130th Ohio General Assembly
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Sub. H. B. No. 123  As Passed by the Senate
As Passed by the Senate

129th General Assembly
Regular Session
2011-2012
Sub. H. B. No. 123


Representative Hottinger 

Cosponsors: Representatives Amstutz, Sears, Anielski, Baker, Blair, Bubp, Combs, Garland, Goyal, Hackett, Johnson, Letson, McClain, Milkovich, Newbold, O'Brien, Peterson, Slaby, Uecker Speaker Batchelder 

Senators Bacon, Beagle, Schaffer, Hite, Hughes, LaRose, Obhof, Stewart, Wilson 



A BILL
To amend sections 145.27, 145.56, 145.561, 145.82, 145.95, 742.41, 742.46, 742.47, 742.64, 2329.66, 2929.192, 3305.07, 3305.08, 3305.20, 3305.22, 3307.20, 3307.41, 3307.42, 3309.22, 3309.66, 3309.661, 3309.82, 3309.95, 4121.12, 4121.123, 4121.125, 4121.32, 4121.41, 4121.44, 4121.68, 4123.35, 4123.512, 4123.52, 5505.04, 5505.22, and 5505.34; to enact sections 145.573, 742.464, 2929.193, 3305.12, 3307.373, 3309.673, and 5505.263; and to repeal sections 4121.124 and 4121.99 of the Revised Code to allow the Administrator of Workers' Compensation to waive criteria certain public employers must satisfy to become self-insuring employers; to require bills for medical and vocational rehabilitation services in claims that are ultimately denied to be paid from the Surplus Fund Account under specified circumstances; to make other changes to the Workers' Compensation Law; to provide for termination of the disability benefit of a state retirement system member convicted of certain felonies committed while serving in a position of honor, trust, or profit; to make appropriations for the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and for the Workers' Compensation Council for the biennium beginning July 1, 2011, and ending June 30, 2013; and to provide authorization and conditions for the operation of the Bureau's and the Council's programs.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 101. That sections 145.27, 145.56, 145.561, 145.82, 145.95, 742.41, 742.46, 742.47, 742.64, 2329.66, 2929.192, 3305.07, 3305.08, 3305.20, 3305.22, 3307.20, 3307.41, 3307.42, 3309.22, 3309.66, 3309.661, 3309.82, 3309.95, 4121.12, 4121.123, 4121.125, 4121.32, 4121.41, 4121.44, 4121.68, 4123.35, 4123.512, 4123.52, 5505.04, 5505.22, and 5505.34 be amended and sections 145.573, 742.464, 2929.193, 3305.12, 3307.373, 3309.673, and 5505.263 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 145.27.  (A)(1) As used in this division, "personal history record" means information maintained by the public employees retirement board on an individual who is a member, former member, contributor, former contributor, retirant, or beneficiary that includes the address, telephone number, social security number, record of contributions, correspondence with the public employees retirement system, or other information the board determines to be confidential.
(2) The records of the board shall be open to public inspection, except that the following shall be excluded, except with the written authorization of the individual concerned:
(a) The individual's statement of previous service and other information as provided for in section 145.16 of the Revised Code;
(b) The amount of a monthly allowance or benefit paid to the individual;
(c) The individual's personal history record.
(B) All medical reports and recommendations required by this chapter are privileged, except that copies as follows:
(1) Copies of such medical reports or recommendations shall be made available to the personal physician, attorney, or authorized agent of the individual concerned upon written release from the individual or the individual's agent, or when necessary for the proper administration of the fund, to the board assigned physician.
(2) Documentation required by section 2929.193 of the Revised Code shall be provided to a court holding a hearing under that section.
(C) Any person who is a member or contributor of the system shall be furnished with a statement of the amount to the credit of the individual's account upon written request. The board is not required to answer more than one such request of a person in any one year. The board may issue annual statements of accounts to members and contributors.
(D) Notwithstanding the exceptions to public inspection in division (A)(2) of this section, the board may furnish the following information:
(1) If a member, former member, contributor, former contributor, or retirant is subject to an order issued under section 2907.15 of the Revised Code or an order issued under division (A) or (B) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code or is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of section 2921.41 of the Revised Code, on written request of a prosecutor as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code, the board shall furnish to the prosecutor the information requested from the individual's personal history record.
(2) Pursuant to a court or administrative order issued pursuant to Chapter 3119., 3121., 3123., or 3125. of the Revised Code, the board shall furnish to a court or child support enforcement agency the information required under that section.
(3) At the written request of any person, the board shall provide to the person a list of the names and addresses of members, former members, contributors, former contributors, retirants, or beneficiaries. The costs of compiling, copying, and mailing the list shall be paid by such person.
(4) Within fourteen days after receiving from the director of job and family services a list of the names and social security numbers of recipients of public assistance pursuant to section 5101.181 of the Revised Code, the board shall inform the auditor of state of the name, current or most recent employer address, and social security number of each member whose name and social security number are the same as that of a person whose name or social security number was submitted by the director. The board and its employees shall, except for purposes of furnishing the auditor of state with information required by this section, preserve the confidentiality of recipients of public assistance in compliance with division (A) of section 5101.181 of the Revised Code.
(5) The system shall comply with orders issued under section 3105.87 of the Revised Code.
On the written request of an alternate payee, as defined in section 3105.80 of the Revised Code, the system shall furnish to the alternate payee information on the amount and status of any amounts payable to the alternate payee under an order issued under section 3105.171 or 3105.65 of the Revised Code.
(6) At the request of any person, the board shall make available to the person copies of all documents, including resumes, in the board's possession regarding filling a vacancy of an employee member or retirant member of the board. The person who made the request shall pay the cost of compiling, copying, and mailing the documents. The information described in division (D)(6) of this section is a public record.
(7) The system shall provide the notice required by section 145.573 of the Revised Code to the prosecutor assigned to the case.
(E) A statement that contains information obtained from the system's records that is signed by the executive director or an officer of the system and to which the system's official seal is affixed, or copies of the system's records to which the signature and seal are attached, shall be received as true copies of the system's records in any court or before any officer of this state.
Sec. 145.56.  The right of an individual to a pension, an annuity, or a retirement allowance itself, the right of an individual to any optional benefit, any other right accrued or accruing to any individual, under this chapter, or under any municipal retirement system established subject to this chapter under the laws of this state or any charter, the various funds created by this chapter, or under such municipal retirement system, and all moneys, investments, and income from moneys or investments are exempt from any state tax, except the tax imposed by section 5747.02 of the Revised Code and are exempt from any county, municipal, or other local tax, except taxes imposed pursuant to section 5748.02 or 5748.08 of the Revised Code and, except as provided in sections 145.57, 145.572, 145.573, 3105.171, 3105.65, and 3115.32 and Chapters 3119., 3121., 3123., and 3125. of the Revised Code, shall not be subject to execution, garnishment, attachment, the operation of bankruptcy or insolvency laws, or other process of law whatsoever, and shall be unassignable except as specifically provided in this chapter and sections 3105.171, 3105.65, and 3115.32 and Chapters 3119., 3121., 3123., and 3125. of the Revised Code.
Sec. 145.561.  The Except as provided in section 145.573 of the Revised Code, the granting of a retirement allowance, annuity, pension, or other benefit to any person pursuant to action of the public employees retirement board vests a right in such person, so long as he the person remains the recipient of any benefit of the funds established by section 145.23 of the Revised Code, to receive such retirement allowance, annuity, pension, or other benefit at the rate fixed at the time of granting such retirement allowance, annuity, pension, or other benefit. Such right shall also be vested with equal effect in the recipient of a grant heretofore made from any of the funds named in section 145.23 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 145.573.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a disability benefit granted under this chapter is subject to an order issued under section 2929.193 of the Revised Code. The public employees retirement board shall comply with the order.
On receipt of notice under section 2901.43 of the Revised Code that a public employees retirement system member is charged with an offense listed in division (D) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code under the circumstances specified in that division, the system shall determine whether the member has been granted a disability benefit. If so, the system shall send written notice to the prosecutor assigned to the case that the member has been granted a disability benefit under this chapter and may be subject to section 2929.193 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 145.82.  (A) Except as provided in divisions (B) and (C) of this section, sections 145.201 to 145.70 of the Revised Code do not apply to a PERS defined contribution plan, except that a PERS defined contribution plan may incorporate provisions of those sections as specified in the plan document.
(B) The following sections of Chapter 145. of the Revised Code apply to a PERS defined contribution plan: 145.22, 145.221, 145.23, 145.25, 145.26, 145.27, 145.296, 145.38, 145.382, 145.383, 145.384, 145.391, 145.47, 145.48, 145.483, 145.51, 145.52, 145.53, 145.54, 145.55, 145.56, 145.563, 145.57, 145.571, 145.572, 145.573, 145.69, and 145.70 of the Revised Code.
(C) A PERS defined contribution plan that includes definitely determinable benefits may incorporate by reference all or part of sections 145.201 to 145.79 of the Revised Code to allow a member participating in the plan to purchase service credit or to be eligible for any of the following:
(1) Retirement, disability, survivor, or death benefits;
(2) Health or long-term care insurance or any other type of health care benefit;
(3) Additional increases under section 145.323 of the Revised Code;
(4) A refund of contributions made by or on behalf of a member.
With respect to the benefits described in division (C)(1) of this section, the public employees retirement board may establish eligibility requirements and benefit formulas or amounts that differ from those of members participating in the PERS defined benefit plan. With respect to the purchase of service credit by a member participating in a PERS defined contribution plan, the board may reduce the cost of the service credit to reflect the different benefit formula established for the member.
Sec. 145.95.  Subject to sections 145.38, 145.56, 145.57, and 145.572, and 145.573 of the Revised Code, the right of a member participating in a PERS defined contribution plan to any payment or benefit accruing from contributions made by or on behalf of the member under sections 145.85 and 145.86 of the Revised Code shall vest in accordance with this section.
A member's right to any payment or benefit that is based on the member's contributions is nonforfeitable.
A member's right to any payment or benefit that is based on contributions by the member's employer is nonforfeitable as specified by the plan selected by the member.
Sec. 742.41.  (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Other system retirant" has the same meaning as in section 742.26 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Personal history record" includes a member's, former member's, or other system retirant's name, address, telephone number, social security number, record of contributions, correspondence with the Ohio police and fire pension fund, status of any application for benefits, and any other information deemed confidential by the trustees of the fund.
(B) The treasurer of state shall furnish annually to the board of trustees of the fund a sworn statement of the amount of the funds in the treasurer of state's custody belonging to the Ohio police and fire pension fund. The records of the fund shall be open for public inspection except for the following, which shall be excluded, except with the written authorization of the individual concerned:
(1) The individual's personal history record;
(2) Any information identifying, by name and address, the amount of a monthly allowance or benefit paid to the individual.
(C) All medical reports and recommendations required are privileged, except that copies as follows:
(1) Copies of such medical reports or recommendations shall be made available to the personal physician, attorney, or authorized agent of the individual concerned upon written release received from the individual or the individual's agent or, when necessary for the proper administration of the fund, to the board-assigned physician.
(2) Documentation required by section 2929.193 of the Revised Code shall be provided to a court holding a hearing under that section.
(D) Any person who is a member of the fund or an other system retirant shall be furnished with a statement of the amount to the credit of the person's individual account upon the person's written request. The fund need not answer more than one such request of a person in any one year.
(E) Notwithstanding the exceptions to public inspection in division (B) of this section, the fund may furnish the following information:
(1) If a member, former member, or other system retirant is subject to an order issued under section 2907.15 of the Revised Code or an order issued under division (A) or (B) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code or is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of section 2921.41 of the Revised Code, on written request of a prosecutor as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code, the fund shall furnish to the prosecutor the information requested from the individual's personal history record.
(2) Pursuant to a court order issued pursuant to Chapter 3119., 3121., 3123., or 3125. of the Revised Code, the fund shall furnish to a court or child support enforcement agency the information required under that section.
(3) At the request of any organization or association of members of the fund, the fund shall provide a list of the names and addresses of members of the fund and other system retirants. The fund shall comply with the request of such organization or association at least once a year and may impose a reasonable charge for the list.
(4) Within fourteen days after receiving from the director of job and family services a list of the names and social security numbers of recipients of public assistance pursuant to section 5101.181 of the Revised Code, the fund shall inform the auditor of state of the name, current or most recent employer address, and social security number of each member or other system retirant whose name and social security number are the same as that of a person whose name or social security number was submitted by the director. The fund and its employees shall, except for purposes of furnishing the auditor of state with information required by this section, preserve the confidentiality of recipients of public assistance in compliance with division (A) of section 5101.181 of the Revised Code.
(5) The fund shall comply with orders issued under section 3105.87 of the Revised Code.
On the written request of an alternate payee, as defined in section 3105.80 of the Revised Code, the fund shall furnish to the alternate payee information on the amount and status of any amounts payable to the alternate payee under an order issued under section 3105.171 or 3105.65 of the Revised Code.
(6) At the request of any person, the fund shall make available to the person copies of all documents, including resumes, in the fund's possession regarding filling a vacancy of a police officer employee member, firefighter employee member, police retirant member, or firefighter retirant member of the board of trustees. The person who made the request shall pay the cost of compiling, copying, and mailing the documents. The information described in this division is a public record.
(7) The fund shall provide the notice required by section 742.464 of the Revised Code to the prosecutor assigned to the case.
(F) A statement that contains information obtained from the fund's records that is signed by the secretary of the board of trustees of the Ohio police and fire pension fund and to which the board's official seal is affixed, or copies of the fund's records to which the signature and seal are attached, shall be received as true copies of the fund's records in any court or before any officer of this state.
Sec. 742.46.  The Except as provided in section 742.464 of the Revised Code, the granting of a benefit or pension to any person under sections 742.01 to 742.61 of the Revised Code, other than a person participating in the deferred retirement option plan established under section 742.43 of the Revised Code, vests a right in such person to obtain and receive the amount of such benefit or pension granted to the person subject to sections 742.01 to 742.61 of the Revised Code. Subject to section sections 742.444 and 742.464 of the Revised Code, a person participating in the deferred retirement option plan vests in the right to obtain and receive the amount accrued to the benefit of the person when the person ceases participating in the plan.
Such right may be enforced by an action in mandamus instituted in the court of common pleas in the county in which the person granted such benefit or pension resides.
Sec. 742.464.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a disability benefit granted under this chapter is subject to an order issued under section 2929.193 of the Revised Code. The board of trustees of the Ohio police and fire pension fund shall comply with the order.
On receipt of notice under section 2901.43 of the Revised Code that an Ohio police and fire pension fund member is charged with an offense listed in division (D) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code under the circumstances specified in that division, the fund shall determine whether the member has been granted a disability benefit. If so, the fund shall send written notice to the prosecutor assigned to the case that the member has been granted a disability benefit under this chapter and may be subject to section 2929.193 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 742.47.  Except as provided in sections 742.461, 742.463, 742.464, 3105.171, 3105.65, and 3115.32 and Chapters 3119., 3121., 3123., and 3125. of the Revised Code, sums of money due or to become due to any individual from the Ohio police and fire pension fund are not liable to attachment, garnishment, levy, or seizure under any legal or equitable process or any other process of law whatsoever, whether those sums remain with the treasurer of the fund or any officer or agent of the board of trustees of the fund or are in the course of transmission to the individual entitled to them, but shall inure wholly to the benefit of that individual.
Sec. 742.64.  As used in this section, "alternate payee," "benefit," and "lump sum payment" have the same meanings as in section 3105.80 of the Revised Code.
If a person who is a disability benefit recipient or an alternate payee, as defined in section 3105.80 of the Revised Code, is paid any amount from a benefit or lump sum payment under an order issued under section 3105.171 or 3105.65 of the Revised Code by the Ohio police and fire pension fund to which the person is not entitled, the person shall repay the fund. If the person fails to repay, the fund shall withhold the amount due from any benefit or payment due the person under the order or may collect the amount in any other manner provided by law.
Sec. 2329.66.  (A) Every person who is domiciled in this state may hold property exempt from execution, garnishment, attachment, or sale to satisfy a judgment or order, as follows:
(1)(a) In the case of a judgment or order regarding money owed for health care services rendered or health care supplies provided to the person or a dependent of the person, one parcel or item of real or personal property that the person or a dependent of the person uses as a residence. Division (A)(1)(a) of this section does not preclude, affect, or invalidate the creation under this chapter of a judgment lien upon the exempted property but only delays the enforcement of the lien until the property is sold or otherwise transferred by the owner or in accordance with other applicable laws to a person or entity other than the surviving spouse or surviving minor children of the judgment debtor. Every person who is domiciled in this state may hold exempt from a judgment lien created pursuant to division (A)(1)(a) of this section the person's interest, not to exceed twenty thousand two hundred dollars, in the exempted property.
(b) In the case of all other judgments and orders, the person's interest, not to exceed twenty thousand two hundred dollars, in one parcel or item of real or personal property that the person or a dependent of the person uses as a residence.
(2) The person's interest, not to exceed three thousand two hundred twenty-five dollars, in one motor vehicle;
(3) The person's interest, not to exceed four hundred dollars, in cash on hand, money due and payable, money to become due within ninety days, tax refunds, and money on deposit with a bank, savings and loan association, credit union, public utility, landlord, or other person, other than personal earnings.
