130th Ohio General Assembly
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Am. Sub. H. B. No. 214  As Passed by the Senate
As Passed by the Senate

127th General Assembly
Regular Session
2007-2008
Am. Sub. H. B. No. 214


Representatives Wagner, Combs 

Cosponsors: Representatives Seitz, McGregor, J., Stebelton, Brown, Aslanides, Batchelder, Blessing, Collier, Flowers, Goodwin, Hagan, J., Letson, Raussen, Wachtmann 

Senators Seitz, Austria, Buehrer, Carey, Cates, Fedor, Harris, Kearney, Miller, D., Miller, R., Mumper, Niehaus, Roberts, Sawyer, Schaffer, Schuler, Smith, Spada, Wagoner, Wilson, Cafaro, Faber, Boccieri 



A BILL
To amend sections 149.43, 2151.152, 2151.23, 2151.39, 3313.64, 5101.29, 5103.031, 5103.032, 5103.035, 5103.0312, 5103.0313, 5103.16, 5103.391, 5126.04, 5153.122, and 5153.123 and to enact sections 5103.23, 5103.231, 5103.232, 5103.233, 5103.234, 5103.235, 5103.236, and 5103.237 of the Revised Code relative to training for foster caregivers, the public record status of identifying information of current and prospective foster caregivers, petitioning Congress for expanded usage of Title IV-E funding, the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children, and the coordination of the provision of services for foster children with mental retardation or developmental disabilities.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 149.43, 2151.152, 5101.29, 5103.031, 5103.032, 5103.035, 5103.0312, 5103.0313, 5103.391, 5126.04, 5153.122, and 5153.123 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 149.43.  (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Public record" means records kept by any public office, including, but not limited to, state, county, city, village, township, and school district units, and records pertaining to the delivery of educational services by an alternative school in this state kept by the nonprofit or for-profit entity operating the alternative school pursuant to section 3313.533 of the Revised Code. "Public record" does not mean any of the following:
(a) Medical records;
(b) Records pertaining to probation and parole proceedings or to proceedings related to the imposition of community control sanctions and post-release control sanctions;
(c) Records pertaining to actions under section 2151.85 and division (C) of section 2919.121 of the Revised Code and to appeals of actions arising under those sections;
(d) Records pertaining to adoption proceedings, including the contents of an adoption file maintained by the department of health under section 3705.12 of the Revised Code;
(e) Information in a record contained in the putative father registry established by section 3107.062 of the Revised Code, regardless of whether the information is held by the department of job and family services or, pursuant to section 3111.69 of the Revised Code, the office of child support in the department or a child support enforcement agency;
(f) Records listed in division (A) of section 3107.42 of the Revised Code or specified in division (A) of section 3107.52 of the Revised Code;
(g) Trial preparation records;
(h) Confidential law enforcement investigatory records;
(i) Records containing information that is confidential under section 2710.03 or 4112.05 of the Revised Code;
(j) DNA records stored in the DNA database pursuant to section 109.573 of the Revised Code;
(k) Inmate records released by the department of rehabilitation and correction to the department of youth services or a court of record pursuant to division (E) of section 5120.21 of the Revised Code;
(l) Records maintained by the department of youth services pertaining to children in its custody released by the department of youth services to the department of rehabilitation and correction pursuant to section 5139.05 of the Revised Code;
(m) Intellectual property records;
(n) Donor profile records;
(o) Records maintained by the department of job and family services pursuant to section 3121.894 of the Revised Code;
(p) Peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, or EMT residential and familial information;
(q) In the case of a county hospital operated pursuant to Chapter 339. of the Revised Code or a municipal hospital operated pursuant to Chapter 749. of the Revised Code, information that constitutes a trade secret, as defined in section 1333.61 of the Revised Code;
(r) Information pertaining to the recreational activities of a person under the age of eighteen;
(s) Records provided to, statements made by review board members during meetings of, and all work products of a child fatality review board acting under sections 307.621 to 307.629 of the Revised Code, other than the report prepared pursuant to section 307.626 of the Revised Code;
(t) Records provided to and statements made by the executive director of a public children services agency or a prosecuting attorney acting pursuant to section 5153.171 of the Revised Code other than the information released under that section;
(u) Test materials, examinations, or evaluation tools used in an examination for licensure as a nursing home administrator that the board of examiners of nursing home administrators administers under section 4751.04 of the Revised Code or contracts under that section with a private or government entity to administer;
(v) Records the release of which is prohibited by state or federal law;
(w) Proprietary information of or relating to any person that is submitted to or compiled by the Ohio venture capital authority created under section 150.01 of the Revised Code;
(x) Information reported and evaluations conducted pursuant to section 3701.072 of the Revised Code;
(y) Financial statements and data any person submits for any purpose to the Ohio housing finance agency or the controlling board in connection with applying for, receiving, or accounting for financial assistance from the agency, and information that identifies any individual who benefits directly or indirectly from financial assistance from the agency;
(z) Records listed in section 5101.29 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Confidential law enforcement investigatory record" means any record that pertains to a law enforcement matter of a criminal, quasi-criminal, civil, or administrative nature, but only to the extent that the release of the record would create a high probability of disclosure of any of the following:
(a) The identity of a suspect who has not been charged with the offense to which the record pertains, or of an information source or witness to whom confidentiality has been reasonably promised;
(b) Information provided by an information source or witness to whom confidentiality has been reasonably promised, which information would reasonably tend to disclose the source's or witness's identity;
(c) Specific confidential investigatory techniques or procedures or specific investigatory work product;
(d) Information that would endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement personnel, a crime victim, a witness, or a confidential information source.
(3) "Medical record" means any document or combination of documents, except births, deaths, and the fact of admission to or discharge from a hospital, that pertains to the medical history, diagnosis, prognosis, or medical condition of a patient and that is generated and maintained in the process of medical treatment.
(4) "Trial preparation record" means any record that contains information that is specifically compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or in defense of, a civil or criminal action or proceeding, including the independent thought processes and personal trial preparation of an attorney.
(5) "Intellectual property record" means a record, other than a financial or administrative record, that is produced or collected by or for faculty or staff of a state institution of higher learning in the conduct of or as a result of study or research on an educational, commercial, scientific, artistic, technical, or scholarly issue, regardless of whether the study or research was sponsored by the institution alone or in conjunction with a governmental body or private concern, and that has not been publicly released, published, or patented.
(6) "Donor profile record" means all records about donors or potential donors to a public institution of higher education except the names and reported addresses of the actual donors and the date, amount, and conditions of the actual donation.
(7) "Peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, or EMT residential and familial information" means any information that discloses any of the following about a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, or EMT:
(a) The address of the actual personal residence of a peace officer, parole officer, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, or EMT, except for the state or political subdivision in which the peace officer, parole officer, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, or EMT resides;
(b) Information compiled from referral to or participation in an employee assistance program;
(c) The social security number, the residential telephone number, any bank account, debit card, charge card, or credit card number, or the emergency telephone number of, or any medical information pertaining to, a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, or EMT;
(d) The name of any beneficiary of employment benefits, including, but not limited to, life insurance benefits, provided to a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, or EMT by the peace officer's, parole officer's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, or EMT's employer;
(e) The identity and amount of any charitable or employment benefit deduction made by the peace officer's, parole officer's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, or EMT's employer from the peace officer's, parole officer's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, or EMT's compensation unless the amount of the deduction is required by state or federal law;
(f) The name, the residential address, the name of the employer, the address of the employer, the social security number, the residential telephone number, any bank account, debit card, charge card, or credit card number, or the emergency telephone number of the spouse, a former spouse, or any child of a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, or EMT;
(g) A photograph of a peace officer who holds a position or has an assignment that may include undercover or plain clothes positions or assignments as determined by the peace officer's appointing authority.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(9) of this section, "peace officer" has the same meaning as in section 109.71 of the Revised Code and also includes the superintendent and troopers of the state highway patrol; it does not include the sheriff of a county or a supervisory employee who, in the absence of the sheriff, is authorized to stand in for, exercise the authority of, and perform the duties of the sheriff.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(5) of this section, "correctional employee" means any employee of the department of rehabilitation and correction who in the course of performing the employee's job duties has or has had contact with inmates and persons under supervision.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(5) of this section, "youth services employee" means any employee of the department of youth services who in the course of performing the employee's job duties has or has had contact with children committed to the custody of the department of youth services.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(9) of this section, "firefighter" means any regular, paid or volunteer, member of a lawfully constituted fire department of a municipal corporation, township, fire district, or village.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(9) of this section, "EMT" means EMTs-basic, EMTs-I, and paramedics that provide emergency medical services for a public emergency medical service organization. "Emergency medical service organization," "EMT-basic," "EMT-I," and "paramedic" have the same meanings as in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code.
(8) "Information pertaining to the recreational activities of a person under the age of eighteen" means information that is kept in the ordinary course of business by a public office, that pertains to the recreational activities of a person under the age of eighteen years, and that discloses any of the following:
(a) The address or telephone number of a person under the age of eighteen or the address or telephone number of that person's parent, guardian, custodian, or emergency contact person;
(b) The social security number, birth date, or photographic image of a person under the age of eighteen;
(c) Any medical record, history, or information pertaining to a person under the age of eighteen;
(d) Any additional information sought or required about a person under the age of eighteen for the purpose of allowing that person to participate in any recreational activity conducted or sponsored by a public office or to use or obtain admission privileges to any recreational facility owned or operated by a public office.
(9) "Community control sanction" has the same meaning as in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.
(10) "Post-release control sanction" has the same meaning as in section 2967.01 of the Revised Code.
(11) "Redaction" means obscuring or deleting any information that is exempt from the duty to permit public inspection or copying from an item that otherwise meets the definition of a "record" in section 149.011 of the Revised Code.
(12) "Designee" and "elected official" have the same meanings as in section 109.43 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1) Upon request and subject to division (B)(8) of this section, all public records responsive to the request shall be promptly prepared and made available for inspection to any person at all reasonable times during regular business hours. Subject to division (B)(8) of this section, upon request, a public office or person responsible for public records shall make copies of the requested public record available at cost and within a reasonable period of time. If a public record contains information that is exempt from the duty to permit public inspection or to copy the public record, the public office or the person responsible for the public record shall make available all of the information within the public record that is not exempt. When making that public record available for public inspection or copying that public record, the public office or the person responsible for the public record shall notify the requester of any redaction or make the redaction plainly visible. A redaction shall be deemed a denial of a request to inspect or copy the redacted information, except if federal or state law authorizes or requires a public office to make the redaction.
