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(127th General Assembly)
(House Bill Number 194)
AN ACT
To amend section 121.22 of the Revised Code to allow
joint township hospitals to hold an executive
session for purposes of discussing trade secrets.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
SECTION 1. That section 121.22 of the Revised Code be amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 121.22. (A) This section shall be liberally
construed
to require public officials to take official action and
to conduct
all deliberations upon official business only in open
meetings
unless the subject matter is specifically excepted by
law.
(B) As used in this section:
(1)
"Public body" means any of the following:
(a) Any board, commission, committee, council, or similar
decision-making body of a state agency, institution, or
authority,
and any legislative authority or board, commission,
committee,
council, agency, authority, or similar
decision-making body of
any
county, township, municipal corporation, school district, or
other
political subdivision or local public institution;
(b) Any committee or subcommittee of a body described in
division (B)(1)(a) of this section;
(c) A court of jurisdiction of a sanitary district organized
wholly for the purpose of providing a water supply for domestic,
municipal,
and public use when meeting
for the purpose of the
appointment, removal, or reappointment of a member of
the board of
directors of such a district pursuant to section 6115.10 of the
Revised Code, if
applicable, or for any other matter related to
such a district other than litigation involving the district. As
used in
division (B)(1)(c) of this section,
"court of
jurisdiction" has the same meaning as
"court" in section 6115.01
of the Revised Code.
(2)
"Meeting" means any prearranged discussion of the
public
business of the public body by a majority of its members.
(3)
"Regulated individual" means either of the following:
(a) A student in a state or local public educational
institution;
(b) A person who is, voluntarily or involuntarily, an
inmate,
patient, or resident of a state or local institution
because of
criminal behavior, mental illness or retardation,
disease,
disability, age, or other condition requiring custodial
care.
(4) "Public office" has the same meaning as in section
149.011 of the Revised Code.
(C) All meetings of any public body are declared to be
public
meetings open to the public at all times. A member of a
public
body shall be present in person at a meeting open to
the
public to
be considered present or to vote at the meeting and for
purposes
of determining whether a quorum is present at the
meeting.
The minutes of a regular or special meeting of any
public
body shall be promptly prepared, filed, and maintained and
shall
be open to public inspection. The minutes need only
reflect the
general subject matter of discussions in executive
sessions
authorized under division (G) or (J) of this section.
(D) This section does not apply to any of the following:
(1) A grand jury;
(2) An audit conference conducted by the auditor of state or
independent
certified public accountants with officials of the
public office
that is the subject of the audit;
(3) The adult parole authority
when its hearings are
conducted at a correctional institution for
the sole purpose of
interviewing inmates to determine parole or
pardon;
(4) The organized crime investigations commission
established
under section 177.01 of the Revised Code;
(5) Meetings of a child fatality review board established
under section
307.621 of the Revised Code and meetings conducted
pursuant to
sections 5153.171 to 5153.173
of the Revised Code;
(6) The state medical board when determining whether to
suspend a
certificate without a prior hearing pursuant to division
(G) of
either section 4730.25 or 4731.22 of the Revised Code;
(7) The board of nursing when
determining whether to suspend
a license or certificate without a prior
hearing
pursuant to
division (B) of section 4723.281 of the
Revised Code;
(8) The state board of pharmacy when determining whether to
suspend a
license without a prior hearing pursuant to division (D)
of section
4729.16 of the Revised Code;
(9) The state chiropractic board when determining whether to
suspend a
license without a hearing pursuant to section 4734.37 of
the Revised Code.
(10) The executive committee of the emergency response
commission when determining whether to issue an enforcement order
or request that a civil action, civil penalty action, or criminal
action be brought to enforce Chapter 3750. of the Revised Code.
(E) The controlling board, the development financing
advisory
council, the industrial technology and enterprise
advisory
council,
the tax credit authority, or the minority
development
financing advisory board, when meeting to consider
granting
assistance pursuant to Chapter 122. or 166. of the
Revised Code,
in order to protect the interest of the applicant or
the possible
investment of public funds, by unanimous vote of all
board,
council,
or authority members present, may close the
meeting
during
consideration of the following information
confidentially
received by the authority, council, or board from
the
applicant:
(1) Marketing plans;
(2) Specific business strategy;
(3) Production techniques and trade secrets;
(4) Financial projections;
(5) Personal financial statements of the applicant or
members
of the applicant's immediate family, including, but not
limited
to,
tax records or other similar information not open to
public
inspection.