(4)(a) The person's interest, not to exceed five hundred twenty-five dollars in any particular item or ten thousand seven hundred seventy-five dollars in aggregate value, in household furnishings, household goods, wearing apparel, appliances, books, animals, crops, musical instruments, firearms, and hunting and fishing equipment that are held primarily for the personal, family, or household use of the person;
(b) The person's aggregate interest in one or more items of jewelry, not to exceed one thousand three hundred fifty dollars, held primarily for the personal, family, or household use of the person or any of the person's dependents.
(5) The person's interest, not to exceed an aggregate of two thousand twenty-five dollars, in all implements, professional books, or tools of the person's profession, trade, or business, including agriculture;
(6)(a) The person's interest in a beneficiary fund set apart, appropriated, or paid by a benevolent association or society, as exempted by section 2329.63 of the Revised Code;
(b) The person's interest in contracts of life or endowment insurance or annuities, as exempted by section 3911.10 of the Revised Code;
(c) The person's interest in a policy of group insurance or the proceeds of a policy of group insurance, as exempted by section 3917.05 of the Revised Code;
(d) The person's interest in money, benefits, charity, relief, or aid to be paid, provided, or rendered by a fraternal benefit society, as exempted by section 3921.18 of the Revised Code;
(e) The person's interest in the portion of benefits under policies of sickness and accident insurance and in lump sum payments for dismemberment and other losses insured under those policies, as exempted by section 3923.19 of the Revised Code.
(7) The person's professionally prescribed or medically necessary health aids;
(8) The person's interest in a burial lot, including, but not limited to, exemptions under section 517.09 or 1721.07 of the Revised Code;
(9) The person's interest in the following:
(a) Moneys paid or payable for living maintenance or rights, as exempted by section 3304.19 of the Revised Code;
(b) Workers' compensation, as exempted by section 4123.67 of the Revised Code;
(c) Unemployment compensation benefits, as exempted by section 4141.32 of the Revised Code;
(d) Cash assistance payments under the Ohio works first program, as exempted by section 5107.75 of the Revised Code;
(e) Benefits and services under the prevention, retention, and contingency program, as exempted by section 5108.08 of the Revised Code;
(f) Disability financial assistance payments, as exempted by section 5115.06 of the Revised Code;
(g) Payments under section 24 or 32 of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C. 1, as amended.
(10)(a) Except in cases in which the person was convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of section 2921.41 of the Revised Code and in which an order for the withholding of restitution from payments was issued under division (C)(2)(b) of that section, in cases in which an order for withholding was issued under section 2907.15 of the Revised Code, and in cases in which an order for forfeiture was issued under division (A) or (B) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code, and in cases in which an order was issued under 2929.193 of the Revised Code, and only to the extent provided in the order, and except as provided in sections 3105.171, 3105.63, 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, and 3123.06 of the Revised Code, the person's right to a pension, benefit, annuity, retirement allowance, or accumulated contributions, the person's right to a participant account in any deferred compensation program offered by the Ohio public employees deferred compensation board, a government unit, or a municipal corporation, or the person's other accrued or accruing rights, as exempted by section 145.56, 146.13, 148.09, 742.47, 3307.41, 3309.66, or 5505.22 of the Revised Code, and the person's right to benefits from the Ohio public safety officers death benefit fund;
(b) Except as provided in sections 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, and 3123.06 of the Revised Code, the person's right to receive a payment under any pension, annuity, or similar plan or contract, not including a payment from a stock bonus or profit-sharing plan or a payment included in division (A)(6)(b) or (10)(a) of this section, on account of illness, disability, death, age, or length of service, to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the person and any of the person's dependents, except if all the following apply:
(i) The plan or contract was established by or under the auspices of an insider that employed the person at the time the person's rights under the plan or contract arose.
(ii) The payment is on account of age or length of service.
(iii) The plan or contract is not qualified under the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C. 1, as amended.
(c) Except for any portion of the assets that were deposited for the purpose of evading the payment of any debt and except as provided in sections 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, and 3123.06 of the Revised Code, the person's right in the assets held in, or to receive any payment under, any individual retirement account, individual retirement annuity, "Roth IRA," or education individual retirement account that provides benefits by reason of illness, disability, death, or age, to the extent that the assets, payments, or benefits described in division (A)(10)(c) of this section are attributable to any of the following:
(i) Contributions of the person that were less than or equal to the applicable limits on deductible contributions to an individual retirement account or individual retirement annuity in the year that the contributions were made, whether or not the person was eligible to deduct the contributions on the person's federal tax return for the year in which the contributions were made;
(ii) Contributions of the person that were less than or equal to the applicable limits on contributions to a Roth IRA or education individual retirement account in the year that the contributions were made;
(iii) Contributions of the person that are within the applicable limits on rollover contributions under subsections 219, 402(c), 403(a)(4), 403(b)(8), 408(b), 408(d)(3), 408A(c)(3)(B), 408A(d)(3), and 530(d)(5) of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C.A. 1, as amended.
(d) Except for any portion of the assets that were deposited for the purpose of evading the payment of any debt and except as provided in sections 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, and 3123.06 of the Revised Code, the person's right in the assets held in, or to receive any payment under, any Keogh or "H.R. 10" plan that provides benefits by reason of illness, disability, death, or age, to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the person and any of the person's dependents.
(11) The person's right to receive spousal support, child support, an allowance, or other maintenance to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the person and any of the person's dependents;
(12) The person's right to receive, or moneys received during the preceding twelve calendar months from, any of the following:
(a) An award of reparations under sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised Code, to the extent exempted by division (D) of section 2743.66 of the Revised Code;
(b) A payment on account of the wrongful death of an individual of whom the person was a dependent on the date of the individual's death, to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the person and any of the person's dependents;
(c) Except in cases in which the person who receives the payment is an inmate, as defined in section 2969.21 of the Revised Code, and in which the payment resulted from a civil action or appeal against a government entity or employee, as defined in section 2969.21 of the Revised Code, a payment, not to exceed twenty thousand two hundred dollars, on account of personal bodily injury, not including pain and suffering or compensation for actual pecuniary loss, of the person or an individual for whom the person is a dependent;
(d) A payment in compensation for loss of future earnings of the person or an individual of whom the person is or was a dependent, to the extent reasonably necessary for the support of the debtor and any of the debtor's dependents.
(13) Except as provided in sections 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, and 3123.06 of the Revised Code, personal earnings of the person owed to the person for services in an amount equal to the greater of the following amounts:
(a) If paid weekly, thirty times the current federal minimum hourly wage; if paid biweekly, sixty times the current federal minimum hourly wage; if paid semimonthly, sixty-five times the current federal minimum hourly wage; or if paid monthly, one hundred thirty times the current federal minimum hourly wage that is in effect at the time the earnings are payable, as prescribed by the "Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938," 52 Stat. 1060, 29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1), as amended;
(b) Seventy-five per cent of the disposable earnings owed to the person.
(14) The person's right in specific partnership property, as exempted by division (B)(3) of section 1775.24 of the Revised Code or the person's rights in a partnership pursuant to section 1776.50 of the Revised Code, except as otherwise set forth in section 1776.50 of the Revised Code;
(15) A seal and official register of a notary public, as exempted by section 147.04 of the Revised Code;
(16) The person's interest in a tuition unit or a payment under section 3334.09 of the Revised Code pursuant to a tuition payment contract, as exempted by section 3334.15 of the Revised Code;
(17) Any other property that is specifically exempted from execution, attachment, garnishment, or sale by federal statutes other than the "Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978," 92 Stat. 2549, 11 U.S.C.A. 101, as amended;
(18) The person's aggregate interest in any property, not to exceed one thousand seventy-five dollars, except that division (A)(18) of this section applies only in bankruptcy proceedings.
(B) On April 1, 2010, and on the first day of April in each third calendar year after 2010, each dollar amount set forth in this section shall be adjusted, when determining the amount that is exempt from execution, garnishment, attachment, or sale pursuant to this section, to reflect the change in the consumer price index for all urban consumers, as published by the United States department of labor, or, if that index is no longer published, a generally available comparable index, for the three-year period ending on the thirty-first day of December of the preceding year. Any adjustments required by this division shall be rounded to the nearest twenty-five dollars.
(C) As used in this section:
(1) "Disposable earnings" means net earnings after the garnishee has made deductions required by law, excluding the deductions ordered pursuant to section 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, or 3123.06 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Insider" means:
(a) If the person who claims an exemption is an individual, a relative of the individual, a relative of a general partner of the individual, a partnership in which the individual is a general partner, a general partner of the individual, or a corporation of which the individual is a director, officer, or in control;
(b) If the person who claims an exemption is a corporation, a director or officer of the corporation; a person in control of the corporation; a partnership in which the corporation is a general partner; a general partner of the corporation; or a relative of a general partner, director, officer, or person in control of the corporation;
(c) If the person who claims an exemption is a partnership, a general partner in the partnership; a general partner of the partnership; a person in control of the partnership; a partnership in which the partnership is a general partner; or a relative in, a general partner of, or a person in control of the partnership;
(d) An entity or person to which or whom any of the following applies:
(i) The entity directly or indirectly owns, controls, or holds with power to vote, twenty per cent or more of the outstanding voting securities of the person who claims an exemption, unless the entity holds the securities in a fiduciary or agency capacity without sole discretionary power to vote the securities or holds the securities solely to secure to debt and the entity has not in fact exercised the power to vote.
(ii) The entity is a corporation, twenty per cent or more of whose outstanding voting securities are directly or indirectly owned, controlled, or held with power to vote, by the person who claims an exemption or by an entity to which division (C)(2)(d)(i) of this section applies.
(iii) A person whose business is operated under a lease or operating agreement by the person who claims an exemption, or a person substantially all of whose business is operated under an operating agreement with the person who claims an exemption.
(iv) The entity operates the business or all or substantially all of the property of the person who claims an exemption under a lease or operating agreement.
(e) An insider, as otherwise defined in this section, of a person or entity to which division (C)(2)(d)(i), (ii), (iii), or (iv) of this section applies, as if the person or entity were a person who claims an exemption;
(f) A managing agent of the person who claims an exemption.
(3) "Participant account" has the same meaning as in section 148.01 of the Revised Code.
(4) "Government unit" has the same meaning as in section 148.06 of the Revised Code.
(D) For purposes of this section, "interest" shall be determined as follows:
(1) In bankruptcy proceedings, as of the date a petition is filed with the bankruptcy court commencing a case under Title 11 of the United States Code;
(2) In all cases other than bankruptcy proceedings, as of the date of an appraisal, if necessary under section 2329.68 of the Revised Code, or the issuance of a writ of execution.
An interest, as determined under division (D)(1) or (2) of this section, shall not include the amount of any lien otherwise valid pursuant to section 2329.661 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 2929.192. (A) If an offender is being sentenced for any felony offense listed in division (D) of this section that was committed on or after the effective date of this section May 13, 2008, if the offender committed the offense while serving in a position of honor, trust, or profit, and if the offender, at the time of the commission of the offense, was a member of any public retirement system or a participant in an alternative retirement plan, in addition to any other sanction it imposes under section 2929.14, 2929.15, 2929.16, 2929.17, or 2929.18 of the Revised Code but subject to division (B) of this section, the court shall order the forfeiture to the public retirement system or alternative retirement plan in which the offender was a member or participant of the offender's right to a retirement allowance, pension, disability benefit, or other right or benefit, other than payment of the offender's accumulated contributions, earned by reason of the offender's being a member of the public retirement system or alternative retirement plan. A forfeiture ordered under this division is part of, and shall be included in, the sentence of the offender. The court shall send a copy of the journal entry imposing sentence on the offender to the appropriate public retirement system or alternative retirement plan in which the offender was a member or participant.
(B) In any case in which a sentencing court is required to order forfeiture of an offender's right to a retirement allowance, pension, disability benefit, or other right or benefit under division (A) of this section, the offender may request a hearing regarding the forfeiture by delivering to the court prior to sentencing a written request for a hearing. If a request for a hearing is made by the offender prior to sentencing, the court shall conduct the hearing before sentencing. The court shall notify the offender, the prosecutor who handled the case in which the offender was convicted of or pleaded guilty to the offense for which the forfeiture order was imposed, and the appropriate public retirement system, or alternative retirement plan provider, whichever is applicable, or, if more than one is specified in the motion, the applicable combination of these, of the hearing. A hearing scheduled under this division shall be limited to a consideration of whether there is good cause based on evidence presented by the offender for the forfeiture order not to be issued. If the court determines based on evidence presented by the offender that there is good cause for the forfeiture order not to be issued, the court shall not issue the forfeiture order. If the offender does not request a hearing prior to sentencing or if the court conducts a hearing but does not determine based on evidence presented by the offender that there is good cause for the forfeiture order not to be issued, the court shall order the forfeiture described in division (A) of this section in accordance with that division and shall send a copy of the journal entry imposing sentence on the offender to the appropriate public retirement system or alternative retirement plan in which the offender was a member or participant.
(C) Upon receipt of a copy of the journal entry imposing sentence on an offender under division (A) or (B) of this section that contains an order of forfeiture of a type described in that division, the public retirement system or alternative retirement plan in which the offender was a member or participant shall comply with the forfeiture order on application for a refund of the accumulated contributions of the member or participant.
(D) Division (A) of this section applies regarding an offender who is convicted of or pleads guilty to any of the following offenses committed on or after the effective date of this section May 13, 2008, that is a felony and who committed the offense while serving in a position of honor, trust, or profit:
(1) A violation of section 2921.02 or 2923.32 of the Revised Code or a violation of section 2921.41 of the Revised Code that is a felony of the third degree;
(2) A violation of an existing or former municipal ordinance or law of this or any other state or the United States that is substantially equivalent to any violation listed in division (D)(1) of this section;
(3) A conspiracy to commit, attempt to commit, or complicity in committing any violation listed in division (D)(1) or described in division (D)(2) of this section.
(E) For purposes of divisions (A) and (D) of this section, a violation of section 2923.32 of the Revised Code or any other violation or offense that includes as an element a course of conduct or the occurrence of multiple acts is "committed on or after the effective date of this section May 13, 2008," if the course of conduct continues, one or more of the multiple acts occurs, or the subject person's accountability for the course of conduct or for one or more of the multiple acts continues, on or after the effective date of this section May 13, 2008.
(F) As used in this section:
(1) "Position (a) For the period beginning May 13, 2008, and ending the day before the effective date of this amendment, "position of honor, trust, or profit" means any of the following:
(a)(i) An elective office of the state or any political subdivision of the state;
(b)(ii) A position on any board or commission of the state that is appointed by the governor or the attorney general;
(c)(iii) A position as a public official or employee, as defined in section 102.01 of the Revised Code, who is required to file a disclosure statement under section 102.02 of the Revised Code;
(d)(iv) A position as a prosecutor, as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code;
(e)(v) A position as a peace officer, as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code, or as the superintendent or a trooper of the state highway patrol.
(b) On and after the effective date of this amendment, "position of honor, trust, or profit" has the same meaning as in division (F)(1)(a) of this section, except that it also includes a position in which, in the course of public employment, an employee has control over the expenditure of public funds of one hundred thousand dollars or more annually.
(2) "Public retirement system" and "alternative retirement plan" have the same meanings as in section 2907.15 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Accumulated contributions" means whichever of the following is applicable:
(a) Regarding an offender who is a member of the public employees retirement system, except as otherwise provided in division (F)(3)(a) of this section, "accumulated contributions" has the same meaning as in section 145.01 of the Revised Code. For a member participating in a PERS defined contribution plan, "accumulated contributions" means the contributions made under section 145.85 of the Revised Code and any earnings on those contributions. For a member participating in a PERS defined contribution plan that includes definitely determinable benefits, "accumulated contributions" means the contributions made under section 145.85 of the Revised Code, any earnings on those contributions, and additionally any amounts paid by the member to purchase service credits.
(b) Regarding an offender who is or was a member of the Ohio police and fire pension fund, "accumulated contributions" means the amount payable to a member under division (G) of section 742.37 of the Revised Code.
(c) Regarding an offender who is a member of the state teachers retirement system, except as otherwise provided in division (F)(3)(c) of this section, "accumulated contributions" has the same meaning as in section 3307.50 of the Revised Code. For a member participating in an STRS defined contribution plan, "accumulated contributions" means the contributions made under section 3307.26 of the Revised Code to participate in a plan established under section 3307.81 of the Revised Code and any earnings on those contributions. For a member participating in a STRS defined contribution plan that includes definitely determinable benefits, "accumulated contributions" means the contributions made under section 3307.26 of the Revised Code to participate in a plan established under section 3307.81 of the Revised Code, any earnings on those contributions, and additionally any amounts paid by the member to purchase service credits.
(d) Regarding an offender who is or was a member of the school employees retirement system, "accumulated contributions" has the same meaning as in section 3309.01 of the Revised Code and also includes employee contributions made under section 3309.85 of the Revised Code and any earnings on those contributions.
(e) Regarding an offender who is or was a member of the state highway patrol retirement system, "accumulated contributions" has the same meaning as in section 5505.01 of the Revised Code.
(f) Regarding an offender who is or was participating in an alternative retirement plan, "accumulated contributions" means the amounts contributed to an alternative retirement plan participant's account by the plan participant pursuant to section 3305.06 of the Revised Code and any earnings on those contributions.
Sec. 2929.193.  (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Position of honor, trust, or profit" has the same meaning as in division (F)(1)(b) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Public retirement system," "alternative retirement plan," and "prosecutor" have the same meanings as in section 2907.15 of the Revised Code.