(2) To facilitate broader access to public records, a public office or the person responsible for public records shall organize and maintain public records in a manner that they can be made available for inspection or copying in accordance with division (B) of this section. A public office also shall have available a copy of its current records retention schedule at a location readily available to the public. If a requester makes an ambiguous or overly broad request or has difficulty in making a request for copies or inspection of public records under this section such that the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record cannot reasonably identify what public records are being requested, the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record may deny the request but shall provide the requester with an opportunity to revise the request by informing the requester of the manner in which records are maintained by the public office and accessed in the ordinary course of the public office's or person's duties.
(3) If a request is ultimately denied, in part or in whole, the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record shall provide the requester with an explanation, including legal authority, setting forth why the request was denied. If the initial request was provided in writing, the explanation also shall be provided to the requester in writing. The explanation shall not preclude the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record from relying upon additional reasons or legal authority in defending an action commenced under division (C) of this section.
(4) Unless specifically required or authorized by state or federal law or in accordance with division (B) of this section, no public office or person responsible for public records may limit or condition the availability of public records by requiring disclosure of the requester's identity or the intended use of the requested public record. Any requirement that the requester disclose the requestor's identity or the intended use of the requested public record constitutes a denial of the request.
(5) A public office or person responsible for public records may ask a requester to make the request in writing, may ask for the requester's identity, and may inquire about the intended use of the information requested, but may do so only after disclosing to the requester that a written request is not mandatory and that the requester may decline to reveal the requester's identity or the intended use and when a written request or disclosure of the identity or intended use would benefit the requester by enhancing the ability of the public office or person responsible for public records to identify, locate, or deliver the public records sought by the requester.
(6) If any person chooses to obtain a copy of a public record in accordance with division (B) of this section, the public office or person responsible for the public record may require that person to pay in advance the cost involved in providing the copy of the public record in accordance with the choice made by the person seeking the copy under this division. The public office or the person responsible for the public record shall permit that person to choose to have the public record duplicated upon paper, upon the same medium upon which the public office or person responsible for the public record keeps it, or upon any other medium upon which the public office or person responsible for the public record determines that it reasonably can be duplicated as an integral part of the normal operations of the public office or person responsible for the public record. When the person seeking the copy makes a choice under this division, the public office or person responsible for the public record shall provide a copy of it in accordance with the choice made by the person seeking the copy. Nothing in this section requires a public office or person responsible for the public record to allow the person seeking a copy of the public record to make the copies of the public record.
(7) Upon a request made in accordance with division (B) of this section and subject to division (B)(6) of this section, a public office or person responsible for public records shall transmit a copy of a public record to any person by United States mail or by any other means of delivery or transmission within a reasonable period of time after receiving the request for the copy. The public office or person responsible for the public record may require the person making the request to pay in advance the cost of postage if the copy is transmitted by United States mail or the cost of delivery if the copy is transmitted other than by United States mail, and to pay in advance the costs incurred for other supplies used in the mailing, delivery, or transmission.
Any public office may adopt a policy and procedures that it will follow in transmitting, within a reasonable period of time after receiving a request, copies of public records by United States mail or by any other means of delivery or transmission pursuant to this division. A public office that adopts a policy and procedures under this division shall comply with them in performing its duties under this division.
In any policy and procedures adopted under this division, a public office may limit the number of records requested by a person that the office will transmit by United States mail to ten per month, unless the person certifies to the office in writing that the person does not intend to use or forward the requested records, or the information contained in them, for commercial purposes. For purposes of this division, "commercial" shall be narrowly construed and does not include reporting or gathering news, reporting or gathering information to assist citizen oversight or understanding of the operation or activities of government, or nonprofit educational research.
(8) A public office or person responsible for public records is not required to permit a person who is incarcerated pursuant to a criminal conviction or a juvenile adjudication to inspect or to obtain a copy of any public record concerning a criminal investigation or prosecution or concerning what would be a criminal investigation or prosecution if the subject of the investigation or prosecution were an adult, unless the request to inspect or to obtain a copy of the record is for the purpose of acquiring information that is subject to release as a public record under this section and the judge who imposed the sentence or made the adjudication with respect to the person, or the judge's successor in office, finds that the information sought in the public record is necessary to support what appears to be a justiciable claim of the person.
(9) Upon written request made and signed by a journalist on or after December 16, 1999, a public office, or person responsible for public records, having custody of the records of the agency employing a specified peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, or EMT shall disclose to the journalist the address of the actual personal residence of the peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, or EMT and, if the peace officer's, parole officer's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, or EMT's spouse, former spouse, or child is employed by a public office, the name and address of the employer of the peace officer's, parole officer's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, or EMT's spouse, former spouse, or child. The request shall include the journalist's name and title and the name and address of the journalist's employer and shall state that disclosure of the information sought would be in the public interest.
As used in this division, "journalist" means a person engaged in, connected with, or employed by any news medium, including a newspaper, magazine, press association, news agency, or wire service, a radio or television station, or a similar medium, for the purpose of gathering, processing, transmitting, compiling, editing, or disseminating information for the general public.
(C)(1) If a person allegedly is aggrieved by the failure of a public office or the person responsible for public records to promptly prepare a public record and to make it available to the person for inspection in accordance with division (B) of this section or by any other failure of a public office or the person responsible for public records to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section, the person allegedly aggrieved may commence a mandamus action to obtain a judgment that orders the public office or the person responsible for the public record to comply with division (B) of this section, that awards court costs and reasonable attorney's fees to the person that instituted the mandamus action, and, if applicable, that includes an order fixing statutory damages under division (C)(1) of this section. The mandamus action may be commenced in the court of common pleas of the county in which division (B) of this section allegedly was not complied with, in the supreme court pursuant to its original jurisdiction under Section 2 of Article IV, Ohio Constitution, or in the court of appeals for the appellate district in which division (B) of this section allegedly was not complied with pursuant to its original jurisdiction under Section 3 of Article IV, Ohio Constitution.
If a requestor transmits a written request by hand delivery or certified mail to inspect or receive copies of any public record in a manner that fairly describes the public record or class of public records to the public office or person responsible for the requested public records, except as otherwise provided in this section, the requestor shall be entitled to recover the amount of statutory damages set forth in this division if a court determines that the public office or the person responsible for public records failed to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section.
The amount of statutory damages shall be fixed at one hundred dollars for each business day during which the public office or person responsible for the requested public records failed to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section, beginning with the day on which the requester files a mandamus action to recover statutory damages, up to a maximum of one thousand dollars. The award of statutory damages shall not be construed as a penalty, but as compensation for injury arising from lost use of the requested information. The existence of this injury shall be conclusively presumed. The award of statutory damages shall be in addition to all other remedies authorized by this section.
The court may reduce an award of statutory damages or not award statutory damages if the court determines both of the following:
(a) That, based on the ordinary application of statutory law and case law as it existed at the time of the conduct or threatened conduct of the public office or person responsible for the requested public records that allegedly constitutes a failure to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section and that was the basis of the mandamus action, a well-informed public office or person responsible for the requested public records reasonably would believe that the conduct or threatened conduct of the public office or person responsible for the requested public records did not constitute a failure to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section;
(b) That a well-informed public office or person responsible for the requested public records reasonably would believe that the conduct or threatened conduct of the public office or person responsible for the requested public records would serve the public policy that underlies the authority that is asserted as permitting that conduct or threatened conduct.
(2)(a) If the court issues a writ of mandamus that orders the public office or the person responsible for the public record to comply with division (B) of this section and determines that the circumstances described in division (C)(1) of this section exist, the court shall determine and award to the relator all court costs.
(b) If the court renders a judgment that orders the public office or the person responsible for the public record to comply with division (B) of this section, the court may award reasonable attorney's fees subject to reduction as described in division (C)(2)(c) of this section. The court shall award reasonable attorney's fees, subject to reduction as described in division (C)(2)(c) of this section when either of the following applies:
(i) The public office or the person responsible for the public records failed to respond affirmatively or negatively to the public records request in accordance with the time allowed under division (B) of this section.
(ii) The public office or the person responsible for the public records promised to permit the relator to inspect or receive copies of the public records requested within a specified period of time but failed to fulfill that promise within that specified period of time.
(c) Court costs and reasonable attorney's fees awarded under this section shall be construed as remedial and not punitive. Reasonable attorney's fees shall include reasonable fees incurred to produce proof of the reasonableness and amount of the fees and to otherwise litigate entitlement to the fees. The court may reduce an award of attorney's fees to the relator or not award attorney's fees to the relator 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 the conduct or threatened conduct of the public office or person responsible for the requested public records that allegedly constitutes a failure to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section and that was the basis of the mandamus action, a well-informed public office or person responsible for the requested public records reasonably would believe that the conduct or threatened conduct of the public office or person responsible for the requested public records did not constitute a failure to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section;
(ii) That a well-informed public office or person responsible for the requested public records reasonably would believe that the conduct or threatened conduct of the public office or person responsible for the requested public records as described in division (C)(2)(c)(i) of this section would serve the public policy that underlies the authority that is asserted as permitting that conduct or threatened conduct.
(D) Chapter 1347. of the Revised Code does not limit the provisions of this section.
(E)(1) To ensure that all employees of public offices are appropriately educated about a public office's obligations under division (B) of this section, all elected officials or their appropriate designees shall attend training approved by the attorney general as provided in section 109.43 of the Revised Code. In addition, all public offices shall adopt a public records policy in compliance with this section for responding to public records requests. In adopting a public records policy under this division, a public office may obtain guidance from the model public records policy developed and provided to the public office by the attorney general under section 109.43 of the Revised Code. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the policy may not limit the number of public records that the public office will make available to a single person, may not limit the number of public records that it will make available during a fixed period of time, and may not establish a fixed period of time before it will respond to a request for inspection or copying of public records, unless that period is less than eight hours.
(2) The public office shall distribute the public records policy adopted by the public office under division (E)(1) of this section to the employee of the public office who is the records custodian or records manager or otherwise has custody of the records of that office. The public office shall require that employee to acknowledge receipt of the copy of the public records policy. The public office shall create a poster that describes its public records policy and shall post the poster in a conspicuous place in the public office and in all locations where the public office has branch offices. The public office may post its public records policy on the internet web site of the public office if the public office maintains an internet web site. A public office that has established a manual or handbook of its general policies and procedures for all employees of the public office shall include the public records policy of the public office in the manual or handbook.
