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Sub. H. B. No. 118 As Passed by the HouseAs Passed by the House
129th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2011-2012 |
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Cosponsors:
Representatives Combs, Yuko, O'Brien, Maag, Hackett, Buchy, Mallory, Blessing, Szollosi, DeGeeter, Bubp, Boyd, Winburn, Adams, R., Celebrezze, Damschroder, Hayes, Huffman, Johnson, Kozlowski, Luckie, McGregor, Ruhl, Schuring, Sprague, Young Speaker Batchelder
A BILL
To amend sections 149.43, 2903.01, 2903.11, 2903.12,
2903.13, 2903.21, and 2929.04 and to enact section
2903.23 of the Revised Code to provide that
residential and familial information of a
probation officer is not a public record, to
increase the penalties for certain offenses when a
judge, magistrate, or prosecutor is the victim, to
prohibit a person from threatening a judge,
magistrate, or prosecutor, and to make the killing
of a judge, magistrate, or prosecutor an
aggravating circumstance for the imposition of the
death penalty for aggravated murder.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 149.43, 2903.01, 2903.11, 2903.12,
2903.13, 2903.21, and 2929.04 be amended and section 2903.23 of
the Revised Code be enacted 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:
(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, probation officer,
prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional
employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or
investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and
investigation 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, and child fatality review data submitted by the
child fatality review board to the department of health or a
national child death review database, other than the report
prepared pursuant to division (A) of 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.
(aa) Discharges recorded with a county recorder under section
317.24 of the Revised Code, as specified in division (B)(2) of
that section.
(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, probation officer,
prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional
employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or
investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and
investigation residential and familial information" means any
information that discloses any of the following about a peace
officer, parole officer,
probation officer, prosecuting attorney,
assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth
services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau
of criminal identification and investigation:
(a) The address of the actual personal residence of a peace
officer, parole officer, probation officer, assistant prosecuting
attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee,
firefighter, EMT, or an investigator of the bureau of criminal
identification and investigation, except for the state or
political subdivision in which the peace officer, parole officer,
probation officer, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional
employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or
investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and
investigation 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,
probation officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting
attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee,
firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal
identification and investigation;
(d) The name of any beneficiary of employment benefits,
including, but not limited to, life insurance benefits, provided
to a peace officer, parole officer, probation officer, prosecuting
attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee,
youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the
bureau of criminal identification and investigation by the peace
officer's, parole officer's, probation officer's, prosecuting
attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional
employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, EMT's, or
investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and
investigation's employer;
(e) The identity and amount of any charitable or employment
benefit deduction made by the peace officer's, parole officer's,
probation officer's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting
attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's,
firefighter's, EMT's, or investigator of the bureau of criminal
identification and investigation's employer from the peace
officer's, parole officer's,
probation officer's, prosecuting
attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional
employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, EMT's, or
investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and
investigation'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, probation officer, prosecuting attorney,
assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth
services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau
of criminal identification and investigation;
(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.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(9) of this section,
"investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and
investigation" has the meaning defined in section 2903.11 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, EMT, or investigator of the
bureau of criminal identification and investigation 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, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of
criminal identification and investigation 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, EMT's, or investigator of the bureau of
criminal identification and investigation'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, EMT's, or
investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and
investigation'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. 2903.01. (A) No person shall purposely, and with prior
calculation and design, cause the death of another or the unlawful
termination of another's pregnancy.
(B) No person shall purposely cause the death of another or
the unlawful termination of another's pregnancy while committing
or attempting to commit, or while fleeing immediately after
committing or attempting to commit, kidnapping, rape, aggravated
arson, arson, aggravated robbery, robbery, aggravated burglary,
burglary, terrorism, or escape.
(C) No person shall purposely cause the death of another who
is under thirteen years of age at the time of the commission of
the offense.
(D) No person who is under detention as a result of having
been found guilty of or having pleaded guilty to a felony or who
breaks that detention shall purposely cause the death of another.
(E) No person shall purposely cause the death of a judge,
magistrate, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer whom the
offender knows or has reasonable cause to know is a judge,
magistrate, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer when either of
the following applies:
(1) The victim, at the time of the commission of the offense,
is engaged in the victim's duties.
(2) It is the offender's specific purpose to kill a judge,
magistrate, prosecutor, or law enforcement officer.