(B) This section applies to an offender to whom all of the following apply:
(1) The offender is being sentenced for an offense listed in division (D) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code that is a felony and was committed on or after the effective date of this section.
(2) The offense was committed while the offender was serving in a position of honor, trust, or profit.
(3) At the time of the offense, the offender was one of the following:
(a) A member of a public retirement system;
(b) A contributor to a public retirement system receiving or eligible to receive a benefit under section 145.384, 742.26, 3307.352, or 3309.344 of the Revised Code;
(c) A participant in an alternative retirement plan.
(4) Prior to the final disposition of the case, the offender was granted a disability benefit by a public retirement system or an alternative retirement plan provider.
(C)(1) Prior to sentencing an offender subject to this section, the court shall hold a hearing regarding the condition for which the offender was granted a disability benefit. Not later than ten days prior to the scheduled date of the hearing, the court shall give written notice of the hearing to the offender, the prosecutor who handled the case, and the appropriate public retirement system, alternative retirement plan provider, or, if more than one is providing a disability benefit, the applicable combination of these. The hearing shall be limited to a consideration of whether the offender's disabling condition arose out of the commission of the offense the offender was convicted of or pleaded guilty to.
The system or provider shall submit to the court the offender's medical reports and recommendations, and the offender's disability application. If the court determines based on those documents that the disabling condition arose out of the commission of the offense the offender was convicted of or pleaded guilty to, the court shall order the system or provider to terminate the disability benefit.
(2) Any disability benefit paid the offender prior to its termination may be recovered in accordance with section 145.563, 742.64, 3305.22, 3307.47, 3309.70, or 5505.34 of the Revised Code.
(D) For purposes of this section, a violation of section 2923.32 of the Revised Code or any other violation or offense that includes as an element a course of conduct or the occurrence of multiple acts is "committed on or after the effective date of this section" if the course of conduct continues, one or more of the multiple acts occurs, or the offender's accountability for the course of conduct or for one or more of the multiple acts continues on or after the effective date of this section.
Sec. 3305.07.  (A) Neither the state nor a public institution of higher education shall be a party to any contract purchased in whole or in part with contributions to an alternative retirement plan made under section 3305.06 of the Revised Code. No retirement, death, or other benefits shall be payable by the state or by any public institution of higher education under any alternative retirement plan elected pursuant to this chapter.
(B)(1) Except as provided under division (B)(2) of this section and sections 3305.08, 3305.09, and 3305.11, and 3305.12 of the Revised Code, benefits shall be paid to an electing employee or the employee's beneficiaries in accordance with the alternative retirement plan adopted by the public institution of higher education at which the employee is employed.
(2) A benefit or payment shall not be paid under an investment option prior to the time an electing employee dies, terminates employment with the public institution of higher education, or, if provided under the alternative retirement plan or investment option, becomes disabled, except that the provider of the investment option shall transfer the employee's account balance to another provider as provided under section 3305.053 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3305.08.  Any payment, benefit, or other right accruing to any electing employee under a contract entered into for purposes of an alternative retirement plan and all moneys, investments, and income of those contracts are exempt from any state tax, except the tax imposed by section 5747.02 of the Revised Code, are exempt from any county, municipal, or other local tax, except taxes imposed pursuant to section 5748.02 or 5748.08 of the Revised Code, and except as provided in sections 3105.171, 3105.65, 3115.32, 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, 3123.06, and 3305.09, and 3305.12 of the Revised Code, shall not be subject to execution, garnishment, attachment, the operation of bankruptcy or the insolvency law, or other process of law, and shall be unassignable except as specifically provided in this section and sections 3105.171, 3105.65, 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, 3115.32, and 3123.06 of the Revised Code or in any contract the electing employee has entered into for purposes of an alternative retirement plan.
Sec. 3305.12.  Notwithstanding any other provision of an alternative retirement plan provided under this chapter, a disability benefit granted under the alternative retirement plan is subject to an order issued under section 2929.193 of the Revised Code. The entity providing the alternative retirement plan shall comply with the order.
On receipt of notice under section 2901.43 of the Revised Code that an alternative retirement plan participant is charged with an offense listed in division (D) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code under the circumstances specified in that division, the entity shall determine whether the participant has been granted a disability benefit. If so, the entity shall send written notice to the prosecutor assigned to the case that the participant has been granted a disability benefit under an alternative retirement plan and may be subject to section 2929.193 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3305.20.  As used in this section, "personal history record" means information maintained by the entity providing an alternative retirement plan on an individual who participates in the plan that includes the address, telephone number, social security number, record of contributions, correspondence with the plan, or other information the entity providing the plan determines to be confidential.
The entity shall comply with orders issued under section 3105.87 of the Revised Code requiring it to provide information from a participant's personal history record.
On The entity shall furnish information as follows:
(A) On the written request of an alternate payee, as defined in section 3105.80 of the Revised Code, the entity providing the alternative retirement plan shall furnish to the alternate payee information on the amount and status of any amounts payable to the alternate payee under an order issued under section 3105.171 or 3105.65 of the Revised Code.
(B) Documentation required by section 2929.193 of the Revised Code shall be provided to a court holding a hearing under that section.
(C) The notice required by section 3305.12 of the Revised Code shall be provided to the prosecutor assigned to the case.
Sec. 3305.22.  As used in this section, "alternate payee" has the same meaning as in section 3105.80 of the Revised Code.
If a person who is a disability benefit recipient or an alternate payee, as defined in section 3105.80 of the Revised Code, is paid any amount under an order issued under section 3105.171 or 3105.65 of the Revised Code to which the person is not entitled by an entity providing an alternative retirement plan, the person shall repay the entity. If the person fails to repay, the entity shall withhold the amount from any benefit or payment due the person under the order or may collect the amount in any other manner provided by law.
Sec. 3307.20.  (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Personal history record" means information maintained by the state teachers retirement board on an individual who is a member, former member, contributor, former contributor, retirant, or beneficiary that includes the address, telephone number, social security number, record of contributions, correspondence with the state teachers retirement system, or other information the board determines to be confidential.
(2) "Retirant" has the same meaning as in section 3307.50 of the Revised Code.
(B) The records of the board shall be open to public inspection, except for the following, which shall be excluded, except with the written authorization of the individual concerned:
(1) The individual's personal records provided for in section 3307.23 of the Revised Code;
(2) The individual's personal history record;
(3) Any information identifying, by name and address, the amount of a monthly allowance or benefit paid to the individual.
(C) All medical reports and recommendations under sections 3307.62, 3307.64, and 3307.66 of the Revised Code are privileged, except that copies as follows:
(1) Copies of such medical reports or recommendations shall be made available to the personal physician, attorney, or authorized agent of the individual concerned upon written release received from the individual or the individual's agent, or, when necessary for the proper administration of the fund, to the board assigned physician.
(2) Documentation required by section 2929.193 of the Revised Code shall be provided to a court holding a hearing under that section.
(D) Any person who is a member or contributor of the system shall be furnished, on written request, with a statement of the amount to the credit of the person's account. The board need not answer more than one request of a person in any one year.
(E) Notwithstanding the exceptions to public inspection in division (B) of this section, the board may furnish the following information:
(1) If a member, former member, retirant, contributor, or former contributor is subject to an order issued under section 2907.15 of the Revised Code or an order issued under division (A) or (B) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code or is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of section 2921.41 of the Revised Code, on written request of a prosecutor as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code, the board shall furnish to the prosecutor the information requested from the individual's personal history record.
(2) Pursuant to a court or administrative order issued under section 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, or 3123.06 of the Revised Code, the board shall furnish to a court or child support enforcement agency the information required under that section.
(3) At the written request of any person, the board shall provide to the person a list of the names and addresses of members, former members, retirants, contributors, former contributors, or beneficiaries. The costs of compiling, copying, and mailing the list shall be paid by such person.
(4) Within fourteen days after receiving from the director of job and family services a list of the names and social security numbers of recipients of public assistance pursuant to section 5101.181 of the Revised Code, the board shall inform the auditor of state of the name, current or most recent employer address, and social security number of each member whose name and social security number are the same as that of a person whose name or social security number was submitted by the director. The board and its employees shall, except for purposes of furnishing the auditor of state with information required by this section, preserve the confidentiality of recipients of public assistance in compliance with division (A) of section 5101.181 of the Revised Code.
(5) The system shall comply with orders issued under section 3105.87 of the Revised Code.
On the written request of an alternate payee, as defined in section 3105.80 of the Revised Code, the system shall furnish to the alternate payee information on the amount and status of any amounts payable to the alternate payee under an order issued under section 3105.171 or 3105.65 of the Revised Code.
(6) At the request of any person, the board shall make available to the person copies of all documents, including resumes, in the board's possession regarding filling a vacancy of a contributing member or retired teacher member of the board. The person who made the request shall pay the cost of compiling, copying, and mailing the documents. The information described in this division is a public record.
(7) The system shall provide the notice required by section 3307.373 of the Revised Code to the prosecutor assigned to the case.
(F) A statement that contains information obtained from the system's records that is signed by an officer of the retirement system and to which the system's official seal is affixed, or copies of the system's records to which the signature and seal are attached, shall be received as true copies of the system's records in any court or before any officer of this state.
Sec. 3307.373.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a disability benefit granted under this chapter is subject to an order issued under section 2929.193 of the Revised Code. The state teachers retirement board shall comply with the order.
On receipt of notice under section 2901.43 of the Revised Code that a state teachers retirement system member is charged with an offense listed in division (D) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code under the circumstances specified in that division, the system shall determine whether the member has been granted a disability benefit. If so, the system shall send written notice to the prosecutor assigned to the case that the member has been granted a disability benefit under this chapter and may be subject to section 2929.193 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3307.41.  The right of an individual to a pension, an annuity, or a retirement allowance itself, the right of an individual to any optional benefit, or any other right or benefit accrued or accruing to any individual under this chapter, the various funds created by section 3307.14 of the Revised Code, and all moneys, investments, and income from moneys or investments are exempt from any state tax, except the tax imposed by section 5747.02 of the Revised Code, and are exempt from any county, municipal, or other local tax, except taxes imposed pursuant to section 5748.02 or 5748.08 of the Revised Code, and, except as provided in sections 3105.171, 3105.65, 3115.32, 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, 3123.06, 3307.37, and 3307.372, and 3307.373 of the Revised Code, shall not be subject to execution, garnishment, attachment, the operation of bankruptcy or insolvency laws, or any other process of law whatsoever, and shall be unassignable except as specifically provided in this chapter or sections 3105.171, 3105.65, 3115.32, 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, and 3123.06 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3307.42.  The Except as provided in section 3307.373 of the Revised Code, the granting to any person of an allowance, annuity, or pension, as defined in section or other benefit under the plan described in sections 3307.50 to 3307.79 of the Revised Code, or the granting of a benefit under a plan established under section 3307.81 of the Revised Code, pursuant to an action of the state teachers' retirement board vests a right in such person, so long as the person remains the beneficiary of any of the funds established by section 3307.14 of the Revised Code, to receive the allowance, annuity, pension, or benefit at the rate fixed at the time of granting the allowance, annuity, pension, or benefit. Such right shall also be vested with equal effect in the beneficiary of a grant heretofore made from any of the funds named in section 3307.14 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3309.22.  (A)(1) As used in this division, "personal history record" means information maintained by the board on an individual who is a member, former member, contributor, former contributor, retirant, or beneficiary that includes the address, telephone number, social security number, record of contributions, correspondence with the system, and other information the board determines to be confidential.
(2) The records of the board shall be open to public inspection, except for the following, which shall be excluded, except with the written authorization of the individual concerned:
(a) The individual's statement of previous service and other information as provided for in section 3309.28 of the Revised Code;
(b) Any information identifying by name and address the amount of a monthly allowance or benefit paid to the individual;
(c) The individual's personal history record.
(B) All medical reports and recommendations required by the system are privileged except that copies as follows:
(1) Copies of such medical reports or recommendations shall be made available to the personal physician, attorney, or authorized agent of the individual concerned upon written release received from the individual or the individual's agent, or when necessary for the proper administration of the fund, to the board assigned physician.
(2) Documentation required by section 2929.193 of the Revised Code shall be provided to a court holding a hearing under that section.
(C) Any person who is a contributor of the system shall be furnished, on written request, with a statement of the amount to the credit of the person's account. The board need not answer more than one such request of a person in any one year.
(D) Notwithstanding the exceptions to public inspection in division (A)(2) of this section, the board may furnish the following information:
(1) If a member, former member, contributor, former contributor, or retirant is subject to an order issued under section 2907.15 of the Revised Code or an order issued under division (A) or (B) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code or is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of section 2921.41 of the Revised Code, on written request of a prosecutor as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code, the board shall furnish to the prosecutor the information requested from the individual's personal history record.
(2) Pursuant to a court or administrative order issued under section 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, or 3123.06 of the Revised Code, the board shall furnish to a court or child support enforcement agency the information required under that section.
(3) At the written request of any person, the board shall provide to the person a list of the names and addresses of members, former members, retirants, contributors, former contributors, or beneficiaries. The costs of compiling, copying, and mailing the list shall be paid by such person.
(4) Within fourteen days after receiving from the director of job and family services a list of the names and social security numbers of recipients of public assistance pursuant to section 5101.181 of the Revised Code, the board shall inform the auditor of state of the name, current or most recent employer address, and social security number of each contributor whose name and social security number are the same as that of a person whose name or social security number was submitted by the director. The board and its employees shall, except for purposes of furnishing the auditor of state with information required by this section, preserve the confidentiality of recipients of public assistance in compliance with division (A) of section 5101.181 of the Revised Code.
(5) The system shall comply with orders issued under section 3105.87 of the Revised Code.
On the written request of an alternate payee, as defined in section 3105.80 of the Revised Code, the system shall furnish to the alternate payee information on the amount and status of any amounts payable to the alternate payee under an order issued under section 3105.171 or 3105.65 of the Revised Code.
(6) At the request of any person, the board shall make available to the person copies of all documents, including resumes, in the board's possession regarding filling a vacancy of an employee member or retirant member of the board. The person who made the request shall pay the cost of compiling, copying, and mailing the documents. The information described in this division is a public record.
(7) The system shall provide the notice required by section 3309.673 of the Revised Code to the prosecutor assigned to the case.
(E) A statement that contains information obtained from the system's records that is signed by an officer of the retirement system and to which the system's official seal is affixed, or copies of the system's records to which the signature and seal are attached, shall be received as true copies of the system's records in any court or before any officer of this state.
Sec. 3309.66.  The right of an individual to a pension, an annuity, or a retirement allowance itself, the right of an individual to any optional benefit, any other right accrued or accruing to any individual under this chapter, the various funds created by section 3309.60 of the Revised Code, and all moneys, investments, and income from moneys and investments are exempt from any state tax, except the tax imposed by section 5747.02 of the Revised Code, and are exempt from any county, municipal, or other local tax, except taxes imposed pursuant to section 5748.02 or 5748.08 of the Revised Code, and, except as provided in sections 3105.171, 3105.65, 3115.32, 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, 3123.06, 3309.67, and 3309.672, and 3309.673 of the Revised Code, shall not be subject to execution, garnishment, attachment, the operation of bankruptcy or insolvency laws, or any other process of law whatsoever, and shall be unassignable except as specifically provided in this chapter and in sections 3105.171, 3105.65, 3115.32, 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, and 3123.06 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3309.661.  The Except as provided in section 3309.673 of the Revised Code, the granting of a retirement allowance, annuity, pension, or other benefit to any person pursuant to action of the school employees retirement board vests a right in such person, so long as he the person remains the recipient of any of the funds established by section 3309.60 of the Revised Code, to receive such retirement allowance, annuity, pension, or benefit. Such right shall also be vested with equal effect in the recipient of a grant heretofore made from any of the funds named in section 3309.60 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3309.673.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a disability benefit granted under this chapter is subject to an order issued under section 2929.193 of the Revised Code. The school employees retirement board shall comply with the order.
On receipt of notice under section 2901.43 of the Revised Code that a school employees retirement system member is charged with an offense listed in division (D) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code under the circumstances specified in that division, the system shall determine whether the member has been granted a disability benefit. If so, the system shall send written notice to the prosecutor assigned to the case that the member has been granted a disability benefit under this chapter and may be subject to section 2929.193 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3309.82.  (A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, sections 3309.02, 3309.021, and 3309.022 and sections 3309.18 to 3309.70 of the Revised Code do not apply to a plan established under section 3309.81 of the Revised Code, except that a plan may incorporate provisions of those sections as specified in the plan document.
(B) The following sections of Chapter 3309. of the Revised Code apply to a plan established under section 3309.81 of the Revised Code: sections 3309.19, 3309.21, 3309.22, 3309.23, 3309.24, 3309.25, 3309.251, 3309.252, 3309.253, 3309.28, 3309.29, 3309.341, 3309.3712, 3309.47, 3309.471, 3309.49, 3309.51, 3309.53, 3309.54, 3309.55, 3309.56, 3309.57, 3309.571, 3309.58, 3309.59, 3309.60, 3309.61, 3309.62, 3309.66, 3309.661, 3309.67, 3309.672, 3309.673, 3309.68, and 3309.70 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3309.95.  Subject to sections 3309.341, 3309.66, 3309.67, and 3309.672, and 3309.673 of the Revised Code, the right of a member participating in a plan established under section 3309.81 of the Revised Code to any payment or benefit accruing from contributions made by or on behalf of the member under sections 3309.85 and 3309.86 of the Revised Code shall vest in accordance with this section.