(F)(1) The bureau of motor vehicles may adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to reasonably limit the number of bulk commercial special extraction requests made by a person for the same records or for updated records during a calendar year. The rules may include provisions for charges to be made for bulk commercial special extraction requests for the actual cost of the bureau, plus special extraction costs, plus ten per cent. The bureau may charge for expenses for redacting information, the release of which is prohibited by law.
(2) As used in division (F)(1) of this section:
(a) "Actual cost" means the cost of depleted supplies, records storage media costs, actual mailing and alternative delivery costs, or other transmitting costs, and any direct equipment operating and maintenance costs, including actual costs paid to private contractors for copying services.
(b) "Bulk commercial special extraction request" means a request for copies of a record for information in a format other than the format already available, or information that cannot be extracted without examination of all items in a records series, class of records, or data base by a person who intends to use or forward the copies for surveys, marketing, solicitation, or resale for commercial purposes. "Bulk commercial special extraction request" does not include a request by a person who gives assurance to the bureau that the person making the request does not intend to use or forward the requested copies for surveys, marketing, solicitation, or resale for commercial purposes.
(c) "Commercial" means profit-seeking production, buying, or selling of any good, service, or other product.
(d) "Special extraction costs" means the cost of the time spent by the lowest paid employee competent to perform the task, the actual amount paid to outside private contractors employed by the bureau, or the actual cost incurred to create computer programs to make the special extraction. "Special extraction costs" include any charges paid to a public agency for computer or records services.
(3) For purposes of divisions (F)(1) and (2) of this section, "surveys, marketing, solicitation, or resale for commercial purposes" shall be narrowly construed and does not include reporting or gathering news, reporting or gathering information to assist citizen oversight or understanding of the operation or activities of government, or nonprofit educational research.
Sec. 2151.152.  The juvenile judge may enter into an agreement with the department of job and family services pursuant to section 5101.11 of the Revised Code for the purpose of reimbursing the court for foster care maintenance costs and associated administrative and training costs incurred on behalf of a child eligible who is either of the following:
(A) Eligible for payments under Title IV-E of the "Social Security Act," 94 Stat. 501 (1980), 42 U.S.C.A. 670 (1980), and who is in the temporary or permanent custody of the court or subject to a disposition issued under division (A)(5) of section 2151.354 or division (A)(7)(a)(ii) or (A)(8) of section 2152.19 of the Revised Code;
(B) Determined to be at serious risk of removal from the home and for whom the court has undertaken a plan of reasonable efforts to prevent such removal. The
The agreement shall govern the responsibilities and duties the court shall perform in providing services to the child.
Sec. 5101.29.  When contained in a record held by the department of job and family services or a county agency, the following are not public records for purposes of section 149.43 of the Revised Code:
(A) Names and other identifying information regarding children enrolled in or attending a child day-care center or home subject to licensure, certification, or registration under Chapter 5104. of the Revised Code;
(B) Names and other identifying information regarding children placed with an institution or association certified under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code;
(C) Names and other identifying information regarding a person who makes an oral or written complaint regarding an institution, association, child day-care center, or home subject to licensure, certification, or registration to the department or other state or county entity responsible for enforcing Chapter 5103. or 5104. of the Revised Code;
(D)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (D)(2) of this section, names, documentation, and other identifying information regarding a foster caregiver or a prospective foster caregiver, including the foster caregiver application for certification under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code and the home study conducted pursuant to section 5103.0324 of the Revised Code.
(2) Notwithstanding division (D)(1) of this section, the following are public records for the purposes of section 149.43 of the Revised Code, when contained in a record held by the department of job and family services, a county agency, or other governmental entity:
(a) All of the following information regarding a currently certified foster caregiver who has had a foster care certificate revoked pursuant to Chapter 5103. of the Revised Code or, after receiving a current or current renewed certificate has been convicted of, pleaded guilty to, or indicted or otherwise charged with any offense described in division (C)(1) of section 2151.86 of the Revised Code:
(i) The foster caregiver's name, date of birth, and county of residence;
(ii) The date of the foster caregiver's certification;
(iii) The date of each placement of a foster child into the foster caregiver's home;
(iv) If applicable, the date of the removal of a foster child from the foster caregiver's home and the reason for the foster child's removal unless release of such information would be detrimental to the foster child or other children residing in the foster caregiver's home;
(v) If applicable, the date of the foster care certificate revocation and all documents related to the revocation unless otherwise not a public record pursuant to section 149.43 of the Revised Code.
(b) Nonidentifying foster care statistics including, but not limited to, the number of foster caregivers and foster care certificate revocations.
Sec. 5103.031.  Except as provided in section 5103.033 of the Revised Code, the department of job and family services may not issue a certificate under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code to a foster home unless the prospective foster caregiver successfully completes the following amount of preplacement training through a preplacement training program approved by the department of job and family services under section 5103.038 of the Revised Code or preplacement training provided under division (B) of section 5103.30 of the Revised Code:
(A) If the foster home is a family foster home, at least twenty-four thirty-six hours;
(B) If the foster home is a specialized foster home, at least thirty-six hours.
Sec. 5103.032.  (A) Except as provided in divisions (B), (C), and (D), and (E) of this section and in section 5103.033 of the Revised Code and subject to division (B) of this section, the department of job and family services may not renew a foster home certificate under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code unless the foster caregiver successfully completes the following amount of continuing training in accordance with the foster caregiver's needs assessment and continuing training plan developed and implemented under section 5103.035 of the Revised Code:
(1) If the foster home is a family foster home, at least forty hours in the preceding two-year period;
(2) If the foster home is a specialized foster home, at least sixty hours in the preceding two-year period.
The continuing training required by this section shall comply with rules the department adopts pursuant to section 5103.0316 of the Revised Code.
(B) A foster caregiver may fulfill up to twenty per cent of the required amount of continuing training described in division (A) of this section by teaching one or more training classes for other foster caregivers or by providing mentorship services to other foster caregivers. The department of job and family services shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code as necessary for the qualification of foster caregivers to provide training or mentorship services to other foster caregivers.
(C) At the beginning of a foster caregiver's two-year certification period, a public children services agency, private child placing agency, or private noncustodial agency acting as a recommending agency for a foster caregiver holding a certificate issued under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code for a family foster home or specialized foster home may waive up to eight hours of continuing training the foster caregiver is otherwise required by division (A) of this section to complete in that two-year certification period if all of the following apply:
(1) The foster caregiver has held a certificate issued under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code for a family foster home or specialized foster home for at least two years;
(2) The foster caregiver has provided foster care for at least ninety days of the twelve months preceding the date the agency issues the waiver;
(3) The foster caregiver has not violated any requirements governing certification of foster homes during the twelve months preceding the date the agency issues the waiver;
(4) The foster caregiver has complied in full with the needs assessment and continuing training plan developed for the foster caregiver under section 5103.035 of the Revised Code for the preceding certification period.
(C)(D) Each recommending agency shall establish and implement a policy regarding good cause for a foster caregiver's failure to complete the continuing training in accordance with division (A) of this section. If the foster caregiver complies with the policy, as determined by the agency, the department may renew the foster caregiver's foster home certificate. The agency shall submit the policy to the department and provide a copy to each foster home the agency recommends for certification or renewal. The policy shall include the following:
(1) What constitutes good cause, including documented illness, critical emergencies, and lack of accessible training programs;
(2) Procedures for developing a scheduled corrective action plan that provides for prompt completion of the continuing training;
(3) Procedures for recommending revocation of the foster home certificate if the foster caregiver fails to comply with the corrective action plan.
(D)(E) A foster caregiver shall be given an additional amount of time within which the foster caregiver must complete the continuing training required under division (A) of this section in accordance with rules adopted by the department of job and family services if either of the following applies:
(1) The foster caregiver has served in active duty outside this state with a branch of the armed forces of the United States for more than thirty days in the preceding two-year period.
(2) The foster caregiver has served in active duty as a member of the Ohio organized militia, as defined in section 5923.01 of the Revised Code, for more than thirty days in the preceding two-year period and that active duty relates to either an emergency in or outside of this state or to military duty in or outside of this state.
Sec. 5103.035.  A public children services agency, private child placing agency, or private noncustodial agency acting as a recommending agency for a foster caregiver shall develop and implement a written needs assessment and continuing training plan for the foster caregiver. Each needs assessment and continuing training plan shall satisfy all of the following requirements:
(A) Be effective for the two-year period the foster caregiver's certificate is in effect;
(B) Be appropriate for the type of foster home the foster caregiver operates;
(C) Require the foster caregiver to successfully complete the training required by the department in rules adopted pursuant to section 5103.0316 of the Revised Code and any other courses the agency considers appropriate;
(D) Include criteria the agency is to use to determine whether the foster caregiver has successfully completed the courses;
(E) Guarantee that the courses the foster caregiver is required to complete are available to the foster caregiver at reasonable times and places;
(F) Specify the number of hours of continuing training, if any, the foster caregiver may complete by teaching one or more training classes to other foster caregivers or by providing mentoring services to other foster caregivers pursuant to division (B) of section 5103.032 of the Revised Code;
(G) Specify the number of hours of continuing training, if any, the agency will waive pursuant to division (B)(C) of section 5103.032 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 5103.0312.  A public children services agency, private child placing agency, or private noncustodial agency acting as a recommending agency for a foster caregiver shall pay reimburse the foster caregiver a stipend to reimburse the foster caregiver in a lump sum for attending a preplacement or continuing training program operated under section 5103.034 or 5103.30 of the Revised Code and shall reimburse the foster caregiver a stipend for attending a continuing training program operated under section 5103.034 or 5103.30 of the Revised Code. The payment amount of the lump sum reimbursement and the stipend rate shall be based on a stipend rate established by the department of job and family services. The stipend rate and shall be the same regardless of the type of recommending agency from which the foster caregiver seeks a recommendation. The department shall, pursuant to rules adopted under section 5103.0316 of the Revised Code, reimburse the recommending agency for stipend payments reimbursements it makes in accordance with this section. No payment shall be made The department shall adopt rules under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code regarding the release of lump sum stipends to an individual for attending a preplacement training program if the individual fails to obtain a foster home certificate under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 5103.0313.  Except as provided in section 5103.303 of the Revised Code, the department of job and family services shall compensate a private child placing agency or private noncustodial agency for the cost of procuring or operating preplacement and continuing training programs approved by the department of job and family services under section 5103.038 of the Revised Code for prospective foster caregivers and foster caregivers who are recommended for initial certification or recertification by the agency.
