To amend sections 2909.06, 2917.04, 2917.11, and 2917.13 and to enact sections 2917.031 and 5502.61 of the Revised Code to increase the penalty under specified circumstances for failure to disperse, criminal damaging or endangering, disorderly conduct, and misconduct at an emergency and to clarify the required proof for the offenses of riot and aggravated riot.

Section 1. That sections 2909.06, 2917.04, 2917.11, and 2917.13 be amended and sections 2917.031 and 5502.61 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 2909.06.  (A) No person shall cause, or create a substantial risk of, physical harm to any property of another without the other person's consent:

(1) Knowingly, by any means;

(2) Recklessly, by means of fire, explosion, flood, poison gas, poison, radioactive material, caustic or corrosive material, or other inherently dangerous agency or substance.

(B)(1) Whoever violates this section is guilty of criminal damaging or endangering,.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(3), (4), (5), or (6) of this section, criminal damaging or endangering is a misdemeanor of the second degree. If

(3) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(4), (5), or (6) of this section, if a violation of this section creates a risk of physical harm to any person, criminal damaging or endangering is a misdemeanor of the first degree. If

(4) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(5) or (6) of this section, if the property involved in a violation of this section is an aircraft, an aircraft engine, propeller, appliance, spare part, or any other equipment or implement used or intended to be used in the operation of an aircraft and if the violation creates a risk of physical harm to any person, criminal damaging or endangering is a felony of the fifth degree. If

(5) If the property involved in a violation of this section is an aircraft, an aircraft engine, propeller, appliance, spare part, or any other equipment or implement used or intended to be used in the operation of an aircraft and if the violation creates a substantial risk of physical harm to any person or if the property involved in a violation of this section is an occupied aircraft, criminal damaging or endangering is a felony of the fourth degree.

(6) If the violation causes physical harm to property and if the value of the property involved is five thousand dollars or more, criminal damaging is a felony of the fourth degree.

Sec. 2917.031. For the purposes of prosecuting violations of sections 2917.02 and 2917.03 of the Revised Code, the state is not required to allege or prove that the offender expressly agreed with four or more others to commit any act that constitutes a violation of either section prior to or while committing those acts. It is sufficient that the state prove that the defendant participated in a course of disorderly conduct with four or more other persons at approximately the same time and in the same area, when the circumstances described in division (A)(1), (A)(2), (A)(3), (B)(1), or (B)(2) of section 2917.02 or division (A)(1), (2), or (3) of section 2917.03 of the Revised Code apply.

Sec. 2917.04.  (A) Where five or more persons are participating in a course of disorderly conduct in violation of section 2917.11 of the Revised Code, and there are other persons in the vicinity whose presence creates the likelihood of physical harm to persons or property or of serious public inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm, a law enforcement officer or other public official may order the participants and such other persons to disperse. No person shall knowingly fail to obey such order.

(B) Nothing in this section requires persons to disperse who are peaceably assembled for a lawful purpose.

(C)(1) Whoever violates this section is guilty of failure to disperse,.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in division (C)(3) of this section, failure to disperse is a minor misdemeanor.

(3) Failure to disperse is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree if any of the following apply:

(a) The failure to obey the order described in division (A) of this section hampers the lawful operations of any law enforcement officer, firefighter, rescuer, medical person, emergency medical services person, or other authorized person who is engaged in the person's duties at the scene of a fire, accident, disaster, riot, or emergency of any kind.

(b) The failure to obey the order described in division (A) of this section hampers the lawful activities of any emergency facility person who is engaged in the person's duties in an emergency facility.

(c) The offender fails to obey the lawful order of any law enforcement officer engaged in the law enforcement officer's duties at the scene of or in connection with a fire, accident, disaster, riot, or emergency of any kind.

(D) As used in this section:

(1) "Emergency medical services person" is the singular of "emergency medical services personnel" as defined in section 2133.21 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Emergency facility person" is the singular of "emergency facility personnel" as defined in section 2909.04 of the Revised Code.

(3) "Emergency facility" has the same meaning as in section 2909.04 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 2917.11.  (A) No person shall recklessly cause inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm to another by doing any of the following:

(1) Engaging in fighting, in threatening harm to persons or property, or in violent or turbulent behavior;

(2) Making unreasonable noise or an offensively coarse utterance, gesture, or display or communicating unwarranted and grossly abusive language to any person;

(3) Insulting, taunting, or challenging another, under circumstances in which that conduct is likely to provoke a violent response;

(4) Hindering or preventing the movement of persons on a public street, road, highway, or right-of-way, or to, from, within, or upon public or private property, so as to interfere with the rights of others, and by any act that serves no lawful and reasonable purpose of the offender;

(5) Creating a condition that is physically offensive to persons or that presents a risk of physical harm to persons or property, by any act that serves no lawful and reasonable purpose of the offender.

(B) No person, while voluntarily intoxicated, shall do either of the following:

(1) In a public place or in the presence of two or more persons, engage in conduct likely to be offensive or to cause inconvenience, annoyance, or alarm to persons of ordinary sensibilities, which conduct the offender, if the offender were not intoxicated, should know is likely to have that effect on others;

(2) Engage in conduct or create a condition that presents a risk of physical harm to the offender or another, or to the property of another.

