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(123rd General Assembly)(Amended Substitute Senate Bill Number 187)
AN ACT
To enact sections 109.574, 109.575,
109.576, 109.577,
121.401, and 121.402 of the Revised Code to
require the Governor's Community Service
Council to adopt a set of "recommended best practices" for
organizations and entities that provide specified services to
children and that have volunteers who regularly have unsupervised
access to children regarding the children and the volunteers, to
provide for warnings to such volunteers that they might be
subjected to criminal records checks, and to provide for parental
notification in certain circumstances regarding the outcome of
criminal records checks of such volunteers.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
SECTION 1 . That sections 109.574,
109.575, 109.576, 109.577, 121.401, and 121.402 of the Revised Code be enacted
to read as
follows:
Sec. 109.574. As used in sections 109.574 to 109.577 of the
Revised Code: (A) "Organization or entity" means a religious, charitable,
scientific, educational, athletic, or service institution or
organization or local government entity that provides care, treatment,
education, training, instruction, supervision, or recreation to
children. (B) "Unsupervised access to a child" means that the person in
question has access to a child and that either of the following
applies: (1) No other person eighteen years of age or older is present in
the same room with the child. (2) If outdoors, no other person eighteen years of age or older
is within a thirty-yard radius of the child or has visual contact with
the child. Sec. 109.575. At the time of a person's initial application to an
organization or entity to be a volunteer in a position in which
the person on a regular basis will have unsupervised access to a child,
the organization or entity shall inform the person that, at any
time, the person might be required to provide a set of impressions
of the person's fingerprints and a criminal records check might be
conducted with respect to the person. Not later than thirty days
after the
effective date of this section, each organization or entity shall notify
each current volunteer who is in a position in which the person on a regular
basis has unsupervised access to a child that, at any time, the volunteer
might be required to provide a set of impressions of the volunteer's
fingerprints and a criminal records check might be conducted with
respect to the volunteer. Sec. 109.576. (A) if a person has applied to an organization or
entity to be a volunteer in a POSITION IN WHICH the person on a regular basis
HAS unsupervised access
to a child, if the ORGANIZATION or entity subjects the person to a criminal
records check, if the
report of the results of the criminal records check indicates that
the person has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the
offenses described in division (a)(1) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code, and if
the
ORGANIZATION or entity accepts the person as a volunteer in
a POSITION in which the person on a regular basis has unsupervised
access to a child, the organization or entity shall notify the
parent or guardian of each child for whom it provides services
that the volunteer has been convicted of one or more of those
offenses but that, nonetheless, the person will be serving the
organization or entity in THAT position. the notification required by this
division shall be in writing, and THE ORGANIZATION OR ENTITY SHALL
senD THE NOTICE to the PARENT or guardian on the date the
organization or entity commences providing services to the child
or on the date the ORGANIZATION or entity decides to accept the
person as a volunteer after receiving the report of the results of
the criminal records check, whichever is later. (B) if a person is serving an organization or entity as a
volunteer in a POSITION IN WHICH the person on a regular basis HAS unsupervised access to a child, if the ORGANIZATION or entity
subjects the person to a criminal records check, if the report of
the results of the criminal records check indicates that the
person has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the
offenses described in division (a)(1) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code, and if the
ORGANIZATION or entity retains the person as a volunteer in the same position or in any other POSITION IN
WHICH the person on a regular basis HAS unsupervised access to a child, the organization or entity shall notify
the parent or guardian of each child for whom it provides services
that the volunteer has been convicted of one or more of those
offenses but that, nonetheless, the person will be retained by the
organization or entity in THAT position. the notification required by this
division shall be in writing, and THE ORGANIZATION OR ENTITY SHALL senD THE
NOTICE to the parent or guardian on the date the organization or entity
commences providing services to the child or on the date the
organization or entity decides to retain the person after
receiving the report of the results of the criminal records check,
whichever is later. (C) a notification to a parent or guardian of a child that is
required by division (A) or (B) of this section shall identify by