(F) Whoever violates this section is guilty of aggravated
murder, and shall be punished as provided in section 2929.02 of
the Revised Code.
(G) As used in this section:
(1) "Detention" has the same meaning as in section 2921.01 of
the Revised Code.
(2) "Law enforcement officer" has the same meaning as in
section 2911.01 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Judge" means a judge of a court created under the
constitution or statutes of this state or of a United States court
located in this state.
(4) "Magistrate" means a magistrate of a court created under
the constitution or statutes of this state or of a United States
court located in this state.
(5) "Prosecutor" has the same meaning as in section 2935.01
of the Revised Code.
Sec. 2903.11. (A) No person shall knowingly do either of the
following:
(1) Cause serious physical harm to another or to another's
unborn;
(2) Cause or attempt to cause physical harm to another or to
another's unborn by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous
ordnance.
(B) No person, with knowledge that the person has tested
positive as a carrier of a virus that causes acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome, shall knowingly do any of the
following:
(1) Engage in sexual conduct with another person without
disclosing that knowledge to the other person prior to engaging in
the sexual conduct;
(2) Engage in sexual conduct with a person whom the offender
knows or has reasonable cause to believe lacks the mental capacity
to appreciate the significance of the knowledge that the offender
has tested positive as a carrier of a virus that causes acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome;
(3) Engage in sexual conduct with a person under eighteen
years of age who is not the spouse of the offender.
(C) The prosecution of a person under this section does not
preclude prosecution of that person under section 2907.02 of the
Revised Code.
(D)(1)(a) Whoever violates this section is guilty of
felonious assault. Except as otherwise provided in this division
or division (D)(1)(b) of this section, felonious assault is a
felony of the second degree. If the victim of a violation of
division (A) of this section is a judge, magistrate, prosecutor,
peace officer, or an investigator of the bureau of criminal
identification and investigation, felonious assault is a felony of
the first degree.
(b) Regardless of whether the felonious assault is a felony
of the first or second degree under division (D)(1)(a) of this
section, if the offender also is convicted of or pleads guilty to
a specification as described in section 2941.1423 of the Revised
Code that was included in the indictment, count in the indictment,
or information charging the offense, except as otherwise provided
in this division or unless a longer prison term is required under
any other provision of law, the court shall sentence the offender
to a mandatory prison term as provided in division (D)(8) of
section 2929.14 of the Revised Code. If the victim of the offense
is a judge, magistrate, prosecutor, peace officer, or an
investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and
investigation, and if the victim suffered serious physical harm as
a result of the commission of the offense, felonious assault is a
felony of the first degree, and the court, pursuant to division
(F) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code, shall impose as a
mandatory prison term one of the prison terms prescribed for a
felony of the first degree.
(2) In addition to any other sanctions imposed pursuant to
division (D)(1) of this section for felonious assault committed in
violation of division (A)(2) of this section, if the deadly weapon
used in the commission of the violation is a motor vehicle, the
court shall impose upon the offender a class two suspension of the
offender's driver's license, commercial driver's license,
temporary instruction permit, probationary license, or nonresident
operating privilege as specified in division (A)(2) of section
4510.02 of the Revised Code.
(E) As used in this section:
(1) "Deadly weapon" and "dangerous ordnance" have the same
meanings as in section 2923.11 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Motor vehicle" has the same meaning as in section
4501.01 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Peace officer" has the same meaning as in section
2935.01 of the Revised Code.
(4) "Sexual conduct" has the same meaning as in section
2907.01 of the Revised Code, except that, as used in this section,
it does not include the insertion of an instrument, apparatus, or
other object that is not a part of the body into the vaginal or
anal opening of another, unless the offender knew at the time of
the insertion that the instrument, apparatus, or other object
carried the offender's bodily fluid.
(5) "Investigator of the bureau of criminal identification
and investigation" means an investigator of the bureau of criminal
identification and investigation who is commissioned by the
superintendent of the bureau as a special agent for the purpose of
assisting law enforcement officers or providing emergency
assistance to peace officers pursuant to authority granted under
section 109.541 of the Revised Code.
(6) "Investigator" has the same meaning as in section 109.541
of the Revised Code.
(7) "Judge" and "magistrate" have the same meanings as in
section 2903.01 of the Revised Code.