The compensation shall be paid to the agency in the form of an allowance to reimburse the agency for each hour the minimum required amount of preplacement and continuing training provided or received under section 5103.031 or 5103.032 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 5103.391.  The director of job and family services shall appoint all of the following to serve on the Ohio child welfare training program steering committee:
(A) Employees of the department of job and family services;
(B) One representative of each of the regional training centers established under section 5103.42 of the Revised Code;
(C) One representative of a statewide organization that represents the interests of public children services agencies;
(D) One representative of the Ohio child welfare training program coordinator;
(E) Two current foster caregivers certified by the department of job and family services under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code;
(F) Employees of public children services agencies.
Sec. 5126.04.  (A) Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall plan and set priorities based on available resources for the provision of facilities, programs, and other services to meet the needs of county residents who are individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities, former residents of the county residing in state institutions or placed under purchase of service agreements under section 5123.18 of the Revised Code, and children subject to a determination made pursuant to section 121.38 of the Revised Code.
Each county board shall assess the facility and service needs of the individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities who are residents of the county or former residents of the county residing in state institutions or placed under purchase of service agreements under section 5123.18 of the Revised Code.
Each county board shall require individual habilitation or service plans for individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities who are being served or who have been determined eligible for services and are awaiting the provision of services. Each board shall ensure that methods of having their service needs evaluated are available.
(B)(1) If a foster child is in need of assessment for eligible services or is receiving services from a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and that child is placed in a different county, the agency that placed the child, immediately upon placement, shall inform the county board in the new county all of the following:
(a) That a foster child has been placed in that county;
(b) The name and other identifying information of the foster child;
(c) The name of the foster child's previous county of residence;
(d) That the foster child was in need of assessment for eligible services or was receiving services from the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities in the previous county.
(2) Upon receiving the notice described in division (B)(1) of this section or otherwise learning that the child was in need of assessment for eligible services or was receiving services from a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities in the previous county, the county board in the new county shall communicate with the county board of the previous county to determine how services for the foster child shall be provided in accordance with each board's plan and priorities as described in division (A) of this section.
If the two county boards are unable to reach an agreement within ten days of the child's placement, the county board in the new county shall send notice to the Ohio department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities of the failure to agree. The department shall decide how services shall be provided for the foster child within ten days of receiving notice that the county boards could not reach an agreement. The department may decide that one, or both, of the county boards shall provide services. The services shall be provided in accordance with the board's plan and priorities as described in division (A) of this section.
(C) The department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code as necessary to implement this section. To the extent that rules adopted under this section apply to the identification and placement of handicapped children under Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code, the rules shall be consistent with the standards and procedures established under sections 3323.03 to 3323.05 of the Revised Code.
(C)(D) The responsibility or authority of a county board to provide services under this chapter does not affect the responsibility of any other entity of state or local government to provide services to individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.
(D)(E) On or before the first day of February prior to a school year, a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may elect not to participate during that school year in the provision of or contracting for educational services for children ages six through twenty-one years of age, provided that on or before that date the board gives notice of this election to the superintendent of public instruction, each school district in the county, and the educational service center serving the county. If a board makes this election, it shall not have any responsibility for or authority to provide educational services that school year for children ages six through twenty-one years of age. If a board does not make an election for a school year in accordance with this division, the board shall be deemed to have elected to participate during that school year in the provision of or contracting for educational services for children ages six through twenty-one years of age.
(E)(F) If a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities elects to provide educational services during a school year to individuals six through twenty-one years of age who are multiply handicapped, the board may provide these services to individuals who are appropriately identified and determined eligible pursuant to Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code, and in accordance with applicable rules of the state board of education. The county board may also provide related services to individuals six through twenty-one years of age who have one or more disabling conditions, in accordance with section 3317.20 and Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code and applicable rules of the state board of education.
Sec. 5153.122.  Each PCSA caseworker hired after January 1, 2007, shall complete at least one hundred two hours of in-service training during the first year of the caseworker's continuous employment as a PCSA caseworker, except that the executive director of the public children services agency may waive the training requirement for a school of social work graduate who participated in the university partnership program described in division (D) of section 5101.141 of the Revised Code. The training shall consist of courses in recognizing, accepting reports of, and preventing child abuse, neglect, and dependency; assessing child safety; assessing risks; interviewing persons; investigating cases; intervening; providing services to children and their families; the importance of and need for accurate data; preparation for court; maintenance of case record information; and other topics relevant to child abuse, neglect, and dependency. The training shall also include courses in the legal duties of PCSA caseworkers to protect the constitutional and statutory rights of children and families from the initial time of contact during investigation through treatment that shall include instruction regarding parents' rights and the limitations that the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution places upon caseworkers and their investigations.
After a PCSA caseworker's first year of continuous employment as a PCSA caseworker, the caseworker annually shall complete thirty-six hours of training in areas relevant to the caseworker's assigned duties.
During the first two years of continuous employment as a PCSA caseworker, each PCSA caseworker shall complete at least twelve hours of training in recognizing the signs of domestic violence and its relationship to child abuse as established in rules the director of job and family services shall adopt pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. The twelve hours may be in addition to the ninety hours of training required during the caseworker's first year of employment or part of the thirty-six hours of training required during the second year of employment.
Sec. 5153.123.  Each PCSA caseworker supervisor shall complete at least sixty hours of in-service training during the first year of the supervisor's continuous employment as a PCSA caseworker supervisor. The training shall include courses in screening reports of child abuse, neglect, or dependency. After a PCSA caseworker supervisor's first year of continuous employment as a PCSA caseworker supervisor, the supervisor annually shall complete thirty hours of training in areas relevant to the supervisor's assigned duties. During the first two years of continuous employment as a PCSA caseworker supervisor, each PCSA caseworker supervisor shall complete at least twelve hours of training in recognizing the signs of domestic violence and its relationship to child abuse as established in rules the director of job and family services shall adopt pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. The twelve hours may be in addition to the sixty hours of training required during the supervisor's first year of employment or part of the thirty hours of training required during the second year of employment.
Section 2. That existing sections 149.43, 2151.152, 5101.29, 5103.031, 5103.032, 5103.035, 5103.0312, 5103.0313, 5103.391, 5126.04, 5153.122, and 5153.123 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services may seek federal approval through the United States Department of Health and Human Services to include within funding under Title IV-E of the "Social Security Act," 94 Stat. 501 (1980), 42 U.S.C. 670, an additional category of foster care certification, and simplified standards for that certification, for placements in which the child has an existing relationship with the foster caregiver.
Section 4. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services shall partner with the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities to offer joint cross system briefings to better educate the professionals of both systems for more effective service delivery for dually involved children and families. The joint cross system briefings shall be conducted regularly for one year after the effective date of this act and shall serve as a platform for conducting forums and developing training curriculums for foster caregivers that care for mentally retarded and developmentally disabled children.
Section 5. That sections 2151.23, 2151.39, 3313.64, and 5103.16 be amended and sections 5103.23, 5103.231, 5103.232, 5103.233, 5103.234, 5103.235, 5103.236, and 5103.237 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 2151.23.  (A) The juvenile court has exclusive original jurisdiction under the Revised Code as follows:
(1) Concerning any child who on or about the date specified in the complaint, indictment, or information is alleged to have violated section 2151.87 of the Revised Code or an order issued under that section or to be a juvenile traffic offender or a delinquent, unruly, abused, neglected, or dependent child and, based on and in relation to the allegation pertaining to the child, concerning the parent, guardian, or other person having care of a child who is alleged to be an unruly or delinquent child for being an habitual or chronic truant;
(2) Subject to divisions (G) and (V) of section 2301.03 of the Revised Code, to determine the custody of any child not a ward of another court of this state;
(3) To hear and determine any application for a writ of habeas corpus involving the custody of a child;
(4) To exercise the powers and jurisdiction given the probate division of the court of common pleas in Chapter 5122. of the Revised Code, if the court has probable cause to believe that a child otherwise within the jurisdiction of the court is a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization by court order, as defined in section 5122.01 of the Revised Code;
(5) To hear and determine all criminal cases charging adults with the violation of any section of this chapter;
(6) To hear and determine all criminal cases in which an adult is charged with a violation of division (C) of section 2919.21, division (B)(1) of section 2919.22, section 2919.222, division (B) of section 2919.23, or section 2919.24 of the Revised Code, provided the charge is not included in an indictment that also charges the alleged adult offender with the commission of a felony arising out of the same actions that are the basis of the alleged violation of division (C) of section 2919.21, division (B)(1) of section 2919.22, section 2919.222, division (B) of section 2919.23, or section 2919.24 of the Revised Code;
(7) Under the interstate compact on juveniles in section 2151.56 of the Revised Code;
(8) Concerning any child who is to be taken into custody pursuant to section 2151.31 of the Revised Code, upon being notified of the intent to take the child into custody and the reasons for taking the child into custody;
(9) To hear and determine requests for the extension of temporary custody agreements, and requests for court approval of permanent custody agreements, that are filed pursuant to section 5103.15 of the Revised Code;
(10) To hear and determine applications for consent to marry pursuant to section 3101.04 of the Revised Code;
(11) Subject to divisions (G) and (V) of section 2301.03 of the Revised Code, to hear and determine a request for an order for the support of any child if the request is not ancillary to an action for divorce, dissolution of marriage, annulment, or legal separation, a criminal or civil action involving an allegation of domestic violence, or an action for support brought under Chapter 3115. of the Revised Code;
(12) Concerning an action commenced under section 121.38 of the Revised Code;
(13) To hear and determine violations of section 3321.38 of the Revised Code;
(14) To exercise jurisdiction and authority over the parent, guardian, or other person having care of a child alleged to be a delinquent child, unruly child, or juvenile traffic offender, based on and in relation to the allegation pertaining to the child;
(15) To conduct the hearings, and to make the determinations, adjudications, and orders authorized or required under sections 2152.82 to 2152.85 and Chapter 2950. of the Revised Code regarding a child who has been adjudicated a delinquent child and to refer the duties conferred upon the juvenile court judge under sections 2152.82 to 2152.85 and Chapter 2950. of the Revised Code to magistrates appointed by the juvenile court judge in accordance with Juvenile Rule 40.