name the person who is accepted or retained as a VOLUNTEER in a POSITION IN WHICH the person on a regular basis HAS unsupervised
access to a child, shall state THe fact that the PERSON has been
convicted of or pleaded guilty to one or more of the offenses
described in division (a)(1) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code, but shall not identify the offense
or offenses in question. (D) DIVISIONS (A) to (C) of this section apply
regarding any
criminal records check performed by the bureau of CRIMINAL identification
and investigation pursuant to section 109.57, section 109.572, or rules
ADOPTED under division (e) of section 109.57 of the Revised Code, any criminal
records check performed in any manner by the
organization or entity or any of its officers or employees, or any criminal
records check performed
in any manner by any person upon the request of the ORGANIZATION
or entity or any of its officers or employees. Sec. 109.577. (A) if an
organization or entity uses a volunteer in a POSITION IN WHICH the person on a
regular basis HAS unsupervised access to a child and if the volunteer has been
subjected to a criminal records check performed by the bureau of
criminal identification and INVESTIGATION pursuant to section
109.57, section 109.572, or rules adopted under division (e) of
section 109.57 of the Revised Code, the ORGANIZATION or entity,
and its officials and employees, are
immune from civil liability that might otherwise be incurred or
imposed for any death or any injury or loss to person or property that is
caused by any act or omission of the volunteer and that results from or is
related to the volunteer having unsupervised access to a child on a regular
basis. This immunity does not apply to a person, organization,
or entity that has immunity from civil liability in accordance
with section 9.86, 2744.02, or 2744.03 of the Revised Code
for the good faith compliance, attempted compliance, or failure to comply. (B) This section does not create a new cause of action or
substantive legal right against a person, organization, or entity and does not
affect any immunities from civil liability or defenses established by another
section of the Revised Code or available at common law, to which a person, organization, or
entity may be entitled under circumstances not covered by this section. Sec. 121.401. (a) as used in this section and section 121.402
of the Revised Code, "ORGANIZATION or entity" and "unsupervised
access to a child" have the same meanings as in section 109.574 of the Revised Code. (b) the governor's community service council shall adopt a set of
"recommended best practices" for organizations or entities to follow when one
or more volunteers of the organization or entity
have unsupervised access to one or more children or otherwise
interact with one or more children. the "recommended best
practices" shall focus on, but shall not be limited to, the issue
of the safety of the children and, in addition, the screening and supervision
of volunteers. the "recommended best practices" shall include as a
recommended
best practice that the ORGANIZATION or entity subject to a criminal records
check performed by the bureau of criminal IDENTIFICATION and
investigation pursuant to section 109.57, Section 109.572, or
rules adopted under division (e) of section 109.57 of the Revised Code, all of the following: (1) all persons who apply to serve as a volunteer in a position
in which the person will have unsupervised access to a child on a
regular basis. (2) all volunteers who are in a position in which the person will
have unsupervised access to a child on a regular basis and who the
organization or entity has not PREVIOUSLY subjected to a criminal
records check performed by the bureau of criminal IDENTIFICATION
and investigation. (c) the set of "recommended best practices" required to be
adopted by this section are in ADDITION to the EDUCATIONAL program
required to be adopted under section 121.402 of the Revised Code. Sec. 121.402. (A) The governor's community service council
shall establish and maintain an educational program that does all of the
following: (1) Makes available to parents and guardians of children notice
about the provisions of sections 109.574 to 109.577, section 121.401, and
section 121.402 of the
Revised Code and information
about how to keep children safe when they are under the care, custody, or
control of a person other
than the parent or guardian; (2) Makes available to organizations and entities information
regarding the best methods of screening and supervising volunteers, how to
obtain a criminal records check of a volunteer,
confidentiality issues relating to reports of criminal records
checks, and record keeping regarding the reports; (3) Makes available to volunteers information regarding the possibility of
being subjected to a
criminal records check and displaying
appropriate behavior to
minors; (4) Makes available to children advice on personal safety and
information on what action to take if someone takes inappropriate action
towards a child. (B) The program shall begin making the materials described in
this section available not later than one year after the effective date of
this section.
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