A member's right to any payment or benefit that is based on the member's contributions is nonforfeitable.
A member's right to any payment or benefit that is based on contributions by the member's employer is nonforfeitable as specified by the plan selected by the member.
Sec. 4121.12.  (A) There is hereby created the bureau of workers' compensation board of directors consisting of eleven members to be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the senate. One member shall be an individual who, on account of the individual's previous vocation, employment, or affiliations, can be classed as a representative of employees; two members shall be individuals who, on account of their previous vocation, employment, or affiliations, can be classed as representatives of employee organizations and at least one of these two individuals shall be a member of the executive committee of the largest statewide labor federation; three members shall be individuals who, on account of their previous vocation, employment, or affiliations, can be classed as representatives of employers, one of whom represents self-insuring employers, one of whom is a state fund employer who employs one hundred or more employees, and one of whom is a state fund employer who employs less than one hundred employees; two members shall be individuals who, on account of their vocation, employment, or affiliations, can be classed as investment and securities experts who have direct experience in the management, analysis, supervision, or investment of assets and are residents of this state; one member who shall be a certified public accountant; one member who shall be an actuary who is a member in good standing with the American academy of actuaries or who is an associate or fellow with the casualty actuarial society of actuaries; and one member shall represent the public and also be an individual who, on account of the individual's previous vocation, employment, or affiliations, cannot be classed as either predominantly representative of employees or of employers. The governor shall select the chairperson of the board who shall serve as chairperson at the pleasure of the governor.
None of the members of the board, within one year immediately preceding the member's appointment, shall have been employed by the bureau of workers' compensation or by any person, partnership, or corporation that has provided to the bureau services of a financial or investment nature, including the management, analysis, supervision, or investment of assets.
(B) Of the initial appointments made to the board, the governor shall appoint the member who represents employees, one member who represents employers, and the member who represents the public to a term ending one year after June 11, 2007; one member who represents employers, one member who represents employee organizations, one member who is an investment and securities expert, and the member who is a certified public accountant to a term ending two years after June 11, 2007; and one member who represents employers, one member who represents employee organizations, one member who is an investment and securities expert, and the member who is an actuary to a term ending three years after June 11, 2007. Thereafter, terms of office shall be for three years, with each term ending on the same day of the same month as did the term that it succeeds. Each member shall hold office from the date of the member's appointment until the end of the term for which the member was appointed.
Members may be reappointed. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration date of the term for which the member's predecessor was appointed shall hold office as a member for the remainder of that term. A member shall continue in office subsequent to the expiration date of the member's term until a successor takes office or until a period of sixty days has elapsed, whichever occurs first.
(C) In making appointments to the board, the governor shall select the members from the list of names submitted by the workers' compensation board of directors nominating committee pursuant to this division. The nominating committee shall submit to the governor a list containing four separate names for each of the members on the board. Within fourteen days after the submission of the list, the governor shall appoint individuals from the list.
At least thirty days prior to a vacancy occurring as a result of the expiration of a term and within thirty days after other vacancies occurring on the board, the nominating committee shall submit an initial list containing four names for each vacancy. Within fourteen days after the submission of the initial list, the governor either shall appoint individuals from that list or request the nominating committee to submit another list of four names for each member the governor has not appointed from the initial list, which list the nominating committee shall submit to the governor within fourteen days after the governor's request. The governor then shall appoint, within seven days after the submission of the second list, one of the individuals from either list to fill the vacancy for which the governor has not made an appointment from the initial list. If the governor appoints an individual to fill a vacancy occurring as a result of the expiration of a term, the individual appointed shall begin serving as a member of the board when the term for which the individual's predecessor was appointed expires or immediately upon appointment by the governor, whichever occurs later. With respect to the filling of vacancies, the nominating committee shall provide the governor with a list of four individuals who are, in the judgment of the nominating committee, the most fully qualified to accede to membership on the board.
In order for the name of an individual to be submitted to the governor under this division, the nominating committee shall approve the individual by an affirmative vote of a majority of its members.
(D) All members of the board shall receive their reasonable and necessary expenses pursuant to section 126.31 of the Revised Code while engaged in the performance of their duties as members and also shall receive an annual salary not to exceed sixty thousand dollars in total, payable on the following basis:
(1) Except as provided in division (D)(2) of this section, a member shall receive two thousand five hundred dollars during a month in which the member attends one or more meetings of the board and shall receive no payment during a month in which the member attends no meeting of the board.
(2) A member may receive no more than thirty thousand dollars per year to compensate the member for attending meetings of the board, regardless of the number of meetings held by the board during a year or the number of meetings in excess of twelve within a year that the member attends.
(3) Except as provided in division (D)(4) of this section, if a member serves on the workers' compensation audit committee, workers' compensation actuarial committee, or the workers' compensation investment committee, the member shall receive two thousand five hundred dollars during a month in which the member attends one or more meetings of the committee on which the member serves and shall receive no payment during any month in which the member attends no meeting of that committee.
(4) A member may receive no more than thirty thousand dollars per year to compensate the member for attending meetings of any of the committees specified in division (D)(3) of this section, regardless of the number of meetings held by a committee during a year or the number of committees on which a member serves.
The chairperson of the board shall set the meeting dates of the board as necessary to perform the duties of the board under this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4125., 4127., 4131., and 4167. of the Revised Code. The board shall meet at least twelve times a year. The administrator of workers' compensation shall provide professional and clerical assistance to the board, as the board considers appropriate.
(E) Before entering upon the duties of office, each appointed member of the board shall take an oath of office as required by sections 3.22 and 3.23 of the Revised Code and file in the office of the secretary of state the bond required under section 4121.127 of the Revised Code.
(F) The board shall:
(1) Establish the overall administrative policy for the bureau for the purposes of this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4125., 4127., 4131., and 4167. of the Revised Code;
(2) Review progress of the bureau in meeting its cost and quality objectives and in complying with this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4125., 4127., 4131., and 4167. of the Revised Code;
(3) Submit an annual report to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the governor, and the workers' compensation council and include all of the following in that report:
(a) An evaluation of the cost and quality objectives of the bureau;
(b) A statement of the net assets available for the provision of compensation and benefits under this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4127., and 4131. of the Revised Code as of the last day of the fiscal year;
(c) A statement of any changes that occurred in the net assets available, including employer premiums and net investment income, for the provision of compensation and benefits and payment of administrative expenses, between the first and last day of the fiscal year immediately preceding the date of the report;
(d) The following information for each of the six consecutive fiscal years occurring previous to the report:
(i) A schedule of the net assets available for compensation and benefits;
(ii) The annual cost of the payment of compensation and benefits;
(iii) Annual administrative expenses incurred;
(iv) Annual employer premiums allocated for the provision of compensation and benefits.
(e) A description of any significant changes that occurred during the six years for which the board provided the information required under division (F)(3)(d) of this section that affect the ability of the board to compare that information from year to year.
(4) Review all independent financial audits of the bureau. The administrator shall provide access to records of the bureau to facilitate the review required under this division.
(5) Study issues as requested by the administrator or the governor;
(6) Contract with all of the following:
(a) An independent actuarial firm to assist the board in making recommendations to the administrator regarding premium rates;
(b) An outside investment counsel to assist the workers' compensation investment committee in fulfilling its duties;
(c) An independent fiduciary counsel to assist the board in the performance of its duties.
(7) Approve the investment policy developed by the workers' compensation investment committee pursuant to section 4121.129 of the Revised Code if the policy satisfies the requirements specified in section 4123.442 of the Revised Code.
(8) Review and publish the investment policy no less than annually and make copies available to interested parties.
(9) Prohibit, on a prospective basis, any specific investment it finds to be contrary to the investment policy approved by the board.
(10) Vote to open each investment class and allow the administrator to invest in an investment class only if the board, by a majority vote, opens that class;
(11) After opening a class but prior to the administrator investing in that class, adopt rules establishing due diligence standards for employees of the bureau to follow when investing in that class and establish policies and procedures to review and monitor the performance and value of each investment class;
(12) Submit a report annually on the performance and value of each investment class to the governor, the president and minority leader of the senate, the speaker and minority leader of the house of representatives, and the workers' compensation council.
(13) Advise and consent on all of the following:
(a) Administrative rules the administrator submits to it pursuant to division (B)(5) of section 4121.121 of the Revised Code for the classification of occupations or industries, for premium rates and contributions, for the amount to be credited to the surplus fund, for rules and systems of rating, rate revisions, and merit rating;
(b) The duties and authority conferred upon the administrator pursuant to section 4121.37 of the Revised Code;
(c) Rules the administrator adopts for the health partnership program and the qualified health plan system, as provided in sections 4121.44, 4121.441, and 4121.442 of the Revised Code;
(d) Rules the administrator submits to it pursuant to Chapter 4167. of the Revised Code regarding the public employment risk reduction program and the protection of public health care workers from exposure incidents.
As used in this division, "public health care worker" and "exposure incident" have the same meanings as in section 4167.25 of the Revised Code.
(14) Perform all duties required under this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4125., 4127., 4131., and 4167. of the Revised Code;
(15) Meet with the governor on an annual basis to discuss the administrator's performance of the duties specified in this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4125., 4127., 4131., and 4167. of the Revised Code;
(16) Develop and participate in a bureau of workers' compensation board of directors education program that consists of all of the following:
(a) An orientation component for newly appointed members;
(b) A continuing education component for board members who have served for at least one year;
(c) A curriculum that includes education about each of the following topics:
(i) Board member duties and responsibilities;
(ii) Compensation and benefits paid pursuant to this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4127., and 4131. of the Revised Code;
(iii) Ethics;
(iv) Governance processes and procedures;
(v) Actuarial soundness;
(vi) Investments;
(vii) Any other subject matter the board believes is reasonably related to the duties of a board member.
(17) Submit the program developed pursuant to division (F)(16) of this section to the workers' compensation council for approval;
(18) Hold all sessions, classes, and other events for the program developed pursuant to division (F)(16) of this section in this state.
(G) The board may do both of the following:
(1) Vote to close any investment class;
(2) Create any committees in addition to the workers' compensation audit committee, the workers' compensation actuarial committee, and the workers' compensation investment committee that the board determines are necessary to assist the board in performing its duties.
(H) The office of a member of the board who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a felony, a theft offense as defined in section 2913.01 of the Revised Code, or a violation of section 102.02, 102.03, 102.04, 2921.02, 2921.11, 2921.13, 2921.31, 2921.41, 2921.42, 2921.43, or 2921.44 of the Revised Code shall be deemed vacant. The vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. A person who has pleaded guilty to or been convicted of an offense of that nature is ineligible to be a member of the board. A member who receives a bill of indictment for any of the offenses specified in this section shall be automatically suspended from the board pending resolution of the criminal matter.
(I) For the purposes of division (G)(1) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code, the meeting between the governor and the board to review the administrator's performance as required under division (F)(15) of this section shall be considered a meeting regarding the employment of the administrator.
Sec. 4121.123.  (A) There is hereby created the workers' compensation board of directors nominating committee consisting of the following:
(1) Three individuals who are members of affiliated employee organizations of the Ohio chapter of the American federation of labor-congress of industrial organizations, who are selected by the Ohio chapter of the American federation of labor-congress of industrial organizations and who, on account of their previous vocation, employment, or affiliations, can be classed as representative of employees who are members of an employee organization. Terms of office shall be for one year, with each term ending on the same day of the same month as did the term that it succeeds.
(2) Two individuals who, on account of their previous vocation, employment, or affiliations, can be classed as representative of employees, one of whom shall be an injured worker with a valid, open, and active workers' compensation claim and at least one of these two representatives also shall represent employees who are not members of an employee organization. The president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives each shall appoint annually one of these members. The member who is an injured worker shall serve for a full term even if the member's workers' compensation claim is invalidated, closed, or inactivated during the member's term.
(3) The chief executive officer, or the equivalent of the chief executive officer, of the Ohio chamber of commerce, the Ohio manufacturers' association, the Ohio self-insurers' association, the Ohio council of retail merchants, and of either the national federation of independent business or, and the Ohio farm bureau as jointly selected by the national federation of independent business and the Ohio farm bureau;
(4) The director of development;
(5) The president of the Ohio municipal league, the Ohio township association, and the president of the Ohio county commissioners association, or, in the event of a vacancy in the presidency, a designee appointed by the governing body authorized to appoint the president. A designee so appointed shall serve on the nominating committee only until the vacancy in the presidency is filled.
(B) Each member appointed under divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section shall hold office from the date of the member's appointment until the end of the term for which the member was appointed. Such members may be reappointed. Vacancies shall be filled in the manner provided for original appointments. Any such member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration date of the term for which the member's predecessor was appointed shall hold office as a member for the remainder of that term. Such a member shall continue in office subsequent to the expiration date of the member's term until the member's successor takes office or until a period of sixty days has elapsed, whichever occurs first.
(C) The nominating committee shall meet at the request of the governor or as the nominating committee determines appropriate in order to make recommendations to the governor for the appointment of members of the bureau of workers' compensation board of directors under section 4121.12 of the Revised Code.
(D) The director of development shall serve as chairperson of the nominating committee and have no voting rights on matters coming before the nominating committee, except that the director may vote in the event of a tie vote of the nominating committee. Annually, the nominating committee shall select a secretary from among its members. The nominating committee may adopt by-laws governing its proceedings.
(E) Members of the nominating committee shall be paid their reasonable and necessary expenses pursuant to section 126.31 of the Revised Code while engaged in the performance of their duties as members of the nominating committee.
(F) The nominating committee shall:
(1) Review and evaluate possible appointees for the board. In reviewing and evaluating possible appointees for the board, the nominating committee may accept comments from, cooperate with, and request information from any person.
(2) Make recommendations to the governor for the appointment of members to the board as provided in division (C) of section 4121.12 of the Revised Code.
(G) The nominating committee may make recommendations to the general assembly concerning changes in legislation that will assist the nominating committee in the performance of its duties.
Sec. 4121.125.  (A) The bureau of workers' compensation board of directors, based upon recommendations of the workers' compensation actuarial committee, may contract with one or more outside actuarial firms and other professional persons, as the board determines necessary, to assist the board in measuring the performance of Ohio's workers' compensation system and in comparing Ohio's workers' compensation system to other state and private workers' compensation systems. The board, actuarial firm or firms, and professional persons shall make such measurements and comparisons using accepted insurance industry standards, including, but not limited to, standards promulgated by the National Council on Compensation Insurance.
(B) The board may contract with one or more outside firms to conduct management and financial audits of the workers' compensation system, including audits of the reserve fund belonging to the state insurance fund, and to establish objective quality management principles and methods by which to review the performance of the workers' compensation system.
(C) The board shall do all of the following:
(1) Contract to have prepared annually by or under the supervision of an actuary a report that meets the requirements specified under division (E) of this section and that consists of an actuarial valuation of the assets, liabilities, and funding requirements of the state insurance fund and all other funds specified in this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4127., and 4131. of the Revised Code;
(2) Require that the actuary or person supervised by an actuary referred to in division (C)(1) of this section complete the valuation in accordance with the actuarial standards of practice promulgated by the actuarial standards board of the American academy of actuaries;
(3) Submit the report referred to in division (C)(1) of this section to the workers' compensation council and the standing committees of the house of representatives and the senate with primary responsibility for workers' compensation legislation on or before the first day of November following the year for which the valuation was made;
(4) Have an actuary or a person who provides actuarial services under the supervision of an actuary, at such time as the board determines, and at least once during the five-year period that commences on September 10, 2007, and once within each five-year period thereafter, conduct an actuarial investigation of the experience of employers, the mortality, service, and injury rate of employees, and the payment of temporary total disability, permanent partial disability, and permanent total disability under sections 4123.56 to 4123.58 of the Revised Code to update the actuarial assumptions used in the report required by division (C)(1) of this section;
(5) Submit the report required under division (F) of this section to the council and the standing committees of the house of representatives and the senate with primary responsibility for workers' compensation legislation not later than the first day of November following the fifth year of the period that the report covers;
(6) Have prepared by or under the supervision of an actuary an actuarial analysis of any introduced legislation expected to have a measurable financial impact on the workers' compensation system;
(7) Submit the report required under division (G) of this section to the legislative service commission, the standing committees of the house of representatives and the senate with primary responsibility for workers' compensation legislation, and the council not later than sixty days after the date of introduction of the legislation.
(D) The administrator of workers' compensation and the industrial commission shall compile information and provide access to records of the bureau and the industrial commission to the board to the extent necessary for fulfillment of both of the following requirements:
(1) Conduct of the measurements and comparisons described in division (A) of this section;
(2) Conduct of the management and financial audits and establishment of the principles and methods described in division (B) of this section.
(E) The firm or person with whom the board contracts pursuant to division (C)(1) of this section shall prepare a report of the valuation and submit the report to the board. The firm or person shall include all of the following information in the report that is required under division (C)(1) of this section:
(1) A summary of the compensation and benefit provisions evaluated;
(2) A summary of the census data and financial information used in the valuation;
(3) A description of the actuarial assumptions, and actuarial cost method, and asset valuation method used in the valuation;
(4) A summary of findings that includes a statement of the actuarial accrued compensation and benefit liabilities and unfunded actuarial accrued compensation and benefit liabilities;
(5)(3) A schedule showing the effect of any changes in the compensation and benefit provisions, actuarial assumptions, or cost methods since the previous annual actuarial valuation report was submitted to the board.
