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(126th General Assembly)
(Substitute House Bill Number 33)
AN ACT
To amend sections 309.09 and 3313.13 of the Revised Code to permit the prosecuting attorney, with the approval of the board of county commissioners, to be the legal adviser to a joint fire district, to a joint ambulance district, to a fire and ambulance district, and to a joint emergency medical services district either at no cost to the district or under a contract with the district, and to allow an assistant prosecuting attorney to be a member of a school board in a county other than the county in which the assistant is employed.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
SECTION 1. That sections 309.09 and 3313.13 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 309.09. (A) The prosecuting attorney shall be the
legal adviser of the board of county commissioners, board of
elections, and all other county officers and boards, including
all tax-supported public libraries, and any of them may require
written opinions or instructions from the prosecuting attorney in
matters connected
with their official duties. The prosecuting attorney shall
prosecute and defend all
suits and actions which any such officer or board directs or to
which it is a party, and no county officer may employ any other
counsel or attorney at the expense of the county, except as
provided in section 305.14 of the Revised Code. (B) The prosecuting attorney shall be the legal adviser
for all township officers, boards, and commissions, unless the
township has adopted
a limited home
rule government pursuant to
Chapter 504. of the Revised Code and has not entered into a contract to
have the prosecuting attorney serve as the township law director, in which
case the township law
director, whether serving full-time or part-time, shall be the
legal adviser for all township officers, boards, and
commissions. When the board of
township trustees finds it advisable or necessary to have
additional legal counsel, it may employ an attorney other than the
township law director or the prosecuting attorney of the county,
either for a particular matter or on an annual basis, to
represent the township and its officers, boards, and commissions
in their official
capacities and to advise them on legal matters. No such legal counsel
may be employed, except on the order of the board of
township trustees, duly entered upon its journal, in which the
compensation to be paid for the legal services shall be
fixed. The compensation shall be paid from the township
fund. Nothing in this division confers any of the powers or
duties of a prosecuting attorney under section 309.08 of the
Revised Code upon a township law director. (C) Whenever the board of county commissioners employs an
attorney other than the prosecuting attorney of the county,
without the authorization of the court of common pleas as
provided in section 305.14 of the Revised Code, either for a
particular matter or on an annual basis, to represent the board
in its official capacity and to advise it
on legal matters, the board shall enter
upon its journal an order of the board in which the compensation
to be paid for the legal services shall be fixed. The
compensation shall be paid from the county general fund. The
total compensation paid, in any year, by the board for legal services under this division shall not
exceed the total annual compensation of the prosecuting attorney
for that county. (D) The prosecuting attorney and the board of county
commissioners jointly may contract with a board of park
commissioners under section 1545.07 of the Revised Code for the prosecuting
attorney to provide legal services to the park
district the board of park commissioners operates. All moneys received
pursuant to the contract shall be deposited into the
prosecuting attorney's legal services fund, which shall be established in the
county treasury of each county in which the contract
exists. Moneys in
that fund may be appropriated only to the prosecuting attorney for the purpose
of providing legal services under a contract entered into under this
division. (E) The prosecuting attorney may be, in the prosecuting attorney's discretion and with the approval of the board of county commissioners, the legal adviser of a joint fire district created under section 505.371 of the Revised Code, at no cost to the district or may be the legal adviser to the district under a contract that the prosecuting attorney and the district enter into, and that the board of county commissioner approves, to authorize the prosecuting attorney to provide legal services to the district. (F) The prosecuting attorney may be, in the prosecuting attorney's discretion and with the approval of the board of county commissioners, the legal adviser of a joint ambulance district created under section 505.71 of the Revised Code at no cost to the district or may be the legal adviser to the district under a contract that the prosecuting attorney and the district enter into, and that the board of county commissioners approves, to authorize the prosecuting attorney to provide legal services to the district. (G) The prosecuting attorney may be, in the prosecuting attorney's discretion and with the approval of the board of county commissioners, the legal adviser of a joint emergency medical services district created under section 307.052 of the Revised Code at no cost to the district or may be the legal adviser to the district under a contract that the prosecuting attorney and the district enter into, and that the board of county commissioners approves, to authorize the prosecuting attorney to provide legal services to the district. (H) The prosecuting attorney may be, in the prosecuting attorney's discretion and with the approval of the board of county commissioners, the legal adviser of a fire and ambulance district created under section 505.375 of the Revised Code at no cost to the district or may be the legal adviser to the district under a contract that the prosecuting attorney and the district enter into, and that the board of county commissioners approves, to authorize the prosecuting attorney to provide legal services to the district. (I) All money received pursuant to a contract entered into under division (D), (E), (F), (G), or (H) of this section shall be deposited into the prosecuting attorney's legal services fund, which shall be established in the county treasury of each county in which such a contract exists. Moneys in that fund may be appropriated only to the prosecuting attorney for the purpose of providing legal services to a park district, joint fire district, joint ambulance district, joint emergency medical services district, or a fire and ambulance district, as applicable, under a contract entered into under the applicable division.
Sec. 3313.13. Except as otherwise provided in this
section, no prosecuting attorney, city director of law, or other
official acting in a similar capacity shall be a member of a
board of education.
An assistant prosecuting attorney may serve as a member of a board of education of a school district in any county other than the county in which the assistant prosecuting attorney is employed if the board of education's school district is not contiguous to the county in which the assistant prosecuting attorney is employed. A city director of law who was appointed to his that position
under a city charter, village solicitor, or other chief legal
officer of a municipal corporation may serve as a member of a
board of education for which he the chief legal officer is not
the legal adviser and attorney under section 3313.35 of the Revised Code. A
city director of law who was appointed to his that position
under a city charter may serve as a member of a board of education for which
he the city director of law is the legal adviser and attorney
under section 3313.35 of the Revised Code, but only if the board uses no legal
services of his the office of the city law director or if
the legal services of his that office that it does use are
performed under contract by persons not employed by his that
office.
SECTION 2. That existing sections 309.09 and 3313.13 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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