(B) Except as provided in divisions (G) and (I) of section 2301.03 of the Revised Code, the juvenile court has original jurisdiction under the Revised Code:
(1) To hear and determine all cases of misdemeanors charging adults with any act or omission with respect to any child, which act or omission is a violation of any state law or any municipal ordinance;
(2) To determine the paternity of any child alleged to have been born out of wedlock pursuant to sections 3111.01 to 3111.18 of the Revised Code;
(3) Under the uniform interstate family support act in Chapter 3115. of the Revised Code;
(4) To hear and determine an application for an order for the support of any child, if the child is not a ward of another court of this state;
(5) To hear and determine an action commenced under section 3111.28 of the Revised Code;
(6) To hear and determine a motion filed under section 3119.961 of the Revised Code;
(7) To receive filings under section 3109.74 of the Revised Code, and to hear and determine actions arising under sections 3109.51 to 3109.80 of the Revised Code.
(8) To enforce an order for the return of a child made under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction pursuant to section 3127.32 of the Revised Code;
(9) To grant any relief normally available under the laws of this state to enforce a child custody determination made by a court of another state and registered in accordance with section 3127.35 of the Revised Code.
(C) The juvenile court, except as to juvenile courts that are a separate division of the court of common pleas or a separate and independent juvenile court, has jurisdiction to hear, determine, and make a record of any action for divorce or legal separation that involves the custody or care of children and that is filed in the court of common pleas and certified by the court of common pleas with all the papers filed in the action to the juvenile court for trial, provided that no certification of that nature shall be made to any juvenile court unless the consent of the juvenile judge first is obtained. After a certification of that nature is made and consent is obtained, the juvenile court shall proceed as if the action originally had been begun in that court, except as to awards for spousal support or support due and unpaid at the time of certification, over which the juvenile court has no jurisdiction.
(D) The juvenile court, except as provided in divisions (G) and (I) of section 2301.03 of the Revised Code, has jurisdiction to hear and determine all matters as to custody and support of children duly certified by the court of common pleas to the juvenile court after a divorce decree has been granted, including jurisdiction to modify the judgment and decree of the court of common pleas as the same relate to the custody and support of children.
(E) The juvenile court, except as provided in divisions (G) and (I) of section 2301.03 of the Revised Code, has jurisdiction to hear and determine the case of any child certified to the court by any court of competent jurisdiction if the child comes within the jurisdiction of the juvenile court as defined by this section.
(F)(1) The juvenile court shall exercise its jurisdiction in child custody matters in accordance with sections 3109.04, and 3127.01 to 3127.53, of the Revised Code and, as applicable, sections 5103.20 to 5103.22 or 5103.23 to 5103.237 of the Revised Code.
(2) The juvenile court shall exercise its jurisdiction in child support matters in accordance with section 3109.05 of the Revised Code.
(G) Any juvenile court that makes or modifies an order for child support shall comply with Chapters 3119., 3121., 3123., and 3125. of the Revised Code. If any person required to pay child support under an order made by a juvenile court on or after April 15, 1985, or modified on or after December 1, 1986, is found in contempt of court for failure to make support payments under the order, the court that makes the finding, in addition to any other penalty or remedy imposed, shall assess all court costs arising out of the contempt proceeding against the person and require the person to pay any reasonable attorney's fees of any adverse party, as determined by the court, that arose in relation to the act of contempt.
(H) If a child who is charged with an act that would be an offense if committed by an adult was fourteen years of age or older and under eighteen years of age at the time of the alleged act and if the case is transferred for criminal prosecution pursuant to section 2152.12 of the Revised Code, the juvenile court does not have jurisdiction to hear or determine the case subsequent to the transfer. The court to which the case is transferred for criminal prosecution pursuant to that section has jurisdiction subsequent to the transfer to hear and determine the case in the same manner as if the case originally had been commenced in that court, including, but not limited to, jurisdiction to accept a plea of guilty or another plea authorized by Criminal Rule 11 or another section of the Revised Code and jurisdiction to accept a verdict and to enter a judgment of conviction pursuant to the Rules of Criminal Procedure against the child for the commission of the offense that was the basis of the transfer of the case for criminal prosecution, whether the conviction is for the same degree or a lesser degree of the offense charged, for the commission of a lesser-included offense, or for the commission of another offense that is different from the offense charged.
(I) If a person under eighteen years of age allegedly commits an act that would be a felony if committed by an adult and if the person is not taken into custody or apprehended for that act until after the person attains twenty-one years of age, the juvenile court does not have jurisdiction to hear or determine any portion of the case charging the person with committing that act. In those circumstances, divisions (A) and (B) of section 2152.12 of the Revised Code do not apply regarding the act, and the case charging the person with committing the act shall be a criminal prosecution commenced and heard in the appropriate court having jurisdiction of the offense as if the person had been eighteen years of age or older when the person committed the act. All proceedings pertaining to the act shall be within the jurisdiction of the court having jurisdiction of the offense, and that court has all the authority and duties in the case that it has in other criminal cases in that court.
Sec. 2151.39.  No person, association or agency, public or private, of another state, incorporated or otherwise, shall place a child in a family home or with an agency or institution within the boundaries of this state, either for temporary or permanent care or custody or for adoption, unless such person or association has furnished the department of job and family services with a medical and social history of the child, pertinent information about the family, agency, association, or institution in this state with whom the sending party desires to place the child, and any other information or financial guaranty required by the department to determine whether the proposed placement will meet the needs of the child. The department may require the party desiring the placement to agree to promptly receive and remove from the state a child brought into the state whose placement has not proven satisfactorily responsive to the needs of the child at any time until the child is adopted, reaches majority, becomes self-supporting or is discharged with the concurrence of the department. All placements proposed to be made in this state by a party located in a state which is a party to the interstate compact on for the placement of children shall be made according to the provisions of sections 5103.20 to 5103.22 of the Revised Code, or, if the interstate compact on the placement of children is in effect in this state, all placements proposed to be made in this state by a party located in a state that is a party to that compact shall be made according to the provisions of sections 5103.23 to 5103.237 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3313.64.  (A) As used in this section and in section 3313.65 of the Revised Code:
(1)(a) Except as provided in division (A)(1)(b) of this section, "parent" means either parent, unless the parents are separated or divorced or their marriage has been dissolved or annulled, in which case "parent" means the parent who is the residential parent and legal custodian of the child. When a child is in the legal custody of a government agency or a person other than the child's natural or adoptive parent, "parent" means the parent with residual parental rights, privileges, and responsibilities. When a child is in the permanent custody of a government agency or a person other than the child's natural or adoptive parent, "parent" means the parent who was divested of parental rights and responsibilities for the care of the child and the right to have the child live with the parent and be the legal custodian of the child and all residual parental rights, privileges, and responsibilities.
(b) When a child is the subject of a power of attorney executed under sections 3109.51 to 3109.62 of the Revised Code, "parent" means the grandparent designated as attorney in fact under the power of attorney. When a child is the subject of a caretaker authorization affidavit executed under sections 3109.64 to 3109.73 of the Revised Code, "parent" means the grandparent that executed the affidavit.
(2) "Legal custody," "permanent custody," and "residual parental rights, privileges, and responsibilities" have the same meanings as in section 2151.011 of the Revised Code.
(3) "School district" or "district" means a city, local, or exempted village school district and excludes any school operated in an institution maintained by the department of youth services.
(4) Except as used in division (C)(2) of this section, "home" means a home, institution, foster home, group home, or other residential facility in this state that receives and cares for children, to which any of the following applies:
(a) The home is licensed, certified, or approved for such purpose by the state or is maintained by the department of youth services.
(b) The home is operated by a person who is licensed, certified, or approved by the state to operate the home for such purpose.
(c) The home accepted the child through a placement by a person licensed, certified, or approved to place a child in such a home by the state.
(d) The home is a children's home created under section 5153.21 or 5153.36 of the Revised Code.
(5) "Agency" means all of the following:
(a) A public children services agency;
(b) An organization that holds a certificate issued by the Ohio department of job and family services in accordance with the requirements of section 5103.03 of the Revised Code and assumes temporary or permanent custody of children through commitment, agreement, or surrender, and places children in family homes for the purpose of adoption;
(c) Comparable agencies of other states or countries that have complied with applicable requirements of section 2151.39, of the Revised Code or, as applicable, sections 5103.20 to 5103.22 or 5103.23 to 5103.237 of the Revised Code.
(6) A child is placed for adoption if either of the following occurs:
(a) An agency to which the child has been permanently committed or surrendered enters into an agreement with a person pursuant to section 5103.16 of the Revised Code for the care and adoption of the child.
(b) The child's natural parent places the child pursuant to section 5103.16 of the Revised Code with a person who will care for and adopt the child.
(7) "Handicapped preschool child" means a handicapped child, as defined by division (A) of section 3323.01 of the Revised Code, who is at least three years of age but is not of compulsory school age, as defined in section 3321.01 of the Revised Code, and who is not currently enrolled in kindergarten.
(8) "Child," unless otherwise indicated, includes handicapped preschool children.
(9) "Active duty" means active duty pursuant to an executive order of the president of the United States, an act of the congress of the United States, or section 5919.29 or 5923.21 of the Revised Code.
(B) Except as otherwise provided in section 3321.01 of the Revised Code for admittance to kindergarten and first grade, a child who is at least five but under twenty-two years of age and any handicapped preschool child shall be admitted to school as provided in this division.
(1) A child shall be admitted to the schools of the school district in which the child's parent resides.
(2) A child who does not reside in the district where the child's parent resides shall be admitted to the schools of the district in which the child resides if any of the following applies:
(a) The child is in the legal or permanent custody of a government agency or a person other than the child's natural or adoptive parent.
(b) The child resides in a home.
(c) The child requires special education.
(3) A child who is not entitled under division (B)(2) of this section to be admitted to the schools of the district where the child resides and who is residing with a resident of this state with whom the child has been placed for adoption shall be admitted to the schools of the district where the child resides unless either of the following applies:
(a) The placement for adoption has been terminated.
(b) Another school district is required to admit the child under division (B)(1) of this section.
Division (B) of this section does not prohibit the board of education of a school district from placing a handicapped child who resides in the district in a special education program outside of the district or its schools in compliance with Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code.
