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(127th General Assembly)
(Substitute Senate Bill Number 241)
AN ACT
To amend section 301.28 of the Revised Code to modify
the law governing payment of county expenses by a
financial transaction device.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
SECTION 1. That section 301.28 of the Revised Code be amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 301.28. (A) As used in this section:
(1)
"Financial transaction device" includes a credit
card,
debit card, charge card, or prepaid or stored value card, or
automated clearinghouse network credit, debit, or e-check entry
that includes, but is not limited to, accounts receivable and
internet-initiated, point of purchase, and telephone-initiated
applications or any other device or method for making an
electronic payment or transfer of funds.
(2)
"County expenses" includes fees, costs, taxes,
assessments, fines, penalties, payments, or any other expense a
person owes to a county office under the authority of a county
elected official other than dog registration and kennel fees
required to be
paid under
Chapter 955. of the Revised Code.
(3)
"County elected official" includes the county
auditor,
county treasurer, county engineer, county recorder,
county
prosecuting attorney, county sheriff, and county coroner, county
park district and board of
county commissioners, the clerk of the
probate court, the clerk of the juvenile court, the clerks of
court for all divisions of the courts of common pleas, and the
clerk of the court of common pleas,
the clerk of a
county-operated
municipal court, and the clerk of a
county
court.
The term "county expenses" includes county expenses owed to
the board of health of the general health district or a combined
health district in the county. If the board of county
commissioners authorizes county expenses to be paid by financial
transaction devices under this section, then the board of health
and the general health district and the combined health district
may accept payments by financial transaction devices under this
section as if the board were a "county official" and the district
were a county office. However, in the case of a general health
district formed by unification of general health districts under
section 3709.10 of the Revised Code, this entitlement applies only
if all the boards of county commissioners of all counties in the
district have authorized payments to be accepted by financial
transaction devices.
(B) Notwithstanding any other section of the Revised Code
and
except as
provided
in division (D) of this section, a board of
county
commissioners may adopt a resolution authorizing the
acceptance
of payments by financial transaction devices for county
expenses. The resolution shall include the following:
(1) A specification of those county elected officials who,
and of the county offices under those county officials that,
are
authorized
to accept payments by financial transaction
devices;
(2) A list of county expenses that may be paid for
through
the use of a financial transaction device;
(3) Specific identification of financial transaction
devices
that the board authorizes
as acceptable means of payment for
county expenses. Uniform
acceptance of financial transaction
devices among different
types of county expenses is not required.
(4) The amount, if any, authorized as a surcharge or
convenience fee under division (E) of this section for persons
using
a financial transaction
device. Uniform application of
surcharges or convenience fees
among different types of county
expenses is not required.
(5) A specific provision as provided in division (G) of this
section requiring the payment of a penalty if a payment made by
means of a
financial transaction device is returned or dishonored
for any reason.
The board's resolution shall also designate the county
treasurer as an
administrative agent to solicit proposals, within
guidelines established by
the board in the resolution and in
compliance with the procedures provided in
division (C) of this
section, from financial institutions, issuers of
financial
transaction devices, and processors of financial transaction
devices, to make
recommendations about those proposals to the
board, and to
assist county offices in implementing the county's
financial transaction
devices program. The county treasurer may
decline this responsibility within
thirty days after receiving a
copy of the board's resolution by notifying the
board in writing
within that period. If the treasurer so notifies the board,
the
board shall perform the duties of the administrative agent.
If the county treasurer is the administrative agent and fails
to administer
the county financial transaction devices program in
accordance with the
guidelines in the board's resolution, the
board shall notify the treasurer in
writing of the board's
findings, explain the failures, and give the treasurer
six months
to correct the failures. If the treasurer fails to make the
appropriate corrections within that six-month period, the board
may pass a
resolution declaring the board to be the administrative
agent. The board may
later rescind that resolution at its
discretion.
(C) The county shall follow the procedures provided in this
division
whenever it plans to contract with financial
institutions, issuers of financial transaction devices, or
processors of
financial transaction devices for the purposes of
this section. The
administrative agent shall request proposals
from at least three financial
institutions, issuers of financial
transaction devices, or processors of
financial transaction
devices, as appropriate in accordance with the
resolution
adopted
under division (B) of this section. Prior to sending any
financial
institution, issuer, or processor a copy of any such
request, the
county shall advertise its intent to request
proposals in a
newspaper of
general circulation in the county once
a week for two
consecutive weeks. The
notice shall state that the
county intends
to request proposals; specify the
purpose of the
request; indicate
the date, which shall be at least ten days
after
the second
publication, on which the request for proposals will be
mailed
to
financial institutions, issuers, or processors; and
require that
any
financial institution, issuer, or processor,
whichever is
appropriate,
interested in receiving the request for
proposals
submit written notice of
this
interest to the county not
later
than noon of the day on which the request for
proposals will
be
mailed.