(F) The actuary or person whom the board designates to conduct an actuarial investigation under division (C)(4) of this section shall prepare a report of the actuarial investigation and shall submit the report to the board. The actuary or person shall prepare the report and make any recommended changes in actuarial assumptions in accordance with the actuarial standards of practice promulgated by the actuarial standards board of the American academy of actuaries. The actuary or person shall include all of the following information in the report:
(1) A summary of relevant decrement and economic assumption experience;
(2) Recommended changes in actuarial assumptions to be used in subsequent actuarial valuations required by division (C)(1) of this section;
(3) A measurement of the financial effect of the recommended changes in actuarial assumptions.
(G) The actuary or person whom the board designates to conduct the actuarial analysis under division (C)(6) of this section shall prepare a report of the actuarial analysis and shall submit that report to the board. The actuary or person shall complete the analysis in accordance with the actuarial standards of practice promulgated by the actuarial standards board of the American academy of actuaries. The actuary or person shall include all of the following information in the report:
(1) A summary of the statutory changes being evaluated;
(2) A description of or reference to the actuarial assumptions and actuarial cost method used in the report;
(3) A description of the participant group or groups included in the report;
(4) A statement of the financial impact of the legislation, including the resulting increase, if any, in employer premiums, in actuarial accrued liabilities, and, if an increase in actuarial accrued liabilities is predicted, the per cent of premium increase that would be required to amortize the increase in those liabilities as a level per cent of employer premiums over a period not to exceed thirty years.
(5) A statement of whether the employer premiums paid to the bureau of workers' compensation after the proposed change is enacted are expected to be sufficient to satisfy the funding objectives established by the board.
(H) The board may, at any time, request an actuary to make any studies or actuarial valuations to determine the adequacy of the premium rates established by the administrator in accordance with sections 4123.29 and 4123.34 of the Revised Code, and may adjust those rates as recommended by the actuary.
(I) The board shall have an independent auditor, at least once every ten years, conduct a fiduciary performance audit of the investment program of the bureau of workers' compensation. That audit shall include an audit of the investment policies approved by the board and investment procedures of the bureau. The board shall submit a copy of that audit to the auditor of state.
(J) The administrator, with the advice and consent of the board, shall employ an internal auditor who shall report findings directly to the board, workers' compensation audit committee, and administrator, except that the internal auditor shall not report findings directly to the administrator when those findings involve malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance on the part of the administrator. The board and the workers' compensation audit committee may request and review internal audits conducted by the internal auditor.
(K) The administrator shall pay the expenses incurred by the board to effectively fulfill its duties and exercise its powers under this section as the administrator pays other operating expenses of the bureau.
Sec. 4121.32.  (A) The rules covering operating procedure and criteria for decision-making that the administrator of workers' compensation and the industrial commission are required to adopt pursuant to section 4121.31 of the Revised Code shall be supplemented with operating manuals setting forth the procedural steps in detail for performing each of the assigned tasks of each section of the bureau of workers' compensation and commission. The administrator and commission jointly shall adopt such manuals. No employee may deviate from manual procedures without authorization of the section chief.
(B) Manuals shall set forth the procedure for the assignment and transfer of claims within sections and be designed to provide performance objectives and may require employees to record sufficient data to reasonably measure the efficiency of functions in all sections. The bureau's division of research and statistics bureau shall perform periodic cost-effectiveness analyses which that shall be made available to the general assembly, the governor, and to the public during normal working hours.
(C) The bureau and commission jointly shall develop, adopt, and use a policy manual setting forth the guidelines and bases for decision-making for any decision which is the responsibility of the bureau, district hearing officers, staff hearing officers, or the commission. Guidelines shall be set forth in the policy manual by the bureau and commission to the extent of their respective jurisdictions for deciding at least the following specific matters:
(1) Reasonable ambulance services;
(2) Relationship of drugs to injury;
(3) Awarding lump-sum advances for creditors;
(4) Awarding lump-sum advances for attorney's fees;
(5) Placing a claimant into rehabilitation;
(6) Transferring costs of a claim from employer costs to the statutory surplus fund pursuant to section 4123.343 of the Revised Code;
(7) Utilization of physician specialist reports;
(8) Determining the percentage of permanent partial disability, temporary partial disability, temporary total disability, violations of specific safety requirements, an award under division (B) of section 4123.57 of the Revised Code, and permanent total disability.
(D) The bureau shall establish, adopt, and implement policy guidelines and bases for decisions involving reimbursement issues including, but not limited to, the adjustment of invoices, the reduction of payments for future services when an internal audit concludes that a health care provider was overpaid or improperly paid for past services, reimbursement fees, or other adjustments to payments. These policy guidelines and bases for decisions, and any changes to the guidelines and bases, shall be set forth in a reimbursement manual and provider bulletins.
Neither the policy guidelines nor the bases set forth in the reimbursement manual or provider bulletins referred to in this division is a rule as defined in section 119.01 of the Revised Code.
(E) With respect to any determination of disability under Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code, when the physician makes a determination based upon statements or information furnished by the claimant or upon subjective evidence, he the physician shall clearly indicate this fact in his the physician's report.
(F) The administrator shall publish the manuals and make copies of all manuals available to interested parties at cost.
Sec. 4121.41.  (A) The administrator of workers' compensation shall operate a program designed to inform employees and employers of their rights and responsibilities under Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code and as part of that program prepare and distribute pamphlets, which clearly and simply explain at least all of the following:
(1) The rights and responsibilities of claimants and employers;
(2) The procedures for processing claims;
(3) The procedure for fulfilling employer responsibility;
(4) All applicable statutes of limitation;
(5) The availability of services and benefits;
(6) The claimant's right to representation in the processing of a claim or to elect no representation.
The administrator shall ensure that the provisions of this section are faithfully and speedily implemented.
(B) The bureau of workers' compensation shall maintain an ongoing program to identify employers subject to Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code and to audit employers to ensure an optimum level of premium payment. The bureau shall coordinate such efforts with other governmental agencies which have information as to employers who are subject to Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code.
(C) The administrator of the bureau shall handle complaints through the service offices, the claims section, and the ombudsman ombudsperson program. The administrator shall provide toll free telephone lines for employers and claimants in order to expedite the handling of complaints. The bureau shall monitor complaint traffic to ensure an adequacy of telephone service to bureau offices. The division of research and statistics in the bureau shall compile statistics on complaint subjects. Based upon those compilations, the bureau shall revise procedures and rules to correct major problem areas and submit data and recommendations annually to the appropriate committees of the general assembly.
Sec. 4121.44.  (A) The administrator of workers' compensation shall oversee the implementation of the Ohio workers' compensation qualified health plan system as established under section 4121.442 of the Revised Code.
(B) The administrator shall direct the implementation of the health partnership program administered by the bureau as set forth in section 4121.441 of the Revised Code. To implement the health partnership program, the bureau:
(1) Shall certify one or more external vendors, which shall be known as "managed care organizations," to provide medical management and cost containment services in the health partnership program for a period of two years beginning on the date of certification, consistent with the standards established under this section;
(2) May recertify external vendors for additional periods of two years; and
(3) May integrate the certified vendors with bureau staff and existing bureau services for purposes of operation and training to allow the bureau to assume operation of the health partnership program at the conclusion of the certification periods set forth in division (B)(1) or (2) of this section.
(C) Any vendor selected shall demonstrate all of the following:
(1) Arrangements and reimbursement agreements with a substantial number of the medical, professional and pharmacy providers currently being utilized by claimants.
(2) Ability to accept a common format of medical bill data in an electronic fashion from any provider who wishes to submit medical bill data in that form.
(3) A computer system able to handle the volume of medical bills and willingness to customize that system to the bureau's needs and to be operated by the vendor's staff, bureau staff, or some combination of both staffs.
(4) A prescription drug system where pharmacies on a statewide basis have access to the eligibility and pricing, at a discounted rate, of all prescription drugs.
(5) A tracking system to record all telephone calls from claimants and providers regarding the status of submitted medical bills so as to be able to track each inquiry.
(6) Data processing capacity to absorb all of the bureau's medical bill processing or at least that part of the processing which the bureau arranges to delegate.
(7) Capacity to store, retrieve, array, simulate, and model in a relational mode all of the detailed medical bill data so that analysis can be performed in a variety of ways and so that the bureau and its governing authority can make informed decisions.
(8) Wide variety of software programs which translate medical terminology into standard codes, and which reveal if a provider is manipulating the procedures codes, commonly called "unbundling."
(9) Necessary professional staff to conduct, at a minimum, authorizations for treatment, medical necessity, utilization review, concurrent review, post-utilization review, and have the attendant computer system which supports such activity and measures the outcomes and the savings.
(10) Management experience and flexibility to be able to react quickly to the needs of the bureau in the case of required change in federal or state requirements.
(D)(1) Information contained in a vendor's application for certification in the health partnership program, and other information furnished to the bureau by a vendor for purposes of obtaining certification or to comply with performance and financial auditing requirements established by the administrator, is for the exclusive use and information of the bureau in the discharge of its official duties, and shall not be open to the public or be used in any court in any proceeding pending therein, unless the bureau is a party to the action or proceeding, but the information may be tabulated and published by the bureau in statistical form for the use and information of other state departments and the public. No employee of the bureau, except as otherwise authorized by the administrator, shall divulge any information secured by the employee while in the employ of the bureau in respect to a vendor's application for certification or in respect to the business or other trade processes of any vendor to any person other than the administrator or to the employee's superior.
(2) Notwithstanding the restrictions imposed by division (D)(1) of this section, the governor, members of select or standing committees of the senate or house of representatives, the auditor of state, the attorney general, or their designees, pursuant to the authority granted in this chapter and Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code, may examine any vendor application or other information furnished to the bureau by the vendor. None of those individuals shall divulge any information secured in the exercise of that authority in respect to a vendor's application for certification or in respect to the business or other trade processes of any vendor to any person.
(E) On and after January 1, 2001, a vendor shall not be any insurance company holding a certificate of authority issued pursuant to Title XXXIX of the Revised Code or any health insuring corporation holding a certificate of authority under Chapter 1751. of the Revised Code.
(F) The administrator may limit freedom of choice of health care provider or supplier by requiring, beginning with the period set forth in division (B)(1) or (2) of this section, that claimants shall pay an appropriate out-of-plan copayment for selecting a medical provider not within the health partnership program as provided for in this section.
(G) The administrator, six months prior to the expiration of the bureau's certification or recertification of the vendor or vendors as set forth in division (B)(1) or (2) of this section, may certify and provide evidence to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the president of the senate that the existing bureau staff is able to match or exceed the performance and outcomes of the external vendor or vendors and that the bureau should be permitted to internally administer the health partnership program upon the expiration of the certification or recertification as set forth in division (B)(1) or (2) of this section.
(H) The administrator shall establish and operate a bureau of workers' compensation health care data program. The administrator shall develop reporting requirements from all employees, employers and medical providers, medical vendors, and plans that participate in the workers' compensation system. The administrator shall do all of the following:
(1) Utilize the collected data to measure and perform comparison analyses of costs, quality, appropriateness of medical care, and effectiveness of medical care delivered by all components of the workers' compensation system.
(2) Compile data to support activities of the selected vendor or vendors and to measure the outcomes and savings of the health partnership program.
(3) Publish and report compiled data to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the president of the senate on the first day of each January and July, on the measures of outcomes and savings of the health partnership program and submit the report to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the governor, and the workers' compensation council with the annual report prepared under division (F)(3) of section 4121.12 of the Revised Code. The administrator shall protect the confidentiality of all proprietary pricing data.
(I) Any rehabilitation facility the bureau operates is eligible for inclusion in the Ohio workers' compensation qualified health plan system or the health partnership program under the same terms as other providers within health care plans or the program.
(J) In areas outside the state or within the state where no qualified health plan or an inadequate number of providers within the health partnership program exist, the administrator shall permit employees to use a nonplan or nonprogram health care provider and shall pay the provider for the services or supplies provided to or on behalf of an employee for an injury or occupational disease that is compensable under this chapter or Chapter 4123., 4127., or 4131. of the Revised Code on a fee schedule the administrator adopts.
(K) No health care provider, whether certified or not, shall charge, assess, or otherwise attempt to collect from an employee, employer, a managed care organization, or the bureau any amount for covered services or supplies that is in excess of the allowed amount paid by a managed care organization, the bureau, or a qualified health plan.
(L) The administrator shall permit any employer or group of employers who agree to abide by the rules adopted under this section and sections 4121.441 and 4121.442 of the Revised Code to provide services or supplies to or on behalf of an employee for an injury or occupational disease that is compensable under this chapter or Chapter 4123., 4127., or 4131. of the Revised Code through qualified health plans of the Ohio workers' compensation qualified health plan system pursuant to section 4121.442 of the Revised Code or through the health partnership program pursuant to section 4121.441 of the Revised Code. No amount paid under the qualified health plan system pursuant to section 4121.442 of the Revised Code by an employer who is a state fund employer shall be charged to the employer's experience or otherwise be used in merit-rating or determining the risk of that employer for the purpose of the payment of premiums under this chapter, and if the employer is a self-insuring employer, the employer shall not include that amount in the paid compensation the employer reports under section 4123.35 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4121.68.  In the event a claimant sustains an injury or occupational disease or dies as a result of any injury or disease received in the course of and arising out of his the claimant's participation in a rehabilitation program, the claimant or, in the case of death, a dependent of the claimant, may file a claim for compensation and benefits as if the claimant's employer were the bureau of workers' compensation. All compensation and benefit awards made as a result of the injury, disease, or death shall be charged to the surplus fund account, created pursuant to section 4123.34 of the Revised Code, and not charged through the state insurance fund to the employer against which the claim was allowed so long as the employer pays assessments into the surplus fund account for the payment of such compensation and benefits.
Sec. 4123.35.  (A) Except as provided in this section, every employer mentioned in division (B)(2) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code, and every publicly owned utility shall pay semiannually in the months of January and July into the state insurance fund the amount of annual premium the administrator of workers' compensation fixes for the employment or occupation of the employer, the amount of which premium to be paid by each employer to be determined by the classifications, rules, and rates made and published by the administrator. The employer shall pay semiannually a further sum of money into the state insurance fund as may be ascertained to be due from the employer by applying the rules of the administrator, and a receipt or certificate certifying that payment has been made, along with a written notice as is required in section 4123.54 of the Revised Code, shall be mailed immediately to the employer by the bureau of workers' compensation. The receipt or certificate is prima-facie evidence of the payment of the premium, and the proper posting of the notice constitutes the employer's compliance with the notice requirement mandated in section 4123.54 of the Revised Code.
The bureau of workers' compensation shall verify with the secretary of state the existence of all corporations and organizations making application for workers' compensation coverage and shall require every such application to include the employer's federal identification number.
An employer as defined in division (B)(2) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code who has contracted with a subcontractor is liable for the unpaid premium due from any subcontractor with respect to that part of the payroll of the subcontractor that is for work performed pursuant to the contract with the employer.
Division (A) of this section providing for the payment of premiums semiannually does not apply to any employer who was a subscriber to the state insurance fund prior to January 1, 1914, or who may first become a subscriber to the fund in any month other than January or July. Instead, the semiannual premiums shall be paid by those employers from time to time upon the expiration of the respective periods for which payments into the fund have been made by them.
The administrator shall adopt rules to permit employers to make periodic payments of the semiannual premium due under this division. The rules shall include provisions for the assessment of interest charges, where appropriate, and for the assessment of penalties when an employer fails to make timely premium payments. An employer who timely pays the amounts due under this division is entitled to all of the benefits and protections of this chapter. Upon receipt of payment, the bureau immediately shall mail a receipt or certificate to the employer certifying that payment has been made, which receipt is prima-facie evidence of payment. Workers' compensation coverage under this chapter continues uninterrupted upon timely receipt of payment under this division.
Every public employer, except public employers that are self-insuring employers under this section, shall comply with sections 4123.38 to 4123.41, and 4123.48 of the Revised Code in regard to the contribution of moneys to the public insurance fund.
(B) Employers who will abide by the rules of the administrator and who may be of sufficient financial ability to render certain the payment of compensation to injured employees or the dependents of killed employees, and the furnishing of medical, surgical, nursing, and hospital attention and services and medicines, and funeral expenses, equal to or greater than is provided for in sections 4123.52, 4123.55 to 4123.62, and 4123.64 to 4123.67 of the Revised Code, and who do not desire to insure the payment thereof or indemnify themselves against loss sustained by the direct payment thereof, upon a finding of such facts by the administrator, may be granted the privilege to pay individually compensation, and furnish medical, surgical, nursing, and hospital services and attention and funeral expenses directly to injured employees or the dependents of killed employees, thereby being granted status as a self-insuring employer. The administrator may charge employers who apply for the status as a self-insuring employer a reasonable application fee to cover the bureau's costs in connection with processing and making a determination with respect to an application.
All employers granted status as self-insuring employers shall demonstrate sufficient financial and administrative ability to assure that all obligations under this section are promptly met. The administrator shall deny the privilege where the employer is unable to demonstrate the employer's ability to promptly meet all the obligations imposed on the employer by this section.