(8) "Prosecutor" has the same meaning as in section 2935.01
of the Revised Code.
Sec. 2903.12. (A) No person, while under the influence of
sudden passion or in a sudden fit of rage, either of which is
brought on by serious provocation occasioned by the victim that is
reasonably sufficient to incite the person into using deadly
force, shall knowingly:
(1) Cause serious physical harm to another or to another's
unborn;
(2) Cause or attempt to cause physical harm to another or to
another's unborn by means of a deadly weapon or dangerous
ordnance, as defined in section 2923.11 of the Revised Code.
(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of aggravated
assault. Except as otherwise provided in this division, aggravated
assault is a felony of the fourth degree. If the victim of the
offense is a judge, magistrate, prosecutor, peace officer, or an
investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and
investigation, aggravated assault is a felony of the third degree.
Regardless of whether the offense is a felony of the third or
fourth degree under this division, if the offender also is
convicted of or pleads guilty to a specification as described in
section 2941.1423 of the Revised Code that was included in the
indictment, count in the indictment, or information charging the
offense, except as otherwise provided in this division, the court
shall sentence the offender to a mandatory prison term as provided
in division (D)(8) of section 2929.14 of the Revised Code. If the
victim of the offense is a judge, magistrate, prosecutor, peace
officer, or an investigator of the bureau of criminal
identification and investigation, and if the victim suffered
serious physical harm as a result of the commission of the
offense, aggravated assault is a felony of the third degree, and
the court, pursuant to division (F) of section 2929.13 of the
Revised Code, shall impose as a mandatory prison term one of the
prison terms prescribed for a felony of the third degree.
(C) As used in this section:
(1) "Investigator of the bureau of criminal identification
and investigation" has the same meaning as in section 2903.11 of
the Revised Code.
(2) "Peace officer" has the same meaning as in section
2935.01 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Judge" and "magistrate" have the same meanings as in
section 2903.01 of the Revised Code.
(4) "Prosecutor" has the same meaning as in section 2935.01
of the Revised Code.
Sec. 2903.13. (A) No person shall knowingly cause or attempt
to cause physical harm to another or to another's unborn.
(B) No person shall recklessly cause serious physical harm to
another or to another's unborn.
(C) Whoever violates this section is guilty of assault, and
the court shall sentence the offender as provided in this division
and divisions (C)(1), (2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) of this section.
Except as otherwise provided in division (C)(1), (2), (3), (4), or
(5) of this section, assault is a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this division, if the
offense is committed by a caretaker against a functionally
impaired person under the caretaker's care, assault is a felony of
the fourth degree. If the offense is committed by a caretaker
against a functionally impaired person under the caretaker's care,
if the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty
to a violation of this section or section 2903.11 or 2903.16 of
the Revised Code, and if in relation to the previous conviction
the offender was a caretaker and the victim was a functionally
impaired person under the offender's care, assault is a felony of
the third degree.
(2) If the offense is committed in any of the following
circumstances, assault is a felony of the fifth degree:
(a) The offense occurs in or on the grounds of a state
correctional institution or an institution of the department of
youth services, the victim of the offense is an employee of the
department of rehabilitation and correction, the department of
youth services, or a probation department or is on the premises of
the particular institution for business purposes or as a visitor,
and the offense is committed by a person incarcerated in the state
correctional institution, by a person institutionalized in the
department of youth services institution pursuant to a commitment
to the department of youth services, by a parolee, by an offender
under transitional control, under a community control sanction, or
on an escorted visit, by a person under post-release control, or
by an offender under any other type of supervision by a government
agency.
(b) The offense occurs in or on the grounds of a local
correctional facility, the victim of the offense is an employee of
the local correctional facility or a probation department or is on
the premises of the facility for business purposes or as a
visitor, and the offense is committed by a person who is under
custody in the facility subsequent to the person's arrest for any
crime or delinquent act, subsequent to the person's being charged
with or convicted of any crime, or subsequent to the person's
being alleged to be or adjudicated a delinquent child.
(c) The offense occurs off the grounds of a state
correctional institution and off the grounds of an institution of
the department of youth services, the victim of the offense is an
employee of the department of rehabilitation and correction, the
department of youth services, or a probation department, the
offense occurs during the employee's official work hours and while
the employee is engaged in official work responsibilities, and the
offense is committed by a person incarcerated in a state
correctional institution or institutionalized in the department of
youth services who temporarily is outside of the institution for
any purpose, by a parolee, by an offender under transitional
control, under a community control sanction, or on an escorted
visit, by a person under post-release control, or by an offender
under any other type of supervision by a government agency.