The vote by the authority, council, or board to
accept
or
reject the application, as well as all proceedings of the
authority, council, or board not subject to this
division,
shall
be open to the public and governed by this section.
(F) Every public body, by rule, shall establish a
reasonable
method whereby any person may determine the time and
place of all
regularly scheduled meetings and the time, place,
and purpose of
all special meetings. A public body shall not
hold a special
meeting unless it gives at least twenty-four
hours' advance notice
to the news media that have requested
notification, except in the
event of an emergency requiring
immediate official action. In the
event of an emergency, the
member or members calling the meeting
shall notify the news media
that have requested notification
immediately of the time, place,
and purpose of the meeting.
The rule shall provide that any person, upon request
and
payment of a reasonable fee, may obtain reasonable advance
notification of all meetings at which any specific type of public
business is to be discussed. Provisions for advance notification
may include, but are not limited to, mailing the agenda of
meetings to all subscribers on a mailing list or mailing notices
in self-addressed, stamped envelopes provided by the person.
(G) Except as provided in division (J) of this
section, the
members of a public body may hold an executive
session only after
a majority of a quorum of the public body
determines, by a roll
call vote, to hold an executive
session and only
at a regular or
special meeting for the sole purpose of the
consideration of any
of the following matters:
(1) To consider the appointment, employment, dismissal,
discipline, promotion, demotion, or compensation of a public
employee or official, or the investigation of charges or
complaints against a public employee, official, licensee, or
regulated individual, unless the public employee, official,
licensee, or regulated individual requests a public hearing.
Except as otherwise provided by law, no public body shall hold an
executive session for the discipline of an elected official for
conduct related to the performance of the elected official's
official duties or for
the elected official's removal from office.
If a public body holds
an executive
session pursuant to division
(G)(1) of this section, the motion
and vote to hold that executive
session shall state which one or
more of the approved purposes
listed in division (G)(1) of this
section are the purposes for
which the executive session is to be
held, but need not include
the name of any person to be
considered at the meeting.
(2) To consider the purchase of property for public
purposes,
or for the sale of property at competitive bidding, if
premature
disclosure of information would give an unfair
competitive or
bargaining advantage to a person whose personal,
private interest
is adverse to the general public interest. No
member of a public
body shall use division (G)(2) of
this section
as a
subterfuge
for
providing covert information to prospective
buyers or
sellers. A
purchase or sale of public property is void
if the
seller or buyer
of the public property has received covert
information from a
member of a public body that has not been
disclosed to the general
public in sufficient time for other
prospective buyers and sellers
to prepare and submit offers.
If the minutes of the public body show that all meetings
and
deliberations of the public body have been conducted in
compliance
with this section, any instrument executed by the
public body
purporting to convey, lease, or otherwise dispose of
any right,
title, or interest in any public property shall be
conclusively
presumed to have been executed in compliance with
this section
insofar as title or other interest of any bona fide
purchasers,
lessees, or transferees of the property is concerned.
(3) Conferences with an attorney for the public body
concerning disputes involving the public body that are the
subject
of pending or imminent court action;
(4) Preparing for, conducting, or reviewing negotiations
or
bargaining sessions with public employees concerning their
compensation or other terms and conditions of their employment;
(5) Matters required to be kept confidential by federal
law
or regulations or state statutes;
(6)
Details relative to the security
arrangements
and
emergency response protocols for a public body or
a public office,
if
disclosure of the matters discussed
could
reasonably be
expected to jeopardize the security of the public body or public
office;
(7) In the case of a county hospital operated pursuant to
Chapter 339. of the Revised Code, a joint township hospital
operated pursuant to Chapter 513. of the Revised Code, or a
municipal hospital operated pursuant to Chapter 749. of the
Revised Code, to consider trade
secrets, as
defined in section
1333.61 of the Revised Code.