Upon receiving the proposals, the administrative agent shall
review them and
make a recommendation to the board of county
commissioners on which proposals
to accept. The board of county
commissioners shall consider the agent's
recommendation and review
all proposals submitted, and then may choose to
contract
with any
or all of the entities submitting proposals, as appropriate. The
board shall provide any financial institution, issuer, or
processor that
submitted a proposal, but with which the board does
not enter into a
contract,
notice that its proposal is rejected.
The notice shall state the reasons for
the rejection, indicate
whose proposals were accepted, and provide a copy of
the terms and
conditions of the successful bids.
(D) A board of county commissioners adopting a resolution
under this section shall send a copy of the
resolution to each
county elected official in the county who is authorized by
the
resolution to
accept payments by financial transaction devices.
After receiving the
resolution and before accepting payments by
financial
transaction devices, a county elected official shall
provide written
notification to the board of county commissioners
of the official's intent to
implement the resolution within the
official's office. Each county office
subject to the
board's
resolution adopted under division (B) of this section may use
only
the financial institutions, issuers of financial transaction
devices, and
processors of financial transaction devices with
which the board of county
commissioners contracts, and each such
office is subject to the terms of those
contracts.
If a county office
under the authority of a county elected
official
is directly responsible for collecting one or more county
expenses and the
county elected
official determines not to accept
payments by financial
transaction devices for one or more of those
expenses, the
office shall not be required to accept payments by
financial
transaction devices, notwithstanding the adoption of a
resolution by the board of county commissioners under this
section.
Any office of a clerk of the court of common pleas that
accepts financial
transaction devices on or before July 1, 1999,
and any other county
office that accepted such devices before
January 1, 1998,
may continue to accept such devices without being
subject to any resolution
passed by the board of county
commissioners under division (B) of
this section, or any other
oversight by the board of the office's financial
transaction
devices program. Any such office may use surcharges or
convenience
fees in any manner the county elected official in
charge of the
office determines to be appropriate, and, if the
county treasurer
consents,
may appoint the county treasurer to be
the office's
administrative agent for
purposes of accepting
financial
transaction devices. In order not to be
subject to the
resolution
of the board of county commissioners adopted under
division (B) of
this section, a county office shall notify the
board
in writing
within thirty days after
March 30, 1999, that it
accepted
financial transaction devices prior to
January 1, 1998,
or, in the
case of the office of a clerk of the
court
of common
pleas, the
clerk has accepted or will accept such devices on or
before July
1, 1999. Each such notification shall explain how
processing costs
associated
with financial transaction devices are
being paid and
shall indicate whether
surcharge or convenience
fees are being
passed on to consumers.
(E) A board of county
commissioners may establish a
surcharge
or convenience fee that may be imposed
upon a person
making
payment by a financial transaction device.
The surcharge
or
convenience fee shall not be
imposed unless authorized or
otherwise permitted by the rules
prescribed by an agreement
governing the use and acceptance of
the financial transaction
device.
If a surcharge or convenience fee is imposed, every county
office accepting
payment by a financial transaction device,
regardless of whether that office
is subject to a resolution
adopted by a board of county commissioners, shall
clearly post a
notice in that office and shall notify each person making a
payment by such a device about the surcharge or fee. Notice to
each person
making a payment shall be provided regardless of the
medium used to make the
payment and in a manner appropriate to
that medium. Each notice
shall include all of the following:
(1) A statement that there is a surcharge or convenience fee
for using a
financial transaction device;
(2) The total amount of the charge or fee expressed in
dollars and cents for
each transaction, or the rate of the charge
or fee expressed as a
percentage of the total amount of the
transaction, whichever is
applicable;
(3) A clear statement that the surcharge or convenience fee
is nonrefundable.
(F) If a person elects
to make a payment to the county by a
financial transaction
device and a surcharge or convenience fee is
imposed, the
payment of the surcharge or fee shall be considered
voluntary
and the surcharge or fee is not refundable.
(G) If a person makes
payment by financial transaction
device
and the payment is
returned or dishonored for any reason,
the
person is liable to
the county for payment of a penalty over
and
above the amount of
the expense due. The board of county
commissioners shall
determine the amount of the penalty, which may
be either a fee
not to exceed twenty dollars or payment of the
amount necessary to reimburse
the county for banking charges,
legal fees, or other expenses
incurred by the county in collecting
the returned or dishonored
payment. The remedies and
procedures
provided in this section are in addition to any other
available
civil or criminal remedies provided by law.
(H) No person making any
payment by financial transaction
device to a county office shall be relieved
from liability for the
underlying obligation except to the extent
that the county
realizes final payment of the underlying
obligation in cash or its
equivalent. If final payment is not
made by the financial
transaction device issuer or other guarantor of payment
in the
transaction, the underlying obligation shall
survive and the
county shall retain all remedies for enforcement
that would have
applied if the transaction had not
occurred.
(I) A county elected
official or employee who accepts a
financial transaction device payment in
accordance with this
section and any applicable state or local
policies or rules is
immune from personal
liability for the final collection of such
payments.
SECTION 2. That existing section 301.28 of the Revised Code
is hereby repealed.
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