(d) The offense occurs off the grounds of a local
correctional facility, the victim of the offense is an employee of
the local correctional facility or a probation department, the
offense occurs during the employee's official work hours and while
the employee is engaged in official work responsibilities, and the
offense is committed by a person who is under custody in the
facility subsequent to the person's arrest for any crime or
delinquent act, subsequent to the person being charged with or
convicted of any crime, or subsequent to the person being alleged
to be or adjudicated a delinquent child and who temporarily is
outside of the facility for any purpose or by a parolee, by an
offender under transitional control, under a community control
sanction, or on an escorted visit, by a person under post-release
control, or by an offender under any other type of supervision by
a government agency.
(e) The victim of the offense is a school teacher or
administrator or a school bus operator, and the offense occurs in
a school, on school premises, in a school building, on a school
bus, or while the victim is outside of school premises or a school
bus and is engaged in duties or official responsibilities
associated with the victim's employment or position as a school
teacher or administrator or a school bus operator, including, but
not limited to, driving, accompanying, or chaperoning students at
or on class or field trips, athletic events, or other school
extracurricular activities or functions outside of school
premises.
(3) If the victim of the offense is a judge, magistrate,
prosecutor, peace officer, or an investigator of the bureau of
criminal identification and investigation, a firefighter, or a
person performing emergency medical service, while in the
performance of their official duties, assault is a felony of the
fourth degree.
(4) If the victim of the offense is a judge, magistrate,
prosecutor, peace officer, or an investigator of the bureau of
criminal identification and investigation and if the victim
suffered serious physical harm as a result of the commission of
the offense, assault a violation of division (B) of this section
is a felony of the fourth degree, and the court, pursuant to
division (F) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code, shall impose
as a mandatory prison term one of the prison terms prescribed for
a felony of the fourth degree that is at least twelve months in
duration.
(5) If the victim of the offense is an officer or employee of
a public children services agency or a private child placing
agency and the offense relates to the officer's or employee's
performance or anticipated performance of official
responsibilities or duties, assault is either a felony of the
fifth degree or, if the offender previously has been convicted of
or pleaded guilty to an offense of violence, the victim of that
prior offense was an officer or employee of a public children
services agency or private child placing agency, and that prior
offense related to the officer's or employee's performance or
anticipated performance of official responsibilities or duties, a
felony of the fourth degree.
(6) If an offender who is convicted of or pleads guilty to
assault when it is a misdemeanor also is convicted of or pleads
guilty to a specification as described in section 2941.1423 of the
Revised Code that was included in the indictment, count in the
indictment, or information charging the offense, the court shall
sentence the offender to a mandatory jail term as provided in
division (G) of section 2929.24 of the Revised Code.
If an offender who is convicted of or pleads guilty to
assault when it is a felony also is convicted of or pleads guilty
to a specification as described in section 2941.1423 of the
Revised Code that was included in the indictment, count in the
indictment, or information charging the offense, except as
otherwise provided in division (C)(4) of this section, the court
shall sentence the offender to a mandatory prison term as provided
in division (D)(8) of section 2929.14 of the Revised Code.
(D) As used in this section:
(1) "Peace officer" has the same meaning as in section
2935.01 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Firefighter" has the same meaning as in section 3937.41
of the Revised Code.
(3) "Emergency medical service" has the same meaning as in
section 4765.01 of the Revised Code.
(4) "Local correctional facility" means a county,
multicounty, municipal, municipal-county, or multicounty-municipal
jail or workhouse, a minimum security jail established under
section 341.23 or 753.21 of the Revised Code, or another county,
multicounty, municipal, municipal-county, or multicounty-municipal
facility used for the custody of persons arrested for any crime or
delinquent act, persons charged with or convicted of any crime, or
persons alleged to be or adjudicated a delinquent child.
(5) "Employee of a local correctional facility" means a
person who is an employee of the political subdivision or of one
or more of the affiliated political subdivisions that operates the
local correctional facility and who operates or assists in the
operation of the facility.