(1) The administrator shall consider, but is not limited to, the following factors, where applicable, in determining the employer's ability to meet all of the obligations imposed on the employer by this section:
(a) The employer employs a minimum of five hundred employees in this state;
(b) The employer has operated in this state for a minimum of two years, provided that an employer who has purchased, acquired, or otherwise succeeded to the operation of a business, or any part thereof, situated in this state that has operated for at least two years in this state, also shall qualify;
(c) Where the employer previously contributed to the state insurance fund or is a successor employer as defined by bureau rules, the amount of the buyout, as defined by bureau rules;
(d) The sufficiency of the employer's assets located in this state to insure the employer's solvency in paying compensation directly;
(e) The financial records, documents, and data, certified by a certified public accountant, necessary to provide the employer's full financial disclosure. The records, documents, and data include, but are not limited to, balance sheets and profit and loss history for the current year and previous four years.
(f) The employer's organizational plan for the administration of the workers' compensation law;
(g) The employer's proposed plan to inform employees of the change from a state fund insurer to a self-insuring employer, the procedures the employer will follow as a self-insuring employer, and the employees' rights to compensation and benefits; and
(h) The employer has either an account in a financial institution in this state, or if the employer maintains an account with a financial institution outside this state, ensures that workers' compensation checks are drawn from the same account as payroll checks or the employer clearly indicates that payment will be honored by a financial institution in this state.
The administrator may waive the requirements of divisions (B)(1)(a) and (b) of this section and the requirement of division (B)(1)(e) of this section that the financial records, documents, and data be certified by a certified public accountant. The administrator shall adopt rules establishing the criteria that an employer shall meet in order for the administrator to waive the requirement of division (B)(1)(e) of this section. Such rules may require additional security of that employer pursuant to division (E) of section 4123.351 of the Revised Code.
The administrator shall not grant the status of self-insuring employer to the state, except that the administrator may grant the status of self-insuring employer to a state institution of higher education, excluding its hospitals, that meets the requirements of division (B)(2) of this section.
(2) When considering the application of a public employer, except for a board of county commissioners described in division (G) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code, a board of a county hospital, or a publicly owned utility, the administrator shall verify that the public employer satisfies all of the following requirements as the requirements apply to that public employer:
(a) For the two-year period preceding application under this section, the public employer has maintained an unvoted debt capacity equal to at least two times the amount of the current annual premium established by the administrator under this chapter for that public employer for the year immediately preceding the year in which the public employer makes application under this section.
(b) For each of the two fiscal years preceding application under this section, the unreserved and undesignated year-end fund balance in the public employer's general fund is equal to at least five per cent of the public employer's general fund revenues for the fiscal year computed in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
(c) For the five-year period preceding application under this section, the public employer, to the extent applicable, has complied fully with the continuing disclosure requirements established in rules adopted by the United States securities and exchange commission under 17 C.F.R. 240.15c 2-12.
(d) For the five-year period preceding application under this section, the public employer has not had its local government fund distribution withheld on account of the public employer being indebted or otherwise obligated to the state.
(e) For the five-year period preceding application under this section, the public employer has not been under a fiscal watch or fiscal emergency pursuant to section 118.023, 118.04, or 3316.03 of the Revised Code.
(f) For the public employer's fiscal year preceding application under this section, the public employer has obtained an annual financial audit as required under section 117.10 of the Revised Code, which has been released by the auditor of state within seven months after the end of the public employer's fiscal year.
(g) On the date of application, the public employer holds a debt rating of Aa3 or higher according to Moody's investors service, inc., or a comparable rating by an independent rating agency similar to Moody's investors service, inc.
(h) The public employer agrees to generate an annual accumulating book reserve in its financial statements reflecting an actuarially generated reserve adequate to pay projected claims under this chapter for the applicable period of time, as determined by the administrator.
(i) For a public employer that is a hospital, the public employer shall submit audited financial statements showing the hospital's overall liquidity characteristics, and the administrator shall determine, on an individual basis, whether the public employer satisfies liquidity standards equivalent to the liquidity standards of other public employers.
(j) Any additional criteria that the administrator adopts by rule pursuant to division (E) of this section.
The administrator shall not approve the application of a public employer, except for a board of county commissioners described in division (G) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code, a board of a county hospital, or publicly owned utility, who does not satisfy all of the requirements listed in division (B)(2) of this section. The administrator may adopt rules establishing the criteria that a public employer shall satisfy in order for the administrator to waive any of the requirements listed in divisions (B)(2)(a) to (j) of this section. The rules may require additional security from that employer pursuant to division (E) of section 4123.351 of the Revised Code. The administrator shall not waive any of the requirements listed in divisions (B)(2)(a) to (j) of this section for a public employer who does not satisfy the criteria established in the rules the administrator adopts.
(C) A board of county commissioners described in division (G) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code, as an employer, that will abide by the rules of the administrator and that may be of sufficient financial ability to render certain the payment of compensation to injured employees or the dependents of killed employees, and the furnishing of medical, surgical, nursing, and hospital attention and services and medicines, and funeral expenses, equal to or greater than is provided for in sections 4123.52, 4123.55 to 4123.62, and 4123.64 to 4123.67 of the Revised Code, and that does not desire to insure the payment thereof or indemnify itself against loss sustained by the direct payment thereof, upon a finding of such facts by the administrator, may be granted the privilege to pay individually compensation, and furnish medical, surgical, nursing, and hospital services and attention and funeral expenses directly to injured employees or the dependents of killed employees, thereby being granted status as a self-insuring employer. The administrator may charge a board of county commissioners described in division (G) of section 4123.01 of the Revised Code that applies for the status as a self-insuring employer a reasonable application fee to cover the bureau's costs in connection with processing and making a determination with respect to an application. All employers granted such status shall demonstrate sufficient financial and administrative ability to assure that all obligations under this section are promptly met. The administrator shall deny the privilege where the employer is unable to demonstrate the employer's ability to promptly meet all the obligations imposed on the employer by this section. The administrator shall consider, but is not limited to, the following factors, where applicable, in determining the employer's ability to meet all of the obligations imposed on the board as an employer by this section:
(1) The board as an employer employs a minimum of five hundred employees in this state;
(2) The board has operated in this state for a minimum of two years;
(3) Where the board previously contributed to the state insurance fund or is a successor employer as defined by bureau rules, the amount of the buyout, as defined by bureau rules;
(4) The sufficiency of the board's assets located in this state to insure the board's solvency in paying compensation directly;
(5) The financial records, documents, and data, certified by a certified public accountant, necessary to provide the board's full financial disclosure. The records, documents, and data include, but are not limited to, balance sheets and profit and loss history for the current year and previous four years.
(6) The board's organizational plan for the administration of the workers' compensation law;
(7) The board's proposed plan to inform employees of the proposed self-insurance, the procedures the board will follow as a self-insuring employer, and the employees' rights to compensation and benefits;
(8) The board has either an account in a financial institution in this state, or if the board maintains an account with a financial institution outside this state, ensures that workers' compensation checks are drawn from the same account as payroll checks or the board clearly indicates that payment will be honored by a financial institution in this state;
(9) The board shall provide the administrator a surety bond in an amount equal to one hundred twenty-five per cent of the projected losses as determined by the administrator.
(D) The administrator shall require a surety bond from all self-insuring employers, issued pursuant to section 4123.351 of the Revised Code, that is sufficient to compel, or secure to injured employees, or to the dependents of employees killed, the payment of compensation and expenses, which shall in no event be less than that paid or furnished out of the state insurance fund in similar cases to injured employees or to dependents of killed employees whose employers contribute to the fund, except when an employee of the employer, who has suffered the loss of a hand, arm, foot, leg, or eye prior to the injury for which compensation is to be paid, and thereafter suffers the loss of any other of the members as the result of any injury sustained in the course of and arising out of the employee's employment, the compensation to be paid by the self-insuring employer is limited to the disability suffered in the subsequent injury, additional compensation, if any, to be paid by the bureau out of the surplus created by section 4123.34 of the Revised Code.
(E) In addition to the requirements of this section, the administrator shall make and publish rules governing the manner of making application and the nature and extent of the proof required to justify a finding of fact by the administrator as to granting the status of a self-insuring employer, which rules shall be general in their application, one of which rules shall provide that all self-insuring employers shall pay into the state insurance fund such amounts as are required to be credited to the surplus fund in division (B) of section 4123.34 of the Revised Code. The administrator may adopt rules establishing requirements in addition to the requirements described in division (B)(2) of this section that a public employer shall meet in order to qualify for self-insuring status.
Employers shall secure directly from the bureau central offices application forms upon which the bureau shall stamp a designating number. Prior to submission of an application, an employer shall make available to the bureau, and the bureau shall review, the information described in division (B)(1) of this section, and public employers shall make available, and the bureau shall review, the information necessary to verify whether the public employer meets the requirements listed in division (B)(2) of this section. An employer shall file the completed application forms with an application fee, which shall cover the costs of processing the application, as established by the administrator, by rule, with the bureau at least ninety days prior to the effective date of the employer's new status as a self-insuring employer. The application form is not deemed complete until all the required information is attached thereto. The bureau shall only accept applications that contain the required information.
(F) The bureau shall review completed applications within a reasonable time. If the bureau determines to grant an employer the status as a self-insuring employer, the bureau shall issue a statement, containing its findings of fact, that is prepared by the bureau and signed by the administrator. If the bureau determines not to grant the status as a self-insuring employer, the bureau shall notify the employer of the determination and require the employer to continue to pay its full premium into the state insurance fund. The administrator also shall adopt rules establishing a minimum level of performance as a criterion for granting and maintaining the status as a self-insuring employer and fixing time limits beyond which failure of the self-insuring employer to provide for the necessary medical examinations and evaluations may not delay a decision on a claim.
(G) The administrator shall adopt rules setting forth procedures for auditing the program of self-insuring employers. The bureau shall conduct the audit upon a random basis or whenever the bureau has grounds for believing that a self-insuring employer is not in full compliance with bureau rules or this chapter.
The administrator shall monitor the programs conducted by self-insuring employers, to ensure compliance with bureau requirements and for that purpose, shall develop and issue to self-insuring employers standardized forms for use by the self-insuring employer in all aspects of the self-insuring employers' direct compensation program and for reporting of information to the bureau.
The bureau shall receive and transmit to the self-insuring employer all complaints concerning any self-insuring employer. In the case of a complaint against a self-insuring employer, the administrator shall handle the complaint through the self-insurance division of the bureau. The bureau shall maintain a file by employer of all complaints received that relate to the employer. The bureau shall evaluate each complaint and take appropriate action.
The administrator shall adopt as a rule a prohibition against any self-insuring employer from harassing, dismissing, or otherwise disciplining any employee making a complaint, which rule shall provide for a financial penalty to be levied by the administrator payable by the offending self-insuring employer.
(H) For the purpose of making determinations as to whether to grant status as a self-insuring employer, the administrator may subscribe to and pay for a credit reporting service that offers financial and other business information about individual employers. The costs in connection with the bureau's subscription or individual reports from the service about an applicant may be included in the application fee charged employers under this section.
(I) The administrator, notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter, may permit a self-insuring employer to resume payment of premiums to the state insurance fund with appropriate credit modifications to the employer's basic premium rate as such rate is determined pursuant to section 4123.29 of the Revised Code.
(J) On the first day of July of each year, the administrator shall calculate separately each self-insuring employer's assessments for the safety and hygiene fund, administrative costs pursuant to section 4123.342 of the Revised Code, and for the portion of the surplus fund under division (B) of section 4123.34 of the Revised Code that is not used for handicapped reimbursement, on the basis of the paid compensation attributable to the individual self-insuring employer according to the following calculation:
(1) The total assessment against all self-insuring employers as a class for each fund and for the administrative costs for the year that the assessment is being made, as determined by the administrator, divided by the total amount of paid compensation for the previous calendar year attributable to all amenable self-insuring employers;
(2) Multiply the quotient in division (J)(1) of this section by the total amount of paid compensation for the previous calendar year that is attributable to the individual self-insuring employer for whom the assessment is being determined. Each self-insuring employer shall pay the assessment that results from this calculation, unless the assessment resulting from this calculation falls below a minimum assessment, which minimum assessment the administrator shall determine on the first day of July of each year with the advice and consent of the bureau of workers' compensation board of directors, in which event, the self-insuring employer shall pay the minimum assessment.
In determining the total amount due for the total assessment against all self-insuring employers as a class for each fund and the administrative assessment, the administrator shall reduce proportionately the total for each fund and assessment by the amount of money in the self-insurance assessment fund as of the date of the computation of the assessment.
The administrator shall calculate the assessment for the portion of the surplus fund under division (B) of section 4123.34 of the Revised Code that is used for handicapped reimbursement in the same manner as set forth in divisions (J)(1) and (2) of this section except that the administrator shall calculate the total assessment for this portion of the surplus fund only on the basis of those self-insuring employers that retain participation in the handicapped reimbursement program and the individual self-insuring employer's proportion of paid compensation shall be calculated only for those self-insuring employers who retain participation in the handicapped reimbursement program. The administrator, as the administrator determines appropriate, may determine the total assessment for the handicapped portion of the surplus fund in accordance with sound actuarial principles.
The administrator shall calculate the assessment for the portion of the surplus fund under division (B) of section 4123.34 of the Revised Code that under division (D) of section 4121.66 of the Revised Code is used for rehabilitation costs in the same manner as set forth in divisions (J)(1) and (2) of this section, except that the administrator shall calculate the total assessment for this portion of the surplus fund only on the basis of those self-insuring employers who have not made the election to make payments directly under division (D) of section 4121.66 of the Revised Code and an individual self-insuring employer's proportion of paid compensation only for those self-insuring employers who have not made that election.
The administrator shall calculate the assessment for the portion of the surplus fund under division (B) of section 4123.34 of the Revised Code that is used for reimbursement to a self-insuring employer under division (H) of section 4123.512 of the Revised Code in the same manner as set forth in divisions (J)(1) and (2) of this section except that the administrator shall calculate the total assessment for this portion of the surplus fund only on the basis of those self-insuring employers that retain participation in reimbursement to the self-insuring employer under division (H) of section 4123.512 of the Revised Code and the individual self-insuring employer's proportion of paid compensation shall be calculated only for those self-insuring employers who retain participation in reimbursement to the self-insuring employer under division (H) of section 4123.512 of the Revised Code.
An employer who no longer is a self-insuring employer in this state or who no longer is operating in this state, shall continue to pay assessments for administrative costs and for the portion of the surplus fund under division (B) of section 4123.34 of the Revised Code that is not used for handicapped reimbursement, based upon paid compensation attributable to claims that occurred while the employer was a self-insuring employer within this state.
(K) The administrator shall deposit any moneys received from a self-insuring employer for the self-insuring employer's assessment to pay the costs solely attributable to the workers' compensation council into the administrative assessment account described in division (B) of section 4123.342 of the Revised Code for the administrative cost assessment collected by the administrator for the council. There is hereby created in the state treasury the self-insurance assessment fund. All investment earnings of the fund shall be deposited in the fund. The administrator shall use the money in the self-insurance assessment fund only for administrative costs as specified in section 4123.341 of the Revised Code.
(L) Every self-insuring employer shall certify, in affidavit form subject to the penalty for perjury, to the bureau the amount of the self-insuring employer's paid compensation for the previous calendar year. In reporting paid compensation paid for the previous year, a self-insuring employer shall exclude from the total amount of paid compensation any reimbursement the self-insuring employer receives in the previous calendar year from the surplus fund pursuant to section 4123.512 of the Revised Code for any paid compensation. The self-insuring employer also shall exclude from the paid compensation reported any amount recovered under section 4123.931 of the Revised Code and any amount that is determined not to have been payable to or on behalf of a claimant in any final administrative or judicial proceeding. The self-insuring employer shall exclude such amounts from the paid compensation reported in the reporting period subsequent to the date the determination is made. The administrator shall adopt rules, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, that provide for all of the following:
(1) Establishing the date by which self-insuring employers must submit such information and the amount of the assessments provided for in division (J) of this section for employers who have been granted self-insuring status within the last calendar year;
(2) If an employer fails to pay the assessment when due, the administrator may add a late fee penalty of not more than five hundred dollars to the assessment plus an additional penalty amount as follows:
(a) For an assessment from sixty-one to ninety days past due, the prime interest rate, multiplied by the assessment due;
(b) For an assessment from ninety-one to one hundred twenty days past due, the prime interest rate plus two per cent, multiplied by the assessment due;
(c) For an assessment from one hundred twenty-one to one hundred fifty days past due, the prime interest rate plus four per cent, multiplied by the assessment due;
(d) For an assessment from one hundred fifty-one to one hundred eighty days past due, the prime interest rate plus six per cent, multiplied by the assessment due;
(e) For an assessment from one hundred eighty-one to two hundred ten days past due, the prime interest rate plus eight per cent, multiplied by the assessment due;
(f) For each additional thirty-day period or portion thereof that an assessment remains past due after it has remained past due for more than two hundred ten days, the prime interest rate plus eight per cent, multiplied by the assessment due.
(3) An employer may appeal a late fee penalty and penalty assessment to the administrator.
For purposes of division (L)(2) of this section, "prime interest rate" means the average bank prime rate, and the administrator shall determine the prime interest rate in the same manner as a county auditor determines the average bank prime rate under section 929.02 of the Revised Code.
The administrator shall include any assessment and penalties that remain unpaid for previous assessment periods in the calculation and collection of any assessments due under this division or division (J) of this section.
