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As Reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee
122nd General Assembly
Regular Session
1997-1998 | Sub. S. B. No. 215 |
SENATORS SHEERER-SHOEMAKER-LATELL-BLESSING-HOWARD-HERINGTON
A BILL
To amend sections 2903.211 and 2917.21 of the Revised Code to make any
repeat
offense of menacing by stalking, and any repeat offense of telephone
harassment other than one involving certain threats to cause damage to
property, a felony of the fifth degree.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 2903.211 and 2917.21 of the Revised Code be amended
to read as
follows:
Sec. 2903.211. (A) No person by engaging in a pattern of
conduct shall knowingly cause another to believe that the
offender will cause physical harm to the other person or cause
mental distress to the other person.
(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of menacing by
stalking, a misdemeanor of the first degree. If the offender
previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation
of this section involving the same person who is the victim of
the current offense, menacing by stalking is a felony of the
fifth degree.
(C) As used in this section:
(1) "Pattern of conduct" means two or more actions or
incidents closely related in time, whether or not there has been
a prior conviction based on any of those actions or incidents.
(2) "Mental distress" means any mental illness or
condition that involves some temporary substantial incapacity or
mental illness or condition that would normally require
psychiatric treatment.
Sec. 2917.21. (A) No person shall knowingly make or cause
to be made a telephone call, or knowingly permit a telephone call
to be made from a telephone under the person's control, to
another, if the caller does any of the following:
(1) Fails to identify the caller to the recipient of the
telephone call and makes the telephone call with purpose to
harass, abuse, or annoy any person at the premises to which the
telephone call is made, whether or not conversation takes place
during the telephone call;
(2) Describes, suggests, requests, or proposes that the
caller, recipient of the telephone call, or any other person
engage in any sexual activity as defined in division (C) of
section 2907.01 of the Revised Code, and the recipient of the
telephone call, or another person at the premises to which the
telephone call is made, has requested, in a previous telephone
call or in the immediate telephone call, the caller not to make a
telephone call to the recipient of the telephone call or to the
premises to which the telephone call is made;
(3) During the telephone call, violates section 2903.21 of
the Revised Code;
(4) Knowingly states to the recipient of the telephone
call that the caller intends to cause damage to or destroy
public or
private property, and the recipient of the telephone call, any
member of the family of the recipient of the telephone call, or
any other person who resides at the premises to which the
telephone call is made owns, leases, resides, or works in, will
at the time of the destruction or damaging be near or in, has the
responsibility of protecting, or insures the property that will
be destroyed or damaged;
(5) Knowingly makes the telephone call to the recipient of
the telephone call, to another person at the premises to which
the telephone call is made, or to the premises to which the
telephone call is made, and the recipient of the telephone call,
or another person at the premises to which the telephone call is
made, previously has told the caller not to call the premises to
which the telephone call is made or not to call any persons at
the premises to which the telephone call is made.
(B) No person shall make or cause to be made a telephone
call, or permit a telephone call to be made from a telephone
under the person's control, with purpose to abuse, threaten,
annoy, or
harass another person.
(C)(1) Whoever violates this section is guilty of telephone
harassment.
(2) A violation of division (A)(1), (2), (3), or (5) or
(B) of this section is a misdemeanor of the first degree on a
first offense and a
felony of the fifth degree on each subsequent offense involving the
same person, recipient, or premises.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in division (C)(3) of
this section, a violation of division (A)(4) of this section is a
misdemeanor of the first degree on a first offense and a felony of the fifth
degree on each subsequent offense. If a violation of division (A)(4)
of this section results
in economic harm of five hundred dollars or more but less than five thousand
dollars, telephone harassment is a felony of the fifth degree. If a violation
of division (A)(4) of this section results in economic harm of five
thousand dollars or more but less than one hundred thousand dollars, telephone
harassment is a felony of the fourth degree. If a violation of division
(A)(4) of this section results in economic harm of one hundred
thousand dollars or more, telephone harassment is a felony of the third
degree.
(D) As used in this section, "economic harm" means all direct, incidental,
and consequential pecuniary harm suffered by a victim as a result of criminal
conduct. "Economic harm" includes, but is not limited to, all of the
following:
(1) All wages, salaries, or other compensation lost as a result of the
criminal conduct;
(2) The cost of all wages, salaries, or other compensation paid to employees
for time those employees are prevented from working as a result of the
criminal conduct;
(3) The overhead costs incurred for the time that a business is shut down as
a result of the criminal conduct;
(4) The loss of value to tangible or intangible property that was damaged as
a result of the criminal conduct.
(E) Nothing in this section prohibits a person from making a
telephone call to a debtor that is in compliance with the "Fair
Debt Collection Practices Act," 91 Stat. 874 (1977), 15 U.S.C. 1692, as
amended, or the "Telephone Consumer Protection
Act," 105 Stat. 2395 (1991), 47 U.S.C. 227, as amended.
Section 2. That existing sections 2903.211 and 2917.21 of the Revised Code are
hereby
repealed.
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