02 of the | 151 |
| Revised Code are hereby repealed. | 152 |