(M) As used in this section, "paid compensation" means all amounts paid by a self-insuring employer for living maintenance benefits, all amounts for compensation paid pursuant to sections 4121.63, 4121.67, 4123.56, 4123.57, 4123.58, 4123.59, 4123.60, and 4123.64 of the Revised Code, all amounts paid as wages in lieu of such compensation, all amounts paid in lieu of such compensation under a nonoccupational accident and sickness program fully funded by the self-insuring employer, and all amounts paid by a self-insuring employer for a violation of a specific safety standard pursuant to Section 35 of Article II, Ohio Constitution and section 4121.47 of the Revised Code.
(N) Should any section of this chapter or Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code providing for self-insuring employers' assessments based upon compensation paid be declared unconstitutional by a final decision of any court, then that section of the Revised Code declared unconstitutional shall revert back to the section in existence prior to November 3, 1989, providing for assessments based upon payroll.
(O) The administrator may grant a self-insuring employer the privilege to self-insure a construction project entered into by the self-insuring employer that is scheduled for completion within six years after the date the project begins, and the total cost of which is estimated to exceed one hundred million dollars or, for employers described in division (R) of this section, if the construction project is estimated to exceed twenty-five million dollars. The administrator may waive such cost and time criteria and grant a self-insuring employer the privilege to self-insure a construction project regardless of the time needed to complete the construction project and provided that the cost of the construction project is estimated to exceed fifty million dollars. A self-insuring employer who desires to self-insure a construction project shall submit to the administrator an application listing the dates the construction project is scheduled to begin and end, the estimated cost of the construction project, the contractors and subcontractors whose employees are to be self-insured by the self-insuring employer, the provisions of a safety program that is specifically designed for the construction project, and a statement as to whether a collective bargaining agreement governing the rights, duties, and obligations of each of the parties to the agreement with respect to the construction project exists between the self-insuring employer and a labor organization.
A self-insuring employer may apply to self-insure the employees of either of the following:
(1) All contractors and subcontractors who perform labor or work or provide materials for the construction project;
(2) All contractors and, at the administrator's discretion, a substantial number of all the subcontractors who perform labor or work or provide materials for the construction project.
Upon approval of the application, the administrator shall mail a certificate granting the privilege to self-insure the construction project to the self-insuring employer. The certificate shall contain the name of the self-insuring employer and the name, address, and telephone number of the self-insuring employer's representatives who are responsible for administering workers' compensation claims for the construction project. The self-insuring employer shall post the certificate in a conspicuous place at the site of the construction project.
The administrator shall maintain a record of the contractors and subcontractors whose employees are covered under the certificate issued to the self-insured employer. A self-insuring employer immediately shall notify the administrator when any contractor or subcontractor is added or eliminated from inclusion under the certificate.
Upon approval of the application, the self-insuring employer is responsible for the administration and payment of all claims under this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code for the employees of the contractor and subcontractors covered under the certificate who receive injuries or are killed in the course of and arising out of employment on the construction project, or who contract an occupational disease in the course of employment on the construction project. For purposes of this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code, a claim that is administered and paid in accordance with this division is considered a claim against the self-insuring employer listed in the certificate. A contractor or subcontractor included under the certificate shall report to the self-insuring employer listed in the certificate, all claims that arise under this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code in connection with the construction project for which the certificate is issued.
A self-insuring employer who complies with this division is entitled to the protections provided under this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code with respect to the employees of the contractors and subcontractors covered under a certificate issued under this division for death or injuries that arise out of, or death, injuries, or occupational diseases that arise in the course of, those employees' employment on that construction project, as if the employees were employees of the self-insuring employer, provided that the self-insuring employer also complies with this section. No employee of the contractors and subcontractors covered under a certificate issued under this division shall be considered the employee of the self-insuring employer listed in that certificate for any purposes other than this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code. Nothing in this division gives a self-insuring employer authority to control the means, manner, or method of employment of the employees of the contractors and subcontractors covered under a certificate issued under this division.
The contractors and subcontractors included under a certificate issued under this division are entitled to the protections provided under this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code with respect to the contractor's or subcontractor's employees who are employed on the construction project which is the subject of the certificate, for death or injuries that arise out of, or death, injuries, or occupational diseases that arise in the course of, those employees' employment on that construction project.
The contractors and subcontractors included under a certificate issued under this division shall identify in their payroll records the employees who are considered the employees of the self-insuring employer listed in that certificate for purposes of this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code, and the amount that those employees earned for employment on the construction project that is the subject of that certificate. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary under this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code, the administrator shall exclude the payroll that is reported for employees who are considered the employees of the self-insuring employer listed in that certificate, and that the employees earned for employment on the construction project that is the subject of that certificate, when determining those contractors' or subcontractors' premiums or assessments required under this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code. A self-insuring employer issued a certificate under this division shall include in the amount of paid compensation it reports pursuant to division (L) of this section, the amount of paid compensation the self-insuring employer paid pursuant to this division for the previous calendar year.
Nothing in this division shall be construed as altering the rights of employees under this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code as those rights existed prior to September 17, 1996. Nothing in this division shall be construed as altering the rights devolved under sections 2305.31 and 4123.82 of the Revised Code as those rights existed prior to September 17, 1996.
As used in this division, "privilege to self-insure a construction project" means privilege to pay individually compensation, and to furnish medical, surgical, nursing, and hospital services and attention and funeral expenses directly to injured employees or the dependents of killed employees.
(P) A self-insuring employer whose application is granted under division (O) of this section shall designate a safety professional to be responsible for the administration and enforcement of the safety program that is specifically designed for the construction project that is the subject of the application.
A self-insuring employer whose application is granted under division (O) of this section shall employ an ombudsperson for the construction project that is the subject of the application. The ombudsperson shall have experience in workers' compensation or the construction industry, or both. The ombudsperson shall perform all of the following duties:
(1) Communicate with and provide information to employees who are injured in the course of, or whose injury arises out of employment on the construction project, or who contract an occupational disease in the course of employment on the construction project;
(2) Investigate the status of a claim upon the request of an employee to do so;
(3) Provide information to claimants, third party administrators, employers, and other persons to assist those persons in protecting their rights under this chapter and Chapter 4121. of the Revised Code.
A self-insuring employer whose application is granted under division (O) of this section shall post the name of the safety professional and the ombudsperson and instructions for contacting the safety professional and the ombudsperson in a conspicuous place at the site of the construction project.
(Q) The administrator may consider all of the following when deciding whether to grant a self-insuring employer the privilege to self-insure a construction project as provided under division (O) of this section:
(1) Whether the self-insuring employer has an organizational plan for the administration of the workers' compensation law;
(2) Whether the safety program that is specifically designed for the construction project provides for the safety of employees employed on the construction project, is applicable to all contractors and subcontractors who perform labor or work or provide materials for the construction project, and has as a component, a safety training program that complies with standards adopted pursuant to the "Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970," 84 Stat. 1590, 29 U.S.C.A. 651, and provides for continuing management and employee involvement;
(3) Whether granting the privilege to self-insure the construction project will reduce the costs of the construction project;
(4) Whether the self-insuring employer has employed an ombudsperson as required under division (P) of this section;
(5) Whether the self-insuring employer has sufficient surety to secure the payment of claims for which the self-insuring employer would be responsible pursuant to the granting of the privilege to self-insure a construction project under division (O) of this section.
(R) As used in divisions (O), (P), and (Q), "self-insuring employer" includes the following employers, whether or not they have been granted the status of being a self-insuring employer under division (B) of this section:
(1) A state institution of higher education;
(2) A school district;
(3) A county school financing district;
(4) An educational service center;
(5) A community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code;
(6) A municipal power agency as defined in section 3734.058 of the Revised Code.
(S) As used in this section:
(1) "Unvoted debt capacity" means the amount of money that a public employer may borrow without voter approval of a tax levy;
(2) "State institution of higher education" means the state universities listed in section 3345.011 of the Revised Code, community colleges created pursuant to Chapter 3354. of the Revised Code, university branches created pursuant to Chapter 3355. of the Revised Code, technical colleges created pursuant to Chapter 3357. of the Revised Code, and state community colleges created pursuant to Chapter 3358. of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4123.512.  (A) The claimant or the employer may appeal an order of the industrial commission made under division (E) of section 4123.511 of the Revised Code in any injury or occupational disease case, other than a decision as to the extent of disability to the court of common pleas of the county in which the injury was inflicted or in which the contract of employment was made if the injury occurred outside the state, or in which the contract of employment was made if the exposure occurred outside the state. If no common pleas court has jurisdiction for the purposes of an appeal by the use of the jurisdictional requirements described in this division, the appellant may use the venue provisions in the Rules of Civil Procedure to vest jurisdiction in a court. If the claim is for an occupational disease, the appeal shall be to the court of common pleas of the county in which the exposure which caused the disease occurred. Like appeal may be taken from an order of a staff hearing officer made under division (D) of section 4123.511 of the Revised Code from which the commission has refused to hear an appeal. The appellant shall file the notice of appeal with a court of common pleas within sixty days after the date of the receipt of the order appealed from or the date of receipt of the order of the commission refusing to hear an appeal of a staff hearing officer's decision under division (D) of section 4123.511 of the Revised Code. The filing of the notice of the appeal with the court is the only act required to perfect the appeal.
If an action has been commenced in a court of a county other than a court of a county having jurisdiction over the action, the court, upon notice by any party or upon its own motion, shall transfer the action to a court of a county having jurisdiction.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this section, if the commission determines under section 4123.522 of the Revised Code that an employee, employer, or their respective representatives have not received written notice of an order or decision which is appealable to a court under this section and which grants relief pursuant to section 4123.522 of the Revised Code, the party granted the relief has sixty days from receipt of the order under section 4123.522 of the Revised Code to file a notice of appeal under this section.
(B) The notice of appeal shall state the names of the claimant and the employer, the number of the claim, the date of the order appealed from, and the fact that the appellant appeals therefrom.
The administrator of workers' compensation, the claimant, and the employer shall be parties to the appeal and the court, upon the application of the commission, shall make the commission a party. The party filing the appeal shall serve a copy of the notice of appeal on the administrator at the central office of the bureau of workers' compensation in Columbus. The administrator shall notify the employer that if the employer fails to become an active party to the appeal, then the administrator may act on behalf of the employer and the results of the appeal could have an adverse effect upon the employer's premium rates.
(C) The attorney general or one or more of the attorney general's assistants or special counsel designated by the attorney general shall represent the administrator and the commission. In the event the attorney general or the attorney general's designated assistants or special counsel are absent, the administrator or the commission shall select one or more of the attorneys in the employ of the administrator or the commission as the administrator's attorney or the commission's attorney in the appeal. Any attorney so employed shall continue the representation during the entire period of the appeal and in all hearings thereof except where the continued representation becomes impractical.
(D) Upon receipt of notice of appeal, the clerk of courts shall provide notice to all parties who are appellees and to the commission.
The claimant shall, within thirty days after the filing of the notice of appeal, file a petition containing a statement of facts in ordinary and concise language showing a cause of action to participate or to continue to participate in the fund and setting forth the basis for the jurisdiction of the court over the action. Further pleadings shall be had in accordance with the Rules of Civil Procedure, provided that service of summons on such petition shall not be required and provided that the claimant may not dismiss the complaint without the employer's consent if the employer is the party that filed the notice of appeal to court pursuant to this section. The clerk of the court shall, upon receipt thereof, transmit by certified mail a copy thereof to each party named in the notice of appeal other than the claimant. Any party may file with the clerk prior to the trial of the action a deposition of any physician taken in accordance with the provisions of the Revised Code, which deposition may be read in the trial of the action even though the physician is a resident of or subject to service in the county in which the trial is had. The bureau of workers' compensation shall pay the cost of the stenographic deposition filed in court and of copies of the stenographic deposition for each party from the surplus fund and charge the costs thereof against the unsuccessful party if the claimant's right to participate or continue to participate is finally sustained or established in the appeal. In the event the deposition is taken and filed, the physician whose deposition is taken is not required to respond to any subpoena issued in the trial of the action. The court, or the jury under the instructions of the court, if a jury is demanded, shall determine the right of the claimant to participate or to continue to participate in the fund upon the evidence adduced at the hearing of the action.
(E) The court shall certify its decision to the commission and the certificate shall be entered in the records of the court. Appeals from the judgment are governed by the law applicable to the appeal of civil actions.
(F) The cost of any legal proceedings authorized by this section, including an attorney's fee to the claimant's attorney to be fixed by the trial judge, based upon the effort expended, in the event the claimant's right to participate or to continue to participate in the fund is established upon the final determination of an appeal, shall be taxed against the employer or the commission if the commission or the administrator rather than the employer contested the right of the claimant to participate in the fund. The attorney's fee shall not exceed forty-two hundred dollars.
(G) If the finding of the court or the verdict of the jury is in favor of the claimant's right to participate in the fund, the commission and the administrator shall thereafter proceed in the matter of the claim as if the judgment were the decision of the commission, subject to the power of modification provided by section 4123.52 of the Revised Code.
(H)(1) An appeal from an order issued under division (E) of section 4123.511 of the Revised Code or any action filed in court in a case in which an award of compensation or medical benefits has been made shall not stay the payment of compensation or medical benefits under the award, or payment for subsequent periods of total disability or medical benefits during the pendency of the appeal. If, in a final administrative or judicial action, it is determined that payments of compensation or benefits, or both, made to or on behalf of a claimant should not have been made, the amount thereof shall be charged to the surplus fund account under division (A)(B) of section 4123.34 of the Revised Code. In the event the employer is a state risk, the amount shall not be charged to the employer's experience, and the administrator shall adjust the employer's account accordingly. In the event the employer is a self-insuring employer, the self-insuring employer shall deduct the amount from the paid compensation the self-insuring employer reports to the administrator under division (L) of section 4123.35 of the Revised Code.
(2)(a) Notwithstanding a final determination that payments of benefits made to or on behalf of a claimant should not have been made, the administrator or self-insuring employer shall award payment of medical or vocational rehabilitation services submitted for payment after the date of the final determination if all of the following apply:
(i) The services were approved and were rendered by the provider in good faith prior to the date of the final determination.
(ii) The services were payable under division (I) of section 4123.511 of the Revised Code prior to the date of the final determination.
(iii) The request for payment is submitted within the time limit set forth in section 4123.52 of the Revised Code.
(b) Payments made under division (H)(1) of this section shall be charged to the surplus fund account under division (B) of section 4123.34 of the Revised Code. If the employer of the employee who is the subject of a claim described in division (H)(2)(a) of this section is a state fund employer, the payments made under that division shall not be charged to the employer's experience. If that employer is a self-insuring employer, the self-insuring employer shall deduct the amount from the paid compensation the self-insuring employer reports to the administrator under division (L) of section 4123.35 of the Revised Code.
(c) Division (H)(2) of this section shall apply only to a claim under this chapter or Chapter 4121., 4127., or 4131. of the Revised Code arising on or after the effective date of this amendment.
(3) A self-insuring employer may elect to pay compensation and benefits under this section directly to an employee or an employee's dependents by filing an application with the bureau of workers' compensation not more than one hundred eighty days and not less than ninety days before the first day of the employer's next six-month coverage period. If the self-insuring employer timely files the application, the application is effective on the first day of the employer's next six-month coverage period, provided that the administrator shall compute the employer's assessment for the surplus fund account due with respect to the period during which that application was filed without regard to the filing of the application. On and after the effective date of the employer's election, the self-insuring employer shall pay directly to an employee or to an employee's dependents compensation and benefits under this section regardless of the date of the injury or occupational disease, and the employer shall receive no money or credits from the surplus fund account on account of those payments and shall not be required to pay any amounts into the surplus fund account on account of this section. The election made under this division is irrevocable.
(I) All actions and proceedings under this section which are the subject of an appeal to the court of common pleas or the court of appeals shall be preferred over all other civil actions except election causes, irrespective of position on the calendar.
This section applies to all decisions of the commission or the administrator on November 2, 1959, and all claims filed thereafter are governed by sections 4123.511 and 4123.512 of the Revised Code.
Any action pending in common pleas court or any other court on January 1, 1986, under this section is governed by former sections 4123.514, 4123.515, 4123.516, and 4123.519 and section 4123.522 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4123.52.  (A) The jurisdiction of the industrial commission and the authority of the administrator of workers' compensation over each case is continuing, and the commission may make such modification or change with respect to former findings or orders with respect thereto, as, in its opinion is justified. No modification or change nor any finding or award in respect of any claim shall be made with respect to disability, compensation, dependency, or benefits, after five years from the date of injury in the absence of the payment of medical benefits under this chapter or in the absence of payment of compensation under section 4123.57, 4123.58, or division (A) or (B) of section 4123.56 of the Revised Code or wages in lieu of compensation in a manner so as to satisfy the requirements of section 4123.84 of the Revised Code, in which event the modification, change, finding, or award shall be made within five years from the date of the last payment of compensation or from the date of death, nor unless written notice of claim for the specific part or parts of the body injured or disabled has been given as provided in section 4123.84 or 4123.85 of the Revised Code. The commission shall not make any modification, change, finding, or award which shall award compensation for a back period in excess of two years prior to the date of filing application therefor. This
(B) Notwithstanding division (A) of this section, and except as otherwise provided in a rule that shall be adopted by the administrator, with the advice and consent of the bureau of workers' compensation board of directors, neither the administrator nor the commission shall make any finding or award for payment of medical or vocational rehabilitation services submitted for payment more than one year after the date the services were rendered or more than one year after the date the services became payable under division (I) of section 4123.511 of the Revised Code, whichever is later. No medical or vocational rehabilitation provider shall bill a claimant for services rendered if the administrator or commission is prohibited from making that payment under this division.
