130th Ohio General Assembly
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Sub. S. B. No. 57  As Passed by the Senate
As Passed by the Senate

125th General Assembly
Regular Session
2003-2004
Sub. S. B. No. 57


Senators Jacobson, Armbruster, Randy Gardner, Goodman, Harris, Stivers, Herington, Amstutz, Austria, Blessing, Carnes, Dann, Robert Gardner, Hottinger, Mumper 



A BILL
To amend sections 2917.04 and 2917.13 and to enact section 2917.031 of the Revised Code to increase the penalty under specified circumstances for failure to disperse and misconduct at an emergency and to clarify the required proof for the offenses of riot and aggravated riot.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 2917.04 and 2917.13 be amended and section 2917.031 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
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.
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. 2917.13.  (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.
Section 2. That existing sections 2917.04 and 2917.13 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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