(C) A district shall not charge tuition for children admitted under division (B)(1) or (3) of this section. If the district admits a child under division (B)(2) of this section, tuition shall be paid to the district that admits the child as follows:
(1) If the child receives special education in accordance with Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code, the school district of residence, as defined in section 3323.01 of the Revised Code, shall pay tuition for the child in accordance with section 3323.091, 3323.13, 3323.14, or 3323.141 of the Revised Code regardless of who has custody of the child or whether the child resides in a home.
(2) For a child that does not receive special education in accordance with Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code, except as otherwise provided in division (C)(2)(d) of this section, if the child is in the permanent or legal custody of a government agency or person other than the child's parent, tuition shall be paid by:
(a) The district in which the child's parent resided at the time the court removed the child from home or at the time the court vested legal or permanent custody of the child in the person or government agency, whichever occurred first;
(b) If the parent's residence at the time the court removed the child from home or placed the child in the legal or permanent custody of the person or government agency is unknown, tuition shall be paid by the district in which the child resided at the time the child was removed from home or placed in legal or permanent custody, whichever occurred first;
(c) If a school district cannot be established under division (C)(2)(a) or (b) of this section, tuition shall be paid by the district determined as required by section 2151.362 of the Revised Code by the court at the time it vests custody of the child in the person or government agency;
(d) If at the time the court removed the child from home or vested legal or permanent custody of the child in the person or government agency, whichever occurred first, one parent was in a residential or correctional facility or a juvenile residential placement and the other parent, if living and not in such a facility or placement, was not known to reside in this state, tuition shall be paid by the district determined under division (D) of section 3313.65 of the Revised Code as the district required to pay any tuition while the parent was in such facility or placement;
(e) If the court has modified its order as to which district is responsible to bear the cost of educating the child pursuant to division (A)(2) of section 2151.362 of the Revised Code, the district determined to be responsible for that cost in the order so modified.
(3) If the child is not in the permanent or legal custody of a government agency or person other than the child's parent and the child resides in a home, tuition shall be paid by one of the following:
(a) The school district in which the child's parent resides;
(b) If the child's parent is not a resident of this state, the home in which the child resides.
(D) Tuition required to be paid under divisions (C)(2) and (3)(a) of this section shall be computed in accordance with section 3317.08 of the Revised Code. Tuition required to be paid under division (C)(3)(b) of this section shall be computed in accordance with section 3317.081 of the Revised Code. If a home fails to pay the tuition required by division (C)(3)(b) of this section, the board of education providing the education may recover in a civil action the tuition and the expenses incurred in prosecuting the action, including court costs and reasonable attorney's fees. If the prosecuting attorney or city director of law represents the board in such action, costs and reasonable attorney's fees awarded by the court, based upon the prosecuting attorney's, director's, or one of their designee's time spent preparing and presenting the case, shall be deposited in the county or city general fund.
(E) A board of education may enroll a child free of any tuition obligation for a period not to exceed sixty days, on the sworn statement of an adult resident of the district that the resident has initiated legal proceedings for custody of the child.
(F) In the case of any individual entitled to attend school under this division, no tuition shall be charged by the school district of attendance and no other school district shall be required to pay tuition for the individual's attendance. Notwithstanding division (B), (C), or (E) of this section:
(1) All persons at least eighteen but under twenty-two years of age who live apart from their parents, support themselves by their own labor, and have not successfully completed the high school curriculum or the individualized education program developed for the person by the high school pursuant to section 3323.08 of the Revised Code, are entitled to attend school in the district in which they reside.
(2) Any child under eighteen years of age who is married is entitled to attend school in the child's district of residence.
(3) A child is entitled to attend school in the district in which either of the child's parents is employed if the child has a medical condition that may require emergency medical attention. The parent of a child entitled to attend school under division (F)(3) of this section shall submit to the board of education of the district in which the parent is employed a statement from the child's physician certifying that the child's medical condition may require emergency medical attention. The statement shall be supported by such other evidence as the board may require.
(4) Any child residing with a person other than the child's parent is entitled, for a period not to exceed twelve months, to attend school in the district in which that person resides if the child's parent files an affidavit with the superintendent of the district in which the person with whom the child is living resides stating all of the following:
(a) That the parent is serving outside of the state in the armed services of the United States;
(b) That the parent intends to reside in the district upon returning to this state;
(c) The name and address of the person with whom the child is living while the parent is outside the state.
(5) Any child under the age of twenty-two years who, after the death of a parent, resides in a school district other than the district in which the child attended school at the time of the parent's death is entitled to continue to attend school in the district in which the child attended school at the time of the parent's death for the remainder of the school year, subject to approval of that district board.
(6) A child under the age of twenty-two years who resides with a parent who is having a new house built in a school district outside the district where the parent is residing is entitled to attend school for a period of time in the district where the new house is being built. In order to be entitled to such attendance, the parent shall provide the district superintendent with the following:
(a) A sworn statement explaining the situation, revealing the location of the house being built, and stating the parent's intention to reside there upon its completion;
(b) A statement from the builder confirming that a new house is being built for the parent and that the house is at the location indicated in the parent's statement.
(7) A child under the age of twenty-two years residing with a parent who has a contract to purchase a house in a school district outside the district where the parent is residing and who is waiting upon the date of closing of the mortgage loan for the purchase of such house is entitled to attend school for a period of time in the district where the house is being purchased. In order to be entitled to such attendance, the parent shall provide the district superintendent with the following:
(a) A sworn statement explaining the situation, revealing the location of the house being purchased, and stating the parent's intent to reside there;
(b) A statement from a real estate broker or bank officer confirming that the parent has a contract to purchase the house, that the parent is waiting upon the date of closing of the mortgage loan, and that the house is at the location indicated in the parent's statement.
The district superintendent shall establish a period of time not to exceed ninety days during which the child entitled to attend school under division (F)(6) or (7) of this section may attend without tuition obligation. A student attending a school under division (F)(6) or (7) of this section shall be eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics under the auspices of that school, provided the board of education of the school district where the student's parent resides, by a formal action, releases the student to participate in interscholastic athletics at the school where the student is attending, and provided the student receives any authorization required by a public agency or private organization of which the school district is a member exercising authority over interscholastic sports.
(8) A child whose parent is a full-time employee of a city, local, or exempted village school district, or of an educational service center, may be admitted to the schools of the district where the child's parent is employed, or in the case of a child whose parent is employed by an educational service center, in the district that serves the location where the parent's job is primarily located, provided the district board of education establishes such an admission policy by resolution adopted by a majority of its members. Any such policy shall take effect on the first day of the school year and the effective date of any amendment or repeal may not be prior to the first day of the subsequent school year. The policy shall be uniformly applied to all such children and shall provide for the admission of any such child upon request of the parent. No child may be admitted under this policy after the first day of classes of any school year.
(9) A child who is with the child's parent under the care of a shelter for victims of domestic violence, as defined in section 3113.33 of the Revised Code, is entitled to attend school free in the district in which the child is with the child's parent, and no other school district shall be required to pay tuition for the child's attendance in that school district.
The enrollment of a child in a school district under this division shall not be denied due to a delay in the school district's receipt of any records required under section 3313.672 of the Revised Code or any other records required for enrollment. Any days of attendance and any credits earned by a child while enrolled in a school district under this division shall be transferred to and accepted by any school district in which the child subsequently enrolls. The state board of education shall adopt rules to ensure compliance with this division.
(10) Any child under the age of twenty-two years whose parent has moved out of the school district after the commencement of classes in the child's senior year of high school is entitled, subject to the approval of that district board, to attend school in the district in which the child attended school at the time of the parental move for the remainder of the school year and for one additional semester or equivalent term. A district board may also adopt a policy specifying extenuating circumstances under which a student may continue to attend school under division (F)(10) of this section for an additional period of time in order to successfully complete the high school curriculum for the individualized education program developed for the student by the high school pursuant to section 3323.08 of the Revised Code.
(11) As used in this division, "grandparent" means a parent of a parent of a child. A child under the age of twenty-two years who is in the custody of the child's parent, resides with a grandparent, and does not require special education is entitled to attend the schools of the district in which the child's grandparent resides, provided that, prior to such attendance in any school year, the board of education of the school district in which the child's grandparent resides and the board of education of the school district in which the child's parent resides enter into a written agreement specifying that good cause exists for such attendance, describing the nature of this good cause, and consenting to such attendance.
In lieu of a consent form signed by a parent, a board of education may request the grandparent of a child attending school in the district in which the grandparent resides pursuant to division (F)(11) of this section to complete any consent form required by the district, including any authorization required by sections 3313.712, 3313.713, 3313.716, and 3313.718 of the Revised Code. Upon request, the grandparent shall complete any consent form required by the district. A school district shall not incur any liability solely because of its receipt of a consent form from a grandparent in lieu of a parent.
Division (F)(11) of this section does not create, and shall not be construed as creating, a new cause of action or substantive legal right against a school district, a member of a board of education, or an employee of a school district. This section does not affect, and shall not be construed as affecting, any immunities from defenses to tort liability created or recognized by Chapter 2744. of the Revised Code for a school district, member, or employee.
(12) A child under the age of twenty-two years is entitled to attend school in a school district other than the district in which the child is entitled to attend school under division (B), (C), or (E) of this section provided that, prior to such attendance in any school year, both of the following occur:
(a) The superintendent of the district in which the child is entitled to attend school under division (B), (C), or (E) of this section contacts the superintendent of another district for purposes of this division;
(b) The superintendents of both districts enter into a written agreement that consents to the attendance and specifies that the purpose of such attendance is to protect the student's physical or mental well-being or to deal with other extenuating circumstances deemed appropriate by the superintendents.
While an agreement is in effect under this division for a student who is not receiving special education under Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code and notwithstanding Chapter 3327. of the Revised Code, the board of education of neither school district involved in the agreement is required to provide transportation for the student to and from the school where the student attends.
A student attending a school of a district pursuant to this division shall be allowed to participate in all student activities, including interscholastic athletics, at the school where the student is attending on the same basis as any student who has always attended the schools of that district while of compulsory school age.
(13) All school districts shall comply with the "McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act," 42 U.S.C.A. 11431 et seq., for the education of homeless children. Each city, local, and exempted village school district shall comply with the requirements of that act governing the provision of a free, appropriate public education, including public preschool, to each homeless child.