(6) "School teacher or administrator" means either of the
following:
(a) A person who is employed in the public schools of the
state under a contract described in section 3319.08 of the Revised
Code in a position in which the person is required to have a
certificate issued pursuant to sections 3319.22 to 3319.311 of the
Revised Code.
(b) A person who is employed by a nonpublic school for which
the state board of education prescribes minimum standards under
section 3301.07 of the Revised Code and who is certificated in
accordance with section 3301.071 of the Revised Code.
(7) "Community control sanction" has the same meaning as in
section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.
(8) "Escorted visit" means an escorted visit granted under
section 2967.27 of the Revised Code.
(9) "Post-release control" and "transitional control" have
the same meanings as in section 2967.01 of the Revised Code.
(10) "Investigator of the bureau of criminal identification
and investigation" has the same meaning as in section 2903.11 of
the Revised Code.
(11) "Judge" and "magistrate" have the same meanings as in
section 2903.01 of the Revised Code.
(12) "Prosecutor" has the same meaning as in section 2935.01
of the Revised Code.
Sec. 2903.21. (A) No person shall knowingly cause another to
believe that the offender will cause serious physical harm to the
person or property of the other person, the other person's unborn,
or a member of the other person's immediate family.
(B) Whoever violates this section is guilty of aggravated
menacing. Except as otherwise provided in this division,
aggravated menacing is a misdemeanor of the first degree. If the
victim of the offense is a judge, a magistrate, a prosecutor, or
an officer or employee of a public children services agency or a
private child placing agency and the offense relates to the
judge's, magistrate's, prosecutor's, officer's, or employee's
performance or anticipated performance of official
responsibilities or duties, aggravated menacing is a felony of the
fifth degree or, if the offender previously has been convicted of
or pleaded guilty to an offense of violence, the victim of that
prior offense was a judge, a magistrate, a prosecutor, or an
officer or employee of a public children services agency or
private child placing agency, and that prior offense related to
the judge's, magistrate's, prosecutor's, officer's, or employee's
performance or anticipated performance of official
responsibilities or duties, a felony of the fourth degree.
(C) As used in this section:
(1) "Judge" and "magistrate" have the same meanings as in
section 2903.01 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Prosecutor" has the same meaning as in section 2935.01
of the Revised Code.
Sec. 2903.23. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Immediate family" includes a person's spouse, brothers
and sisters of the whole or half blood, children, including
adopted children and stepchildren, parents, and grandparents.
(2) "Judge" and "magistrate" have the same meanings as in
section 2903.01 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Prosecutor" has the same meaning as in section 2935.01
of the Revised Code.
(B) No person, with intent to influence or interfere with a
judge, magistrate, or prosecutor in the performance of the
judge's, magistrate's, or prosecutor's official duties or to
retaliate against a judge, magistrate, or prosecutor for any
decision made or action taken in the performance of the judge's,
magistrate's, or prosecutor's official duties, shall knowingly
threaten a judge, magistrate, or prosecutor with physical harm to
the person or property of the judge, magistrate, or prosecutor,
the judge's, magistrate's, or prosecutor's unborn, or a member of
the judge's, magistrate's, or prosecutor's immediate family.
(C) Whoever violates division (B) of this section is guilty
of threatening a judge, magistrate, or prosecutor, a felony of the
fifth degree.
Sec. 2929.04. (A) Imposition of the death penalty for
aggravated murder is precluded unless one or more of the following
is specified in the indictment or count in the indictment pursuant
to section 2941.14 of the Revised Code and proved beyond a
reasonable doubt:
(1) The offense was the assassination of the president of the
United States or a person in line of succession to the presidency,
the governor or lieutenant governor of this state, the
president-elect or vice president-elect of the United States, the
governor-elect or lieutenant governor-elect of this state, or a
candidate for any of the offices described in this division. For
purposes of this division, a person is a candidate if the person
has been nominated for election according to law, if the person
has filed a petition or petitions according to law to have the
person's name placed on the ballot in a primary or general
election, or if the person campaigns as a write-in candidate in a
primary or general election.
(2) The offense was committed for hire.
(3) The offense was committed for the purpose of escaping
detection, apprehension, trial, or punishment for another offense
committed by the offender.