If a public body holds an executive session to consider any
of the matters listed in divisions (G)(2) to (7) of this
section,
the motion and vote to hold that executive session shall state
which one or more of the approved matters listed in those
divisions are to be considered at the executive session.
A public body specified in division (B)(1)(c) of
this section
shall not hold an executive session when meeting for the purposes
specified in that division.
(H) A resolution, rule, or formal action of any kind is
invalid unless adopted in an open meeting of the public body. A
resolution, rule, or formal action adopted in an open meeting
that
results from deliberations in a meeting not open to the
public is
invalid unless the deliberations were for a purpose
specifically
authorized in division (G) or (J) of this section and
conducted at
an executive session held in compliance with this
section. A
resolution, rule, or formal action adopted in an open
meeting is
invalid if the public body that adopted the
resolution, rule, or
formal action violated division (F) of this
section.
(I)(1) Any person may bring an action to enforce this
section. An action
under
division (I)(1) of this section shall
be
brought within two years after the date of the alleged
violation
or threatened violation. Upon proof of a violation or
threatened
violation of this section in an action brought by any
person, the
court of common pleas shall issue an injunction to
compel the
members of the public body to comply with its
provisions.
(2)(a) If the court of common pleas issues an injunction
pursuant to division (I)(1) of this section, the court shall
order
the public body that it enjoins to pay a civil forfeiture
of five
hundred dollars to the party that sought the injunction
and shall
award to that party all court costs and, subject to
reduction as
described in
division (I)(2) of this section, reasonable
attorney's
fees. The court, in its discretion, may reduce an
award
of
attorney's fees to the party that sought the injunction
or not
award attorney's fees to that party if the court determines
both
of the following:
(i) That, based on the ordinary application of statutory
law
and case law as it existed at the time of violation or
threatened
violation that was the basis of the injunction, a
well-informed
public body reasonably would believe that the
public body was not
violating or threatening to violate this
section;
(ii) That a well-informed public body reasonably would
believe that the conduct or threatened conduct that was the basis
of the injunction would serve the public policy that underlies
the
authority that is asserted as permitting that conduct or
threatened conduct.
(b) If the court of common pleas does not issue an
injunction
pursuant to division (I)(1) of this section and the
court
determines at that time that the bringing of the action was
frivolous conduct, as defined in division (A) of section 2323.51
of the Revised Code, the court shall award to the public body all
court costs and reasonable attorney's fees, as determined by the
court.
(3) Irreparable harm and prejudice to the party that
sought
the injunction shall be conclusively and irrebuttably
presumed
upon proof of a violation or threatened violation of
this section.
(4) A member of a public body who knowingly violates an
injunction issued pursuant to division (I)(1) of this section may
be removed from office by an action brought in the court of
common
pleas for that purpose by the prosecuting attorney or the
attorney
general.
(J)(1) Pursuant to division (C) of section 5901.09 of the
Revised Code,
a veterans service commission shall hold an
executive session for one or more
of the following purposes unless
an applicant requests a public
hearing:
(a) Interviewing an applicant for financial assistance under
sections 5901.01 to 5901.15 of the Revised Code;
(b) Discussing applications, statements, and other documents
described in division (B) of section 5901.09 of the Revised
Code;
(c) Reviewing matters relating to an applicant's request for
financial assistance under sections 5901.01 to 5901.15 of the
Revised Code.
(2) A veterans service commission shall not exclude an
applicant for,
recipient of, or former recipient of financial
assistance under sections
5901.01 to 5901.15 of the Revised Code,
and
shall not exclude representatives selected by the
applicant,
recipient, or former recipient, from a meeting that the commission
conducts as an executive session that pertains to the applicant's,
recipient's, or former recipient's application for financial
assistance.
(3) A veterans service commission shall vote on the grant or
denial of
financial assistance under sections 5901.01 to 5901.15
of the Revised Code only in an open
meeting of the commission.
The
minutes of the meeting shall indicate the
name, address, and
occupation
of the applicant, whether the assistance was granted or
denied, the amount of
the assistance if assistance is granted, and
the votes for and against the
granting of assistance.
SECTION 2. That existing section 121.22 of the Revised Code
is hereby repealed.
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