To amend sections 901.511, 918.12, 943.01, and 943.02 and to enact sections 943.20 to 943.30 of the Revised Code to establish a commercial deer propagating license, a commercial deer hunting preserve license, and corresponding requirements under the authority of the Director of Agriculture.

Section 1. That sections 901.511, 918.12, 943.01, and 943.02 be amended and sections 943.20, 943.21, 943.22, 943.23, 943.24, 943.25, 943.26, 943.27, 943.28, 943.29, and 943.30 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 901.511.  (A) As used in this section:

(1) "Agricultural product" means any of the following items that is produced for testing or research in the context of a product development program in conjunction or coordination with a private research facility, a university, or any federal, state, or local governmental agency or that is produced for personal, commercial, pharmaceutical, or educational purposes: field crop or field crop product; timber or timber product; forestry product; livestock or livestock product; meat or meat product; milk or dairy product; poultry or poultry product; equine animal; wool; fruit or vegetable crop; aquacultural product; horticultural crop, including plant materials grown in a greenhouse, nursery stock grown inside or outside of a container, ornamental grass, turf grass, ornamental trees, ornamental shrubs, or flowers; sod; mushrooms; viticultural product; apicultural product; tobacco; pasture; wild animal or domestic deer, as "wild animal" and "domestic deer" are defined in section 1531.01 of the Revised Code; commercial deer as defined in section 943.20 of the Revised Code; or any combination of those items.

(2) "Equipment" means any implement, machinery, real or personal property, building, or structure that is used in the production, growing, harvesting, or housing of any agricultural product. "Equipment" also includes any laboratory, research, product, samples, supplies, or fixed equipment that is used to test, develop, or analyze the process of producing, growing, or maintaining any agricultural product.

(3) "Material support or resources" means currency, payment instruments, other financial securities, financial services, lodging, training, safehouses, false documentation or identification, communications equipment, facilities, weapons, lethal substances, explosives, personnel, transportation, and other physical assets, except medicine or religious materials.

(4) "Payment instrument" means a check, draft, money order, traveler's check, cashier's check, teller's check, or other instrument or order for the transmission or payment of money regardless of whether the item in question is negotiable.

(5) "Specified offense" means either of the following:

(a) A violation of section 2909.02, 2909.03, 2909.05, 2909.06, 2909.07, 2911.13, 2911.21, 2913.02, 2913.04, or 2913.42 of the Revised Code;

(b) An attempt to commit, complicity in committing, or a conspiracy to commit an offense listed in division (A)(5)(a) of this section.

(B) No person shall commit a specified offense involving any agricultural product or equipment with the intent to do any of the following:

(1) Intimidate or coerce a civilian population;

(2) Influence the policy of any government by intimidation or coercion;

(3) Affect the conduct of any government;

(4) Interrupt or interfere with agricultural production, agricultural research, or equipment for purposes of disrupting or influencing, through intimidation or other means, consumer confidence or agricultural production methods.

Division (B) of this section does not apply to the practice of veterinary medicine by a person who has been issued a valid license, temporary permit, or registration certificate to practice veterinary medicine under Chapter 4741. of the Revised Code. As used in this division, "practice of veterinary medicine" has the same meaning as in section 4741.01 of the Revised Code.

(C) No person shall raise, solicit, collect, donate, or provide any material support or resources with the purpose that the material support or resources will be used in whole or in part to plan, prepare, carry out, or aid in either a violation of division (B) of this section or in the concealment of, or an escape from, a violation of that division.

(D)(1) In addition to the penalties established in section 901.99 of the Revised Code for a violation of this section, the court may require any person who violates this section to pay the victim of the offense an amount up to triple the value of the agricultural product or equipment that was the subject of the violation.

(2) In ordering restitution under division (D)(1) of this section, the court shall consider as part of the value of the agricultural product or equipment the market value of the agricultural product or equipment prior to the violation and the production, research, testing, replacement, and development costs directly related to the agricultural product or equipment that was the subject of the violation.

(E) The enactment of this section is not intended to require the prosecution exclusively under this section of an act, series of acts, or course of behavior that could be prosecuted either under this section or under another section of the Revised Code. One or more acts, series of acts, or courses of behavior that may be prosecuted either under this section or under another section of the Revised Code may be prosecuted under this section, the other section, or both sections.