When a child loses permanent housing and becomes a homeless person, as defined in 42 U.S.C.A. 11481(5), or when a child who is such a homeless person changes temporary living arrangements, the child's parent or guardian shall have the option of enrolling the child in either of the following:
(a) The child's school of origin, as defined in 42 U.S.C.A. 11432(g)(3)(C);
(b) The school that is operated by the school district in which the shelter where the child currently resides is located and that serves the geographic area in which the shelter is located.
(14) A child under the age of twenty-two years who resides with a person other than the child's parent is entitled to attend school in the school district in which that person resides if both of the following apply:
(a) That person has been appointed, through a military power of attorney executed under section 574(a) of the "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994," 107 Stat. 1674 (1993), 10 U.S.C. 1044b, or through a comparable document necessary to complete a family care plan, as the parent's agent for the care, custody, and control of the child while the parent is on active duty as a member of the national guard or a reserve unit of the armed forces of the United States or because the parent is a member of the armed forces of the United States and is on a duty assignment away from the parent's residence.
(b) The military power of attorney or comparable document includes at least the authority to enroll the child in school.
The entitlement to attend school in the district in which the parent's agent under the military power of attorney or comparable document resides applies until the end of the school year in which the military power of attorney or comparable document expires.
(G) A board of education, after approving admission, may waive tuition for students who will temporarily reside in the district and who are either of the following:
(1) Residents or domiciliaries of a foreign nation who request admission as foreign exchange students;
(2) Residents or domiciliaries of the United States but not of Ohio who request admission as participants in an exchange program operated by a student exchange organization.
(H) Pursuant to sections 3311.211, 3313.90, 3319.01, 3323.04, 3327.04, and 3327.06 of the Revised Code, a child may attend school or participate in a special education program in a school district other than in the district where the child is entitled to attend school under division (B) of this section.
(I)(1) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section or section 3313.65 of the Revised Code, a child under twenty-two years of age may attend school in the school district in which the child, at the end of the first full week of October of the school year, was entitled to attend school as otherwise provided under this section or section 3313.65 of the Revised Code, if at that time the child was enrolled in the schools of the district but since that time the child or the child's parent has relocated to a new address located outside of that school district and within the same county as the child's or parent's address immediately prior to the relocation. The child may continue to attend school in the district, and at the school to which the child was assigned at the end of the first full week of October of the current school year, for the balance of the school year. Division (I)(1) of this section applies only if both of the following conditions are satisfied:
(a) The board of education of the school district in which the child was entitled to attend school at the end of the first full week in October and of the district to which the child or child's parent has relocated each has adopted a policy to enroll children described in division (I)(1) of this section.
(b) The child's parent provides written notification of the relocation outside of the school district to the superintendent of each of the two school districts.
(2) At the beginning of the school year following the school year in which the child or the child's parent relocated outside of the school district as described in division (I)(1) of this section, the child is not entitled to attend school in the school district under that division.
(3) Any person or entity owing tuition to the school district on behalf of the child at the end of the first full week in October, as provided in division (C) of this section, shall continue to owe such tuition to the district for the child's attendance under division (I)(1) of this section for the lesser of the balance of the school year or the balance of the time that the child attends school in the district under division (I)(1) of this section.
(4) A pupil who may attend school in the district under division (I)(1) of this section shall be entitled to transportation services pursuant to an agreement between the district and the district in which the child or child's parent has relocated unless the districts have not entered into such agreement, in which case the child shall be entitled to transportation services in the same manner as a pupil attending school in the district under interdistrict open enrollment as described in division (H) of section 3313.981 of the Revised Code, regardless of whether the district has adopted an open enrollment policy as described in division (B)(1)(b) or (c) of section 3313.98 of the Revised Code.
(J) This division does not apply to a child receiving special education.
A school district required to pay tuition pursuant to division (C)(2) or (3) of this section or section 3313.65 of the Revised Code shall have an amount deducted under division (F) of section 3317.023 of the Revised Code equal to its own tuition rate for the same period of attendance. A school district entitled to receive tuition pursuant to division (C)(2) or (3) of this section or section 3313.65 of the Revised Code shall have an amount credited under division (F) of section 3317.023 of the Revised Code equal to its own tuition rate for the same period of attendance. If the tuition rate credited to the district of attendance exceeds the rate deducted from the district required to pay tuition, the department of education shall pay the district of attendance the difference from amounts deducted from all districts' payments under division (F) of section 3317.023 of the Revised Code but not credited to other school districts under such division and from appropriations made for such purpose. The treasurer of each school district shall, by the fifteenth day of January and July, furnish the superintendent of public instruction a report of the names of each child who attended the district's schools under divisions (C)(2) and (3) of this section or section 3313.65 of the Revised Code during the preceding six calendar months, the duration of the attendance of those children, the school district responsible for tuition on behalf of the child, and any other information that the superintendent requires.
Upon receipt of the report the superintendent, pursuant to division (F) of section 3317.023 of the Revised Code, shall deduct each district's tuition obligations under divisions (C)(2) and (3) of this section or section 3313.65 of the Revised Code and pay to the district of attendance that amount plus any amount required to be paid by the state.
(K) In the event of a disagreement, the superintendent of public instruction shall determine the school district in which the parent resides.
(L) Nothing in this section requires or authorizes, or shall be construed to require or authorize, the admission to a public school in this state of a pupil who has been permanently excluded from public school attendance by the superintendent of public instruction pursuant to sections 3301.121 and 3313.662 of the Revised Code.
(M) In accordance with division (B)(1) of this section, a child whose parent is a member of the national guard or a reserve unit of the armed forces of the United States and is called to active duty, or a child whose parent is a member of the armed forces of the United States and is ordered to a temporary duty assignment outside of the district, may continue to attend school in the district in which the child's parent lived before being called to active duty or ordered to a temporary duty assignment outside of the district, as long as the child's parent continues to be a resident of that district, and regardless of where the child lives as a result of the parent's active duty status or temporary duty assignment. However, the district is not responsible for providing transportation for the child if the child lives outside of the district as a result of the parent's active duty status or temporary duty assignment.
Sec. 5103.16.  (A) Pursuant to section 5103.18 of the Revised Code and except as otherwise provided in this section, no child shall be placed or accepted for placement under any written or oral agreement or understanding that transfers or surrenders the legal rights, powers, or duties of the legal parent, parents, or guardian of the child into the temporary or permanent custody of any association or institution that is not certified by the department of job and family services under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code, without the written consent of the office in the department that oversees the interstate compact on for placement of children established under section 5103.20 of the Revised Code or the interstate compact on the placement of children established under section 5103.23 of the Revised Code, as applicable, or by a commitment of a juvenile court, or by a commitment of a probate court as provided in this section. A child may be placed temporarily without written consent or court commitment with persons related by blood or marriage or in a legally licensed boarding home.
(B)(1) Associations and institutions certified under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code for the purpose of placing children in free foster homes or for legal adoption shall keep a record of the temporary and permanent surrenders of children. This record shall be available for separate statistics, which shall include a copy of an official birth record and all information concerning the social, mental, and medical history of the children that will aid in an intelligent disposition of the children in case that becomes necessary because the parents or guardians fail or are unable to reassume custody.
(2) No child placed on a temporary surrender with an association or institution shall be placed permanently in a foster home or for legal adoption. All surrendered children who are placed permanently in foster homes or for adoption shall have been permanently surrendered, and a copy of the permanent surrender shall be a part of the separate record kept by the association or institution.
(C) Any agreement or understanding to transfer or surrender the legal rights, powers, or duties of the legal parent or parents and place a child with a person seeking to adopt the child under this section shall be construed to contain a promise by the person seeking to adopt the child to pay the expenses listed in divisions (C)(1), (2), and (4) of section 3107.055 of the Revised Code and, if the person seeking to adopt the child refuses to accept placement of the child, to pay the temporary costs of routine maintenance and medical care for the child in a hospital, foster home, or other appropriate place for up to thirty days or until other custody is established for the child, as provided by law, whichever is less.
(D) No child shall be placed or received for adoption or with intent to adopt unless placement is made by a public children services agency, an institution or association that is certified by the department of job and family services under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code to place children for adoption, or custodians in another state or foreign country, or unless all of the following criteria are met:
(1) Prior to the placement and receiving of the child, the parent or parents of the child personally have applied to, and appeared before, the probate court of the county in which the parent or parents reside, or in which the person seeking to adopt the child resides, for approval of the proposed placement specified in the application and have signed and filed with the court a written statement showing that the parent or parents are aware of their right to contest the decree of adoption subject to the limitations of section 3107.16 of the Revised Code;
(2) The court ordered an independent home study of the proposed placement to be conducted as provided in section 3107.031 of the Revised Code, and after completion of the home study, the court determined that the proposed placement is in the best interest of the child;
(3) The court has approved of record the proposed placement.
In determining whether a custodian has authority to place children for adoption under the laws of a foreign country, the probate court shall determine whether the child has been released for adoption pursuant to the laws of the country in which the child resides, and if the release is in a form that satisfies the requirements of the immigration and naturalization service of the United States department of justice for purposes of immigration to this country pursuant to section 101(b)(1)(F) of the "Immigration and Nationality Act," 75 Stat. 650 (1961), 8 U.S.C. 1101 (b)(1)(F), as amended or reenacted.
If the parent or parents of the child are deceased or have abandoned the child, as determined under division (A) of section 3107.07 of the Revised Code, the application for approval of the proposed adoptive placement may be brought by the relative seeking to adopt the child, or by the department, board, or organization not otherwise having legal authority to place the orphaned or abandoned child for adoption, but having legal custody of the orphaned or abandoned child, in the probate court of the county in which the child is a resident, or in which the department, board, or organization is located, or where the person or persons with whom the child is to be placed reside. Unless the parent, parents, or guardian of the person of the child personally have appeared before the court and applied for approval of the placement, notice of the hearing on the application shall be served on the parent, parents, or guardian.
The consent to placement, surrender, or adoption executed by a minor parent before a judge of the probate court or an authorized deputy or referee of the court, whether executed within or outside the confines of the court, is as valid as though executed by an adult. A consent given as above before an employee of a children services agency that is licensed as provided by law, is equally effective, if the consent also is accompanied by an affidavit executed by the witnessing employee or employees to the effect that the legal rights of the parents have been fully explained to the parents, prior to the execution of any consent, and that the action was done after the birth of the child.
If the court approves a placement, the prospective adoptive parent with whom the child is placed has care, custody, and control of the child pending further order of the court.
(E) This section does not apply to an adoption by a stepparent, a grandparent, or a guardian.