(4) The offense was committed while the offender was under
detention or while the offender was at large after having broken
detention. As used in division (A)(4) of this section, "detention"
has the same meaning as in section 2921.01 of the Revised Code,
except that detention does not include hospitalization,
institutionalization, or confinement in a mental health facility
or mental retardation and developmentally disabled facility unless
at the time of the commission of the offense either of the
following circumstances apply:
(a) The offender was in the facility as a result of being
charged with a violation of a section of the Revised Code.
(b) The offender was under detention as a result of being
convicted of or pleading guilty to a violation of a section of the
Revised Code.
(5) Prior to the offense at bar, the offender was convicted
of an offense an essential element of which was the purposeful
killing of or attempt to kill another, or the offense at bar was
part of a course of conduct involving the purposeful killing of or
attempt to kill two or more persons by the offender.
(6) The victim of the offense was a law enforcement officer,
as defined in section 2911.01 of the Revised Code, a judge or
magistrate, as defined in section 2903.01 of the Revised Code, or
a prosecutor, as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code,
whom the offender had reasonable cause to know or knew to be a law
enforcement officer, judge, magistrate, or prosecutor as so
defined, and either the victim, at the time of the commission of
the offense, was engaged in the victim's duties, or it was the
offender's specific purpose to kill a law enforcement officer,
judge, magistrate, or prosecutor as so defined.
(7) The offense was committed while the offender was
committing, attempting to commit, or fleeing immediately after
committing or attempting to commit kidnapping, rape, aggravated
arson, aggravated robbery, or aggravated burglary, and either the
offender was the principal offender in the commission of the
aggravated murder or, if not the principal offender, committed the
aggravated murder with prior calculation and design.
(8) The victim of the aggravated murder was a witness to an
offense who was purposely killed to prevent the victim's testimony
in any criminal proceeding and the aggravated murder was not
committed during the commission, attempted commission, or flight
immediately after the commission or attempted commission of the
offense to which the victim was a witness, or the victim of the
aggravated murder was a witness to an offense and was purposely
killed in retaliation for the victim's testimony in any criminal
proceeding.
(9) The offender, in the commission of the offense,
purposefully caused the death of another who was under thirteen
years of age at the time of the commission of the offense, and
either the offender was the principal offender in the commission
of the offense or, if not the principal offender, committed the
offense with prior calculation and design.
(10) The offense was committed while the offender was
committing, attempting to commit, or fleeing immediately after
committing or attempting to commit terrorism.
(B) If one or more of the aggravating circumstances listed in
division (A) of this section is specified in the indictment or
count in the indictment and proved beyond a reasonable doubt, and
if the offender did not raise the matter of age pursuant to
section 2929.023 of the Revised Code or if the offender, after
raising the matter of age, was found at trial to have been
eighteen years of age or older at the time of the commission of
the offense, the court, trial jury, or panel of three judges shall
consider, and weigh against the aggravating circumstances proved
beyond a reasonable doubt, the nature and circumstances of the
offense, the history, character, and background of the offender,
and all of the following factors:
(1) Whether the victim of the offense induced or facilitated
it;
(2) Whether it is unlikely that the offense would have been
committed, but for the fact that the offender was under duress,
coercion, or strong provocation;
(3) Whether, at the time of committing the offense, the
offender, because of a mental disease or defect, lacked
substantial capacity to appreciate the criminality of the
offender's conduct or to conform the offender's conduct to the
requirements of the law;
(4) The youth of the offender;
(5) The offender's lack of a significant history of prior
criminal convictions and delinquency adjudications;
(6) If the offender was a participant in the offense but not
the principal offender, the degree of the offender's participation
in the offense and the degree of the offender's participation in
the acts that led to the death of the victim;
(7) Any other factors that are relevant to the issue of
whether the offender should be sentenced to death.
(C) The defendant shall be given great latitude in the
presentation of evidence of the factors listed in division (B) of
this section and of any other factors in mitigation of the
imposition of the sentence of death.
The existence of any of the mitigating factors listed in
division (B) of this section does not preclude the imposition of a
sentence of death on the offender but shall be weighed pursuant to
divisions (D)(2) and (3) of section 2929.03 of the Revised Code by
the trial court, trial jury, or the panel of three judges against
the aggravating circumstances the offender was found guilty of
committing.
Section 2. That existing sections 149.43, 2903.01, 2903.11,
2903.12, 2903.13, 2903.21, and 2929.04 of the Revised Code are
hereby repealed.
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