Sec. 918.12.  (A) An establishment, as defined in section 918.01 of the Revised Code, that slaughters or otherwise prepares meat of bison, cervidea, other bovidea, camelidae and hybrids thereof, ratites, domestic rabbits, commercial deer as defined in section 943.20 of the Revised Code, domestic deer, as defined in section 1531.01 of the Revised Code, or other animals determined by the director of agriculture by rule for human food purposes may receive voluntary state inspection, as defined in division (B) of section 918.01 of the Revised Code, if the establishment complies with sections 918.01 to 918.11 of the Revised Code and the rules adopted under those sections for establishments that slaughter or otherwise prepare for food purposes other animals and if the establishment complies with division (C) of this section.

(B) The owner of an establishment, as defined in section 918.21 of the Revised Code, who slaughters or otherwise prepares the meat of pheasant, quail, partridge, peafowl, grouse, captive raised wild turkey, captive raised waterfowl, or other poultry determined by the director by rule may receive voluntary state inspection as defined in division (I) of section 918.21 of the Revised Code and the rules adopted under those sections for establishments that slaughter or otherwise prepare for food purposes other poultry and if the establishment complies with division (C) of this section and sections 918.21 to 918.28 of the Revised Code.

(C) An establishment that receives voluntary state inspection under division (A) or (B) of this section shall pay the costs of the inspection at a rate and under terms established by rule of the director of agriculture in accordance with section 918.04 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 943.01.  As used in sections 943.01 to 943.18 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Animals" or "livestock" means horses, mules, and other equidae, cattle, sheep, and goats and other bovidae, swine and other suidae, commercial deer as defined in section 943.20 of the Revised Code, alpacas, and llamas.

(B) "Dealer" or "broker" means any person found by the department of agriculture buying, receiving, selling, slaughtering, with the exception of those persons designated by division (B)(1) of section 918.10 of the Revised Code, exchanging, negotiating, or soliciting the sale, resale, exchange, or transfer of any animals in an amount of more than two hundred fifty head of cattle, horses, or other equidae or five hundred head of sheep, goats, or other bovidae or swine and other suidae or alpacas or llamas during any one year. "Dealer" or "broker" does not mean any of the following:

(1) Any railroad or other carrier transporting animals either interstate or intrastate;

(2) Any person who by dispersal sale is permanently discontinuing the business of farming, dairying, breeding, raising, or feeding animals;

(3) Any person who sells livestock that has been raised from birth on the premises of the person;

(4) Any person who buys or receives animals for grazing or feeding purposes at a premises owned or controlled by the person and sells or disposes of the animals after the minimum grazing or feeding period of thirty days;

(5) Any person who places livestock in facilities other than the person's own pursuant to a written agreement for feeding or finishing, provided that the person retains legal and equitable title to the livestock during the term of the agreement;

(6) Any person who has been issued a commercial deer propagating license under section 943.22 of the Revised Code or a commercial deer hunting preserve license under section 943.24 of the Revised Code.

The exemptions set forth in divisions (B)(1) to (5)(6) of this section are exclusive of those activities requiring licensure under this chapter sections 943.01 to 943.18 of the Revised Code, so that a person shall be deemed to be a dealer or broker or subject to divisions (B)(1) to (5)(6) of this section, but shall not be, or be subject to, both. No person who is a licensed dealer or broker and whose license is suspended shall have livestock or animals exempted pursuant to divisions (B)(1) to (5)(6) of this section.

(C) "Employee" means any person employed by a dealer or broker to act in the dealer's or broker's behalf to buy, sell, exchange, negotiate, or solicit sale or resale of animals in the dealer's or broker's name.

Sec. 943.02.  (A) No person shall act as a dealer or broker without first being licensed. No person shall be an employee of more than one dealer or broker. Except as provided in division (B) of this section, no person holding a license as a dealer or broker shall be an employee. No employee shall act for any dealer or broker unless the dealer or broker is licensed, and has designated the employee to act in his the dealer's or broker's behalf and has notified the department of agriculture in his the application for license or has given official notice in writing of the appointment of the employee. The dealer or broker shall be accountable and responsible for all contracts pertaining to the purchase, exchange, or sale of livestock made by the employee. The dealer or broker who terminates the services of an employee shall notify the department in writing of the employee's termination. No person who is a licensed dealer or broker shall have livestock exempted pursuant to divisions (B)(1) through (5) to (6) of section 943.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) A dealer or broker may be an employee of other dealers or brokers only when he the dealer or broker so employed is a soliciting agent for a video auction.