Sec. 5103.23.  The interstate compact on the placement of children is hereby enacted into law and entered into with all other jurisdictions legally joining therein in form substantially as follows:
Article I. Purpose and Policy.
It is the purpose and policy of the party states to cooperate with each other in the interstate placement of children to the end that:
(A) Each child requiring placement shall receive the maximum opportunity to be placed in a suitable environment and with persons or institutions having appropriate qualifications and facilities to provide a necessary and desirable degree and type of care.
(B) The appropriate authorities in a state where a child is to be placed may have full opportunity to ascertain the circumstances of the proposed placement, thereby promoting full compliance with applicable requirements for the protection of the child.
(C) The proper authorities of the state from which the placement is made may obtain the most complete information on the basis of which to evaluate a projected placement before it is made.
(D) Appropriate jurisdictional arrangements for the care of children will be promoted.
Article II. Definitions.
As used in this compact:
(A) "Child" means a person who, by reason of minority, is legally subject to parental, guardianship or similar control.
(B) "Sending agency" means a party state, officer or employee thereof; a subdivision of a party state, or officer or employee thereof; a court of a party state; a person, corporation, association, charitable agency, or other entity which sends, brings, or causes to be sent or brought any child to another party state.
(C) "Receiving state" means the state to which a child is sent, brought, or caused to be sent or brought, whether by public authorities or private persons or agencies, and whether for placement with state or local public authorities or for placement with private agencies or persons.
(D) "Placement" means the arrangement for the care of a child in a family free or boarding home, or in a child-caring agency or institution but does not include any institution caring for the mentally ill, mentally defective, or epileptic, or any institution primarily educational in character, and any hospital or other medical facility.
Article III. Conditions for Placement.
(A) No sending agency shall send, bring, or cause to be sent or brought into any other party state any child for placement in foster care or as a preliminary to a possible adoption unless the sending agency shall comply with each and every requirement set forth in this article and with the applicable laws of the receiving state governing the placement of children therein.
(B) Prior to sending, bringing or causing any child to be sent or brought into a receiving state for placement in foster care or as a preliminary to a possible adoption, the sending agency shall furnish the appropriate public authorities in the receiving state written notice of the intention to send, bring, or place the child in the receiving state. The notice shall contain:
(1) The name, date and place of the birth of the child;
(2) The identity and address or addresses of the parents or legal guardian;
(3) The name and address of the person, agency, or institution to or with which the sending agency proposes to send, bring, or place the child;
(4) A full statement of the reasons for such proposed action and evidence of the authority pursuant to which the placement is proposed to be made.
(C) Any public officer or agency in a receiving state which is in receipt of a notice pursuant to division (B) of this article may request of the sending agency, or any other appropriate officer or agency of or in the sending agency's state, and shall be entitled to receive therefrom, such supporting or additional information as it may deem necessary under the circumstances to carry out the purpose and policy of this compact.
(D) The child shall not be sent, brought, or caused to be sent or brought into the receiving state until the appropriate public authorities in the receiving state shall notify the sending agency, in writing, to the effect that the proposed placement does not appear to be contrary to the interests of the child.
Article IV. Penalty for Illegal Placement.
The sending, bringing, or causing to be sent or brought into any receiving state of a child in violation of the terms of this compact shall constitute a violation of the laws respecting the placement of children of both the state in which the sending agency is located or from which it sends or brings the child and of the receiving state. Such violation may be punished or subjected to penalty in either jurisdiction in accordance with its laws. In addition to liability for any such punishment or penalty, any such violation shall constitute full and sufficient grounds for the suspension or revocation of any license, permit, or other legal authorization held by the sending agency which empowers or allows it to place, or care for children.
Article V. Retention of Jurisdiction.
(A) The sending agency shall retain jurisdiction over the child sufficient to determine all matters in relation to the custody, supervision, care, treatment and disposition of the child which it would have had if the child had remained in the sending agency's state, until the child is adopted, reaches majority, becomes self-supporting or is discharged with the concurrence of the appropriate authority in the receiving state. Such jurisdiction shall also include the power to effect or cause the return of the child or its transfer to another location and custody pursuant to law. The sending agency shall continue to have financial responsibility for support and maintenance of the child during the period of the placement. Nothing contained herein shall defeat a claim of jurisdiction by a receiving state sufficient to deal with an act of delinquency or crime committed therein.
(B) When the sending agency is a public agency, it may enter into an agreement with an authorized public or private agency in the receiving state providing for the performance of one or more services in respect of such case by the latter as agent for the sending agency.
(C) Nothing in this compact shall be construed to prevent a private charitable agency authorized to place children in the receiving state from performing services or acting as agent in that state for a private charitable agency of the sending state; nor to prevent the agency in the receiving state from discharging financial responsibility for the support and maintenance of a child who has been placed on behalf of the sending agency without relieving the responsibility set forth in paragraph (A) hereof.
Article VI. Institutional Care of Delinquent Children.
A child adjudicated delinquent may be placed in an institution in another party jurisdiction pursuant to this compact but no such placement shall be made unless the child is given a court hearing on notice to the parent or guardian with opportunity to be heard prior to his being sent to such other party jurisdiction for institutional care and the court finds that:
(A) Equivalent facilities for the child are not available in the sending agency's jurisdiction; and
(B) Institutional care in the other jurisdiction is in the best interest of the child and will not produce undue hardship.
Article VII. Compact Administrator.
The executive head of each jurisdiction party to this compact shall designate an officer who shall be general coordinator of activities under this compact in his jurisdiction and who, acting jointly with like officers of other party jurisdictions, shall have power to promulgate rules and regulations to carry out more effectively the terms and provisions of this compact.
Article VIII. Limitations.
This compact shall not apply to:
(A) The sending or bringing of a child into a receiving state by his parent, step-parent, grandparent, adult brother or sister, adult uncle or aunt, or his guardian and leaving the child with any such relative or non-agency guardian in the receiving state.
(B) Any placement, sending or bringing of a child into a receiving state pursuant to any other interstate compact to which both the state from which the child is sent or brought and the receiving state are party, or to any other agreement between said states which has the force of law.
Article IX. Enactment and Withdrawal.
This compact shall be open to joinder by any state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and, with the consent of congress, the government of Canada, or any province thereof. It shall become effective with respect to any such jurisdiction when such jurisdiction has enacted the same into law. Withdrawal from this compact shall be by the enactment of a statute repealing the same, but shall not take effect until two years after the effective date of such statute and until written notice of the withdrawal has been given by the withdrawing state to the governor of each other party jurisdiction. Withdrawal of a party state shall not affect the rights, duties and obligations under this compact of any sending agency therein with respect to a placement made prior to the effective date of withdrawal.
Article X. Construction and Severability.
The provisions of this compact shall be liberally construed to effectuate the purposes thereof. The provisions of this compact shall be severable and if any phrase, clause, sentence or provision of this compact is declared to be contrary to the constitution of any party state or of the United States or the applicability thereof to any government, agency, person, or circumstance is held invalid, the validity of the remainder of this compact and the applicability thereof to any government, agency, person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby. If this compact shall be held contrary to the constitution of any state party thereto, the compact shall remain in full force and effect as to the state affected as to all severable matters.
Sec. 5103.231.  Financial responsibility for any child placed pursuant to the provisions of the interstate compact on the placement of children shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of Article V of section 5103.23 of the Revised Code. However, in the event of parental or complete default of performance thereunder, the provisions of laws fixing responsibility for the support of children also may be invoked.
Sec. 5103.232.  The "appropriate public authorities" as used in Article III of the interstate compact on the placement of department of job and family services and that department shall receive and act with reference to notices required by said Article III.
Sec. 5103.233.  As used in paragraph (A) of Article V of the interstate compact on the placement of children, the phrase "appropriate authority in the receiving state" with reference to this state shall mean the department of job and family services.
Sec. 5103.234.  The officers and agencies of this state and its subdivisions having authority to place children are hereby empowered to enter into agreements with appropriate officers or agencies of or in other party states pursuant to paragraph (B) of Article V of the interstate compact on the placement of children. Any such agreement which contains a financial commitment or imposes a financial obligation on this state is subject to the approval of the director of budget and management. Any such agreement which contains a financial commitment or imposes a financial obligation on any subdivision of this state shall not be binding unless it has the approval in writing of the chief local fiscal officer.
Sec. 5103.235.  Any requirements for visitation, inspection, or supervision of children, homes, institutions, or other agencies in another party state which may apply under Chapter 5103. of the Revised Code shall be deemed to be met if performed pursuant to an agreement entered into by appropriate officers or agencies of this state or a subdivision thereof as contemplated by paragraph (B) of Article V of the interstate compact on the placement of children.
Sec. 5103.236.  Any court having jurisdiction to place delinquent children may place such a child in an institution in another state pursuant to Article VI of the interstate compact on the placement of children and shall retain jurisdiction as provided in Article V thereof.
Sec. 5103.237.  As used in Article VII of the interstate compact on the placement of children, the term "executive head" means the governor. The Governor is hereby authorized to appoint a compact administrator in accordance with the terms of said Article VII.
Section 6. That existing sections 2151.23, 2151.39, 3313.64, and 5103.16 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 7. Sections 5103.23 to 5103.237 and the amendments to sections 2151.23, 2151.39, 3313.64, and 5103.16 of the Revised Code shall continue in effect until the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children contained in sections 5103.20 to 5103.22 of the Revised Code becomes effective as described in Article XIV of that Compact, at which time sections 5103.23 to 5103.237 and the amendments made by this act to sections 2151.23, 2151.39, 3313.64, and 5103.16 of the Revised Code regarding the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children no longer apply.
Section 8. The enactment of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children in Section 9 of this act is a continuation of the interstate compact of the same name that was repealed in Am. Sub. S.B. 238 of the 126th General Assembly but remains in effect according to Article IX of that Compact.
Section 9.  Section 149.43 of the Revised Code is presented in this act as a composite of the section as amended by both Sub. H.B. 9 and Sub. H.B. 141 of the 126th General Assembly. Section 3313.64 of the Revised Code is presented in this act as a composite of the section as amended by Am. Sub. H.B. 137, Am. Sub. H.B. 530, Sub. S.B. 164, and Am. Sub. S.B. 238 of the 126th General Assembly. The General Assembly, applying the principle stated in division (B) of section 1.52 of the Revised Code that amendments are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation, finds that the composites are the resulting versions of the sections in effect prior to the effective date of the sections as presented in this act.
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