(C) Division (B) of this section does not apply to requests made by the centers for medicare and medicaid services in the United States department of health and human services for reimbursement of conditional payments made pursuant to section 1395y(b)(2) of title 42, United States Code (commonly known as the "Medicare Secondary Payer Act").
(D) This section does not affect the right of a claimant to compensation accruing subsequent to the filing of any such application, provided the application is filed within the time limit provided in this section.
(E) This section does not deprive the commission of its continuing jurisdiction to determine the questions raised by any application for modification of award which has been filed with the commission after June 1, 1932, and prior to the expiration of the applicable period but in respect to which no award has been granted or denied during the applicable period.
(F) The commission may, by general rules, provide for the destruction of files of cases in which no further action may be taken.
(G) The commission and administrator of workers' compensation each may, by general rules, provide for the retention and destruction of all other records in their possession or under their control pursuant to section 121.211 and sections 149.34 to 149.36 of the Revised Code. The bureau of workers' compensation may purchase or rent required equipment for the document retention media, as determined necessary to preserve the records. Photographs, microphotographs, microfilm, films, or other direct document retention media, when properly identified, have the same effect as the original record and may be offered in like manner and may be received as evidence in proceedings before the industrial commission, staff hearing officers, and district hearing officers, and in any court where the original record could have been introduced.
Sec. 5505.04.  (A)(1) The general administration and management of the state highway patrol retirement system and the making effective of this chapter are hereby vested in the state highway patrol retirement board. The board may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, contract and be contracted with, and do all things necessary to carry out this chapter.
The board shall consist of the following members:
(a) The superintendent of the state highway patrol;
(b) Two retirant members who reside in this state;
(c) Five employee-members;
(d) One member, known as the treasurer of state's investment designee, who shall be appointed by the treasurer of state for a term of four years and who shall have the following qualifications:
(i) The member is a resident of this state.
(ii) Within the three years immediately preceding the appointment, the member has not been employed by the public employees retirement system, police and fire pension fund, state teachers retirement system, school employees retirement system, or state highway patrol retirement system or by any person, partnership, or corporation that has provided to one of those retirement systems services of a financial or investment nature, including the management, analysis, supervision, or investment of assets.
(iii) The member has direct experience in the management, analysis, supervision, or investment of assets.
(iv) The member is not currently employed by the state or a political subdivision of the state.
(e) Two investment expert members, who shall be appointed to four-year terms. One investment expert member shall be appointed by the governor, and one investment expert member shall be jointly appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate. Each investment expert member shall have the following qualifications:
(i) Each investment expert member shall be a resident of this state.
(ii) Within the three years immediately preceding the appointment, each investment expert member shall not have been employed by the public employees retirement system, police and fire pension fund, state teachers retirement system, school employees retirement system, or state highway patrol retirement system or by any person, partnership, or corporation that has provided to one of those retirement systems services of a financial or investment nature, including the management, analysis, supervision, or investment of assets.
(iii) Each investment expert member shall have direct experience in the management, analysis, supervision, or investment of assets.
(2) The board shall annually elect a chairperson and vice-chairperson from among its members. The vice-chairperson shall act as chairperson in the absence of the chairperson. A majority of the members of the board shall constitute a quorum and any action taken shall be approved by a majority of the members of the board. The board shall meet not less than once each year, upon sufficient notice to the members. All meetings of the board shall be open to the public except executive sessions as set forth in division (G) of section 121.22 of the Revised Code, and any portions of any sessions discussing medical records or the degree of disability of a member excluded from public inspection by this section.
(3) Any investment expert member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which the member's predecessor was appointed holds office until the end of such term. The member continues in office subsequent to the expiration date of the member's term until the member's successor takes office, or until a period of sixty days has elapsed, whichever occurs first.
(B) The attorney general shall prescribe procedures for the adoption of rules authorized under this chapter, consistent with the provision of section 111.15 of the Revised Code under which all rules shall be filed in order to be effective. Such procedures shall establish methods by which notice of proposed rules are given to interested parties and rules adopted by the board published and otherwise made available. When it files a rule with the joint committee on agency rule review pursuant to section 111.15 of the Revised Code, the board shall submit to the Ohio retirement study council a copy of the full text of the rule, and if applicable, a copy of the rule summary and fiscal analysis required by division (B) of section 127.18 of the Revised Code.
(C)(1) As used in this division, "personal history record" means information maintained by the board on an individual who is a member, former member, retirant, or beneficiary that includes the address, telephone number, social security number, record of contributions, correspondence with the system, and other information the board determines to be confidential.
(2) The records of the board shall be open to public inspection, except for the following which shall be excluded: the member's, former member's, retirant's, or beneficiary's personal history record and the amount of a monthly allowance or benefit paid to a retirant, beneficiary, or survivor, except with the written authorization of the individual concerned. All
(D) All medical reports and recommendations are privileged except that copies as follows:
(1) Copies of such medical reports or recommendations shall be made available to the individual's personal physician, attorney, or authorized agent upon written release received from such individual or such individual's agent, or when necessary for the proper administration of the fund to the board-assigned physician.
(D)(2) Documentation required by section 2929.193 of the Revised Code shall be provided to a court holding a hearing under that section.
(E) Notwithstanding the exceptions to public inspection in division (C)(2) of this section, the board may furnish the following information:
(1) If a member, former member, or retirant is subject to an order issued under section 2907.15 of the Revised Code or an order issued under division (A) or (B) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code or is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of section 2921.41 of the Revised Code, on written request of a prosecutor as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code, the board shall furnish to the prosecutor the information requested from the individual's personal history record.
(2) Pursuant to a court order issued under Chapters 3119., 3121., and 3123. of the Revised Code, the board shall furnish to a court or child support enforcement agency the information required under those chapters.
(3) At the written request of any nonprofit organization or association providing services to retirement system members, retirants, or beneficiaries, the board shall provide to the organization or association a list of the names and addresses of members, former members, retirants, or beneficiaries if the organization or association agrees to use such information solely in accordance with its stated purpose of providing services to such individuals and not for the benefit of other persons, organizations, or associations. The costs of compiling, copying, and mailing the list shall be paid by such entity.
(4) Within fourteen days after receiving from the director of job and family services a list of the names and social security numbers of recipients of public assistance pursuant to section 5101.181 of the Revised Code, the board shall inform the auditor of state of the name, current or most recent employer address, and social security number of each member whose name and social security number are the same as those of a person whose name or social security number was submitted by the director. The board and its employees, except for purposes of furnishing the auditor of state with information required by this section, shall preserve the confidentiality of recipients of public assistance in compliance with division (A) of section 5101.181 of the Revised Code.
(5) The system shall comply with orders issued under section 3105.87 of the Revised Code.
On the written request of an alternate payee, as defined in section 3105.80 of the Revised Code, the system shall furnish to the alternate payee information on the amount and status of any amounts payable to the alternate payee under an order issued under section 3105.171 or 3105.65 of the Revised Code.
(6) At the request of any person, the board shall make available to the person copies of all documents, including resumes, in the board's possession regarding filling a vacancy of an employee member or retirant member of the board. The person who made the request shall pay the cost of compiling, copying, and mailing the documents. The information described in this division is a public record.
(7) The system shall provide the notice required by section 5505.263 of the Revised Code to the prosecutor assigned to the case.
(E)(F) A statement that contains information obtained from the system's records that is certified and signed by an officer of the retirement system and to which the system's official seal is affixed, or copies of the system's records to which the signature and seal are attached, shall be received as true copies of the system's records in any court or before any officer of this state.
Sec. 5505.22.  The right of any individual to a pension, or to the return of accumulated contributions, payable as provided under this chapter, and all moneys and investments of the state highway patrol retirement system and income from moneys or investments are exempt from any state tax, except the tax imposed by section 5747.02 of the Revised Code, and are exempt from any county, municipal, or other local tax, except taxes imposed pursuant to section 5748.02 or 5748.08 of the Revised Code, and, except as provided in sections 3105.171, 3105.65, 3115.32, 3119.80, 3119.81, 3121.02, 3121.03, 3123.06, 5505.26, and 5505.262, and 5505.263 of the Revised Code, shall not be subject to execution, garnishment, attachment, the operation of bankruptcy or insolvency laws, or any other process of law whatsoever, and shall be unassignable except as specifically provided in this chapter.
Sec. 5505.263.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a disability benefit granted under this chapter is subject to an order issued under section 2929.193 of the Revised Code. The state highway patrol retirement board shall comply with the order.
On receipt of notice under section 2901.43 of the Revised Code that a state highway patrol retirement system member is charged with an offense listed in division (D) of section 2929.192 of the Revised Code under the circumstances specified in that division, the system shall determine whether the member has been granted a disability benefit. If so, the system shall send written notice to the prosecutor assigned to the case that the member has been granted a disability benefit under this chapter and may be subject to section 2929.193 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 5505.34.  As used in this section, "alternate payee," "benefit," and "lump sum payment" have the same meanings as in section 3105.80 of the Revised Code.
If a person who is a disability benefit recipient or an alternate payee, as defined in section 3105.80 of the Revised Code, is paid any amount from a benefit or lump sum payment under an order issued under section 3105.171 or 3105.65 of the Revised Code by the state highway patrol retirement system to which the person is not entitled, the person shall repay the retirement system. If the person fails to repay, the retirement system shall withhold the amount due from any benefit or payment due the person under the order or may collect the amount in any other manner provided by law.
Section 102. That existing sections 145.27, 145.56, 145.561, 145.82, 145.95, 742.41, 742.46, 742.47, 742.64, 2329.66, 2929.192, 3305.07, 3305.08, 3305.20, 3305.22, 3307.20, 3307.41, 3307.42, 3309.22, 3309.66, 3309.661, 3309.82, 3309.95, 4121.12, 4121.123, 4121.125, 4121.32, 4121.41, 4121.44, 4121.68, 4123.35, 4123.512, 4123.52, 5505.04, 5505.22, and 5505.34 and sections 4121.124 and 4121.99 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 201.  All items in Sections 201 and 203 of this act are hereby appropriated out of any moneys in the state treasury to the credit of the designated fund. For all appropriations made in this act, those in the first column are for fiscal year 2012, and those in the second column are for fiscal year 2013.
FND AI AI TITLE Appropriations

BWC BUREAU OF WORKERS' COMPENSATION
Workers' Compensation Fund Group
7023 855401 William Green Lease Payments to OBA $ 18,291,365 $ 17,533,370
7023 855407 Claims, Risk and Medical Management $ 125,427,732 $ 124,192,959
7023 855408 Fraud Prevention $ 11,331,154 $ 11,164,226
7023 855409 Administrative Services $ 101,724,950 $ 104,136,037
7023 855410 Attorney General Payments $ 4,621,850 $ 4,621,850
8220 855606 Coal Workers' Fund $ 150,586 $ 147,666
8230 855608 Marine Industry $ 76,532 $ 75,527
8250 855605 Disabled Workers Relief Fund $ 322,266 $ 319,718
8260 855609 Safety and Hygiene Operating $ 20,382,567 $ 20,161,132
8260 855610 Gear Program $ 4,000,000 $ 4,000,000
8290 855604 Long Term Care Loan Program $ 1,000,000 $ 1,000,000
TOTAL WCF Workers' Compensation
Fund Group $ 287,329,002 $ 287,352,485

Federal Special Revenue Fund Group
3490 855601 OSHA Enforcement $ 1,670,998 $ 1,647,515
TOTAL FED Federal Special Revenue Fund Group $ 1,670,998 $ 1,647,515
TOTAL ALL BUDGET FUND GROUPS $ 289,000,000 $ 289,000,000

WILLIAM GREEN LEASE PAYMENTS
The foregoing appropriation item 855401, William Green Lease Payments to OBA, shall be used for lease payments to the Ohio Building Authority, and these appropriations shall be used to meet all payments at the times they are required to be made during the period from July 1, 2011, to June 30, 2013, by the Bureau of Workers' Compensation to the Ohio Building Authority pursuant to leases and agreements made under Chapter 152. of the Revised Code and Section 6 of Am. Sub. H.B. 743 of the 118th General Assembly. Of the amounts received in Fund 7023, appropriation item 855401, William Green Lease Payments to OBA, up to $35,824,735 shall be restricted for lease rental payments to the Ohio Building Authority. If it is determined that additional appropriations are necessary for such purpose, such amounts are hereby appropriated.
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, all tenants of the William Green Building not funded by the Workers' Compensation Fund (Fund 7023) shall pay their fair share of the costs of lease payments to the Workers' Compensation Fund (Fund 7023) by intrastate transfer voucher.
WORKERS' COMPENSATION FRAUD UNIT
The Workers' Compensation Section Fund (Fund 1950) administered by the Attorney General shall receive payments from the Bureau of Workers' Compensation at the beginning of each quarter of each fiscal year to fund expenses of the Workers' Compensation Fraud Unit within the Attorney General's Office. Of the foregoing appropriation item 855410, Attorney General Payments, $828,200 in fiscal year 2012 and $828,200 in fiscal year 2013 shall be used to provide these payments.
SAFETY AND HYGIENE
Notwithstanding section 4121.37 of the Revised Code, the Treasurer of State shall transfer $20,382,567 cash in fiscal year 2012 and $20,161,132 cash in fiscal year 2013 from the State Insurance Fund to the Safety and Hygiene Fund (Fund 8260).
OSHA ON-SITE CONSULTATION PROGRAM
The Bureau of Workers' Compensation may designate a portion of appropriation item 855609, Safety and Hygiene Operating, to be used to match federal funding for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) on-site consultation program.
VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION
The Bureau of Workers' Compensation and the Rehabilitation Services Commission shall enter into an interagency agreement for the provision of vocational rehabilitation services and staff to mutually eligible clients. The bureau shall provide $605,407 in fiscal year 2012 and $605,407 in fiscal year 2013 from the State Insurance Fund to fund vocational rehabilitation services and staff in accordance with the interagency agreement.
FUND BALANCE
Any unencumbered cash balance in excess of $45,000,000 in the Workers' Compensation Fund (Fund 7023) on the thirtieth day of June of each fiscal year shall be used to reduce the administrative cost rate charged to employers to cover appropriations for Bureau of Workers' Compensation operations.
Section 211. WCC WORKERS' COMPENSATION COUNCIL
5FV0 321600 Remuneration Expenses $ 471,200 $ 471,200
TOTAL 5FV0 Workers' Compensation Council Remuneration Fund $ 471,200 $ 471,200
TOTAL ALL BUDGET FUND GROUPS $ 471,200 $ 471,200

WORKERS' COMPENSATION COUNCIL
The foregoing appropriation item 321600, Remuneration Expenses, shall be used to pay the payroll and fringe benefit costs for employees of the Workers' Compensation Council.
Section 221. DEPUTY INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR BWC AND OIC FUNDING
To pay for the FY 2012 costs related to the Deputy Inspector General for the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and Industrial Commission, on July 1, 2011, and on January 1, 2012, or as soon as possible after each date, the Director of Budget and Management shall transfer $212,500 in cash from the Workers' Compensation Fund (Fund 7023) to the Deputy Inspector General for the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and Industrial Commission Fund (Fund 5FT0).
To pay for the FY 2013 costs related to the Deputy Inspector General for the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and Industrial Commission, on July 1, 2012, and on January 1, 2013, or as soon as possible after each date, the Director of Budget and Management shall transfer $212,500 in cash from the Workers' Compensation Fund (Fund 7023) to the Deputy Inspector General for the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and Industrial Commission Fund (Fund 5FT0).
If additional amounts are needed, the Inspector General may seek Controlling Board approval for additional transfers of cash and to increase the amount appropriated in appropriation item 965604, Deputy Inspector General for the Bureau of Workers' Compensation and Industrial Commission.
Section 301. Law contained in the Main Operating Appropriations Act of the 129th General Assembly that applies generally to the appropriations made in that act also applies generally to the appropriations made in this act.
Section 311. The provisions of law contained in this act, and their applications, are severable. If any provision of law contained in this act, or if any application of any provision of law contained in this act, is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions of law contained in this act and their applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application.
Section 321.  Except as otherwise provided in this act, the amendment, enactment, or repeal by this act of a section of law is exempt from the referendum under Ohio Constitution, Article II, Section 1d and section 1.471 of the Revised Code and therefore takes effect immediately when this act becomes law.
Section 322. The amendment, enactment, or repeal by this act of the divisions and sections of law listed below are subject to the referendum under Ohio Constitution, Article II, Section 1c and therefore take effect on the ninety-first day after this act is filed with the Secretary of State.
All Revised Code sections in Section 101 of this act.
The repeal of sections 4121.124 and 4121.99 of the Revised Code.
Section 323.  Section 2329.66 of the Revised Code is presented in this act as a composite of the section as amended by Sub. H.B. 332, Sub. S.B. 3, and Sub. S.B. 281 of the 127th General Assembly. The General Assembly, applying the principle stated in division (B) of section 1.52 of the Revised Code that amendments are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation, finds that the composite is the resulting version of the section in effect prior to the effective date of the section as presented in this act.
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