(C) The director of agriculture shall define by rule "soliciting agent" and "video auction" for the purposes of this section.

Sec. 943.20.  As used in this section and sections 943.21 to 943.30 of the Revised Code:

(A) "Authorized enclosure" means an area of land that is surrounded by a fence that complies with division (A) of section 943.23 of the Revised Code.

(B) "Chronic wasting disease" has the same meaning as in 9 C.F.R. 55.1.

(C) "Commercial deer" means captive deer that have been legally acquired or their offspring and that are privately owned primarily for the purposes of agriculture, propagation, or the operation of a hunting preserve.

(D) "Hunting preserve" means an area of land where commercial deer are released and hunted as authorized by a commercial deer hunting preserve license obtained under section 943.24 of the Revised Code.

(E) "Rule" means a rule adopted under section 943.26 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 943.21.  The department of agriculture the sole authority to regulate commercial deer.

Sec. 943.22.  (A) Except as otherwise provided by rules, a person desiring to engage in the business of propagating and selling commercial deer in an authorized enclosure that is owned or leased by the person shall apply in writing to the director of agriculture for a license to do so.

(B)(1) The director may issue to the applicant a commercial deer propagating license if all of the following conditions are satisfied:

(a) The application is made in good faith.

(b) The applicant complies with or, in the case of an application for an initial license, has demonstrated to the director's satisfaction that the applicant will comply with section 943.23 of the Revised Code.

(c) The applicant pays a license fee of three hundred dollars.

(2) A commercial deer propagating licensee may do all of the following:

(a) Propagate commercial deer in an authorized enclosure that is specified in the license application;

(b) Sell commercial deer and ship them alive within and outside the state at any time;

(c) In the case of the licensee and the licensee's employees, kill commercial deer and sell the carcasses for food in accordance with sections 918.01 to 918.12 of the Revised Code.

The director may establish terms and conditions of a license.

(C) A license issued under this section expires on the fifteenth day of March of each year. A licensee wishing to continue to propagate and sell commercial deer shall apply for a new license under this section and shall include with the application the information that is required by division (G)(1) of section 943.23 of the Revised Code.

(D) All money collected under this section shall be credited to the commercial deer fund created in section 943.30 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 943.23.  (A) A commercial deer propagating licensee shall keep commercial deer in an authorized enclosure that is surrounded by a fence that is eight feet in height with a minimal deviation not to exceed four per cent, is constructed in a manner that prevents ingress and egress of deer, and is constructed of materials that are approved by the director of agriculture in rules.

A person who is raising and selling commercial deer on the effective date of this section shall comply with the fence requirements established in this division not later than one year after the director has adopted rules under division (A) of section 943.26 of the Revised Code.

(B) A commercial deer propagating licensee only shall purchase or acquire commercial deer from, or sell or otherwise transfer commercial deer to, another such licensee or from a herd that is monitored by the United States department of agriculture for chronic wasting disease or any other animal disease.

(C) Each commercial deer that is raised by a licensee and held in an authorized enclosure that is owned or leased by the licensee shall be identified with a tag that has a symbol identifying the licensee and a distinctive number for that deer.

(D) If a commercial deer escapes or is missing from an authorized enclosure that is owned or leased by a licensee, the licensee shall notify by telephone the director within a reasonable amount of time after the licensee determines that the commercial deer has escaped or is missing.

(E) A licensee shall submit animal tissue from ten per cent of all of the licensee's commercial deer that are twelve months of age or older and that have died or thirty such deer, whichever is less, to the animal disease diagnostic laboratory in the department of agriculture for chronic wasting disease testing. The director shall send the results of the testing to the licensee. If the results of the testing indicate that a commercial deer had chronic wasting disease, the director shall take appropriate actions as provided in sections 941.01 to 941.15 of the Revised Code.

(F) A licensee shall dispose of the body of a commercial deer that dies of a dangerously contagious or infectious disease, as defined in section 941.01 of the Revised Code, in accordance with section 941.14 of the Revised Code.