(C) Violation of any statute or ordinance of which an element is operating a motor vehicle, locomotive, watercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or any drug of abuse, is not a violation of division (B) of this section.

(D) If a person appears to an ordinary observer to be intoxicated, it is probable cause to believe that person is voluntarily intoxicated for purposes of division (B) of this section.

(E)(1) Whoever violates this section is guilty of disorderly conduct.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in division (E)(3), (4), and (5) of this section, disorderly conduct is a minor misdemeanor.

(3) Disorderly Except as otherwise provided in division (E)(5) of this section, disorderly conduct is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree if any of the following applies:

(a) The offender persists in disorderly conduct after reasonable warning or request to desist.

(b) The offense is committed in the vicinity of a school or in a school safety zone.

(c) The offense is committed in the presence of any law enforcement officer, firefighter, rescuer, medical person, emergency medical services person, or other authorized person who is engaged in the person's duties at the scene of a fire, accident, disaster, riot, or emergency of any kind.

(d) The offense is committed in the presence of any emergency facility person who is engaged in the person's duties in an emergency facility.

(e) The offense is committed under circumstances that pose a risk of physical harm to others and is committed on real property that is owned by an institution of higher education and on which are located dormitories or other types of student housing that house more than one thousand people or within the geographical area specified by the department of public safety pursuant to section 5502.61 of the Revised Code surrounding an institution of higher education of that nature.

(4) Disorderly conduct is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree if the offender violates division (A)(4) of this section and if the offender is one of four or more persons who are participating in a course of disorderly conduct involving a violation of division (A)(4) of this section.

(5) Disorderly conduct is a misdemeanor of the second degree if the offender violates division (A)(4) of this section, if the offender is one of four or more persons who are participating in a course of disorderly conduct involving a violation of division (A)(4) of this section, and if any of the following applies:

(a) The offender persists in disorderly conduct after reasonable warning or request to desist.

(b) The offense is committed in the vicinity of a school or in a school safety zone.

(c) The offense is committed in the presence of any law enforcement officer, firefighter, rescuer, medical person, emergency medical services person, or other authorized person who is engaged in the person's duties at the scene of a fire, accident, disaster, riot, or emergency of any kind.

(d) The offense is committed in the presence of any emergency facility person who is engaged in the person's duties in an emergency facility.

(F) As used in this section:

(1) "Emergency medical services person" is the singular of "emergency medical services personnel" as defined in section 2133.21 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Emergency facility person" is the singular of "emergency facility personnel" as defined in section 2909.04 of the Revised Code.

(3) "Emergency facility" has the same meaning as in section 2909.04 of the Revised Code.

(4) "Committed in the vicinity of a school" has the same meaning as in section 2925.01 of the Revised Code.

(5) "Institution of higher education" means institutions of higher education as defined in section 3345.12 of the Revised Code and nonpublic institutions of higher education that have received a certificate of authorization from the board of regents according to Chapter 1713. of the Revised Code.

Sec. 2917.13.  (A) No person shall knowingly do any of the following:

(1) Hamper the lawful operations of any law enforcement officer, firefighter, rescuer, medical person, emergency medical services person, or other authorized person, engaged in the person's duties at the scene of a fire, accident, disaster, riot, or emergency of any kind;

(2) Hamper the lawful activities of any emergency facility person who is engaged in the person's duties in an emergency facility;

(3) Fail to obey the lawful order of any law enforcement officer engaged in the law enforcement officer's duties at the scene of or in connection with a fire, accident, disaster, riot, or emergency of any kind.

(B) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit access or deny information to any news media representative in the lawful exercise of the news media representative's duties.

(C) Whoever violates this section is guilty of misconduct at an emergency. Except as otherwise provided in this division, misconduct at an emergency is a minor misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If a violation of this section creates a risk of physical harm to persons or property, misconduct at an emergency is a misdemeanor of the first degree.

(D) As used in this section:

(1) "Emergency medical services person" is the singular of "emergency medical services personnel" as defined in section 2133.21 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Emergency facility person" is the singular of "emergency facility personnel" as defined in section 2909.04 of the Revised Code.

(3) "Emergency facility" has the same meaning as in section 2909.04 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 5502.61. For the purposes of division (E) of section 2917.11 of the Revised Code, the director of public safety shall by rule establish a geographical area that consists of not more than one thousand feet contiguous to real property that is owned by an institution of higher education and on which are located dormitories or other types of student housing that house more than one thousand people. Before adopting a rule establishing a geographical area in relation to a particular institution of higher education, the director shall consult with the sheriff of the county in which the institution is located, with the police department of any municipal corporation with jurisdiction over the institution, and, if one exists, with the chief state university law enforcement officer of the institution.

As used in this section, "institution of higher education" has the same meaning as in section 2917.11 of the Revised Code.

Section 2. That existing sections 2909.06, 2917.04, 2917.11, and 2917.13 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.