(G)(1) A licensee shall file with a license renewal application, on a form provided by the director, a complete and accurate report signed by the licensee showing the total number of commercial deer that have been held by the licensee in the previous twelve months. If the licensee fails to file the inventory report with the renewal application, the director shall not renew the license.

(2) A licensee shall maintain and keep all of the following on the premises of the licensee:

(a) Records of all commercial deer that are held, purchased or otherwise acquired, sold or otherwise transferred, or killed in an authorized enclosure that is owned or leased by the licensee. The records shall include the distinctive number that is assigned to each commercial deer as required in division (C) of this section.

(b) The name and address of a recipient or consignee of any commercial deer that is raised by the licensee and the date on which the person received or was consigned the commercial deer;

(c) Records that verify that each commercial deer that is raised and sold by the licensee was purchased or otherwise acquired from another commercial deer propagating licensee or from a herd that is monitored by the United States department of agriculture for chronic wasting disease or any other animal disease;

(d) Herd and individual animal health certificates, including certificates of veterinary inspection, and the results of any tests performed under division (E) of this section.

(H) No commercial deer propagating licensee shall fail to comply with this section.

Sec. 943.24.  (A) Except as otherwise provided by rules, no person shall hunt or offer for hunting any commercial deer except in a licensed commercial deer hunting preserve. No person shall own or operate a commercial deer hunting preserve without first obtaining a license to do so issued by the director of agriculture under this section.

(B) Application for a commercial deer hunting preserve license shall be made on a form prescribed by the director and shall be accompanied by an annual license fee of three hundred dollars. The application shall contain a description of the lands that constitute or will constitute the preserve and any other information that is required by the director in rules.

(C) Except as otherwise provided in division (E) of this section, the director, upon payment of the license fee, may issue to an applicant a commercial deer hunting preserve license if both of the following conditions are met:

(1) The commercial deer hunting preserve complies with or, in the case of an application for an initial license, the applicant has demonstrated to the director's satisfaction that the proposed preserve will comply with section 943.25 of the Revised Code.

(2) The applicant is the owner or lessee of the land described in the application and the applicant certifies that the applicant will remain the owner or lessee of the land until the license expires.

The director may establish terms and conditions of a license.

(D) A license issued under this section expires on the fifteenth day of March of each year. A licensee wishing to continue to own or operate a commercial deer hunting preserve shall apply for a new license under this section.

(E) The director shall not issue a commercial deer hunting preserve license to an applicant that owns or leases an authorized enclosure that is not in compliance with division (B) of section 943.25 of the Revised Code.

(F) All money collected under this section shall be credited to the commercial deer fund created in section 943.30 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 943.25.  (A) A commercial deer hunting preserve that is licensed under section 943.24 of the Revised Code shall be not less than eighty acres in area. A hunting preserve shall be located in one continuous block of land, except that the block of land may be intersected by highways or roads if the hunting preserve was in operation prior to the effective date of this section.

(B) Except for a hunting preserve that was in operation prior to the effective date of this section, a commercial deer hunting preserve licensee shall maintain or keep commercial deer in an authorized enclosure.

The owner or lessee of a hunting preserve that was in operation prior to the effective date of this section and that wishes to operate in accordance with a license issued under section 943.24 of the Revised Code shall comply with the fence requirements established for authorized enclosures not later than one year after the director has adopted rules under division (A) of section 943.26 of the Revised Code.

(C) A licensee only shall release and allow to be hunted within the confines of the licensee's commercial deer hunting preserve either or both of the following:

(1) Deer that have been propagated by a person who holds a commercial deer propagating license issued under section 943.22 of the Revised Code;

(2) Deer that have been purchased from a herd that is monitored by the United States department of agriculture for chronic wasting disease or any other animal disease or that has had animal tissue from ten per cent of all of the herd's commercial deer that are twelve months of age or older and that have died or thirty such deer, whichever is less, submitted to the animal disease diagnostic laboratory in the department of agriculture for chronic wasting disease.

A licensee shall allow to be hunted within the confines of the licensee's commercial deer hunting preserve commercial deer, without regard to sex, bag limit, or hunting season, by hunters who have been authorized by the licensee to hunt on the preserve.

(D) If a commercial deer escapes or is missing from an enclosure that is owned or leased by a licensee, the licensee shall notify by telephone the director within a reasonable amount of time after the licensee determines that the commercial deer has escaped or is missing.

(E) A licensee shall dispose of the body of a commercial deer that dies of a dangerously contagious or infectious disease, as defined in section 941.01 of the Revised Code, in accordance with section 941.14 of the Revised Code.

(F) No commercial deer hunting preserve licensee shall fail to comply with this section.

Sec. 943.26.  The director of agriculture shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that do all of the following:

(A) Compile a list of materials that must be used to construct fences for authorized enclosures for the purposes of sections 943.23 and 943.25 of the Revised Code. In adopting the rules, the director shall consult with the animal and plant health inspection service in the United States department of agriculture, the department of natural resources, and representatives of the Ohio cervid industry.

(B) Establish information that must be included in an application for a license to own or operate a commercial deer hunting preserve;

(C) Establish the amount of civil penalties that may be assessed by the director under division (B) of section 943.29 of the Revised Code for violation of section 943.22, 943.23, 943.24, 943.25, or 943.27 of the Revised Code;

(D) Any other requirements and procedures that are necessary to administer and enforce sections 943.20 to 943.30 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 943.27.  No person shall do either of the following:

(A) Take a white-tailed deer from the wild into an authorized enclosure that houses commercial deer;

(B) Knowingly release or knowingly fail to prevent the escape of commercial deer from an authorized enclosure or other holding area that is owned or leased by a commercial deer propagating licensee or a commercial deer hunting preserve licensee.

Sec. 943.28.  The director of agriculture or the director's authorized representative may enter at reasonable times on the premises of commercial deer propagating licensees and commercial deer hunting preserve licensees to conduct investigations and inspections or to otherwise execute duties that are necessary for the administration and enforcement of sections 943.20 to 943.30 of the Revised Code. If refused entry, the director or the director's authorized representative may apply for and the court of common pleas having jurisdiction may issue an appropriate warrant. With regard to commercial deer propagating licensees, the director or the director's authorized representative may examine and copy at reasonable times any records that are required to be kept and maintained by section 943.23 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 943.29.  (A) The director of agriculture may propose to require corrective actions and assess a civil penalty against a commercial deer propagating licensee or a commercial deer hunting preserve licensee if the director or the director's authorized representative determines that the licensee is not in compliance with section 943.22, 943.23, 943.24, 943.25, or 943.27 of the Revised Code, as applicable, the terms and conditions of the commercial deer propagating license or commercial deer hunting preserve license, as applicable, or rules. However, the director may impose a civil penalty only if all of the following occur:

(1) The licensee is notified in writing of the deficiencies resulting in noncompliance, the actions that the licensee must take to correct the deficiencies, and the time period within which the licensee must correct the deficiencies and attain compliance.

(2) After the time period that is specified in the notice has elapsed, the director or the director's authorized representative has inspected the authorized enclosure that is owned or leased by the licensee, determined that the licensee is still not in compliance, and issued a notice of an adjudication hearing.

(3) The director affords the licensee an opportunity for an adjudication hearing under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code regarding the director's determination that the licensee is not in compliance or the imposition of the civil penalty, or both. However, the licensee may waive the right to an adjudication hearing.

(B) If the opportunity for an adjudication hearing is waived or if, after an adjudication hearing, the director determines that a violation has occurred or is occurring, the director may issue an order requiring compliance and assess a civil penalty. The order and the assessment of the civil penalty may be appealed in accordance with section 119.12 of the Revised Code.

A civil penalty assessed under this section shall be in an amount established in rules. Each thirty-day period during which a violation continues constitutes a separate violation, except that for a violation of section 943.22, 943.23, 943.24, 943.25, or 943.27 of the Revised Code, each seven-day period during which a violation continues constitutes a separate violation.

(C) If after the assessment of a civil penalty under division (B) of this section a licensee continues to be in violation of section 943.22, 943.23, 943.24, 943.25, or 943.27 of the Revised Code, the terms and conditions of a license, or rules, the director may conduct an adjudication hearing under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to suspend or revoke the licensee's license.

(D) All money collected under this section shall be credited to the commercial deer fund created in section 943.30 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 943.30.  The commercial deer fund is hereby created in the state treasury. The fund shall consist of money credited to it under sections 943.20 to 943.30 of the Revised Code. The director of agriculture shall use money in the fund to administer those sections.

Section 2.  That existing sections 901.511, 918.12, 943.01, and 943.02 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.