130th Ohio General Assembly
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H. B. No. 33  As Introduced
As Introduced

129th General Assembly
Regular Session
2011-2012
H. B. No. 33


Representative Snitchler 

Cosponsors: Representatives Combs, Boose, McClain, Grossman, Stebelton, Blair, Okey, Hackett, Dovilla, Kozlowski, Hollington 



A BILL
To amend sections 149.43, 149.45, 319.28, and 319.54 of the Revised Code to exclude the residential and familial information of a federal law enforcement officer from the definition of a public record, to include federal law enforcement officers among the protected individuals who are authorized to request a public office other than the county auditor to redact the person's address from any record made available to the general public on the internet, and to include those officers among the protected individuals who may request the county auditor to replace the person's name with the person's initials on the general tax list and duplicate.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 149.43, 149.45, 319.28, and 319.54 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 149.43.  (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Public record" means records kept by any public office, including, but not limited to, state, county, city, village, township, and school district units, and records pertaining to the delivery of educational services by an alternative school in this state kept by the nonprofit or for-profit entity operating the alternative school pursuant to section 3313.533 of the Revised Code. "Public record" does not mean any of the following:
(a) Medical records;
(b) Records pertaining to probation and parole proceedings or to proceedings related to the imposition of community control sanctions and post-release control sanctions;
(c) Records pertaining to actions under section 2151.85 and division (C) of section 2919.121 of the Revised Code and to appeals of actions arising under those sections;
(d) Records pertaining to adoption proceedings, including the contents of an adoption file maintained by the department of health under section 3705.12 of the Revised Code;
(e) Information in a record contained in the putative father registry established by section 3107.062 of the Revised Code, regardless of whether the information is held by the department of job and family services or, pursuant to section 3111.69 of the Revised Code, the office of child support in the department or a child support enforcement agency;
(f) Records listed in division (A) of section 3107.42 of the Revised Code or specified in division (A) of section 3107.52 of the Revised Code;
(g) Trial preparation records;
(h) Confidential law enforcement investigatory records;
(i) Records containing information that is confidential under section 2710.03 or 4112.05 of the Revised Code;
(j) DNA records stored in the DNA database pursuant to section 109.573 of the Revised Code;
(k) Inmate records released by the department of rehabilitation and correction to the department of youth services or a court of record pursuant to division (E) of section 5120.21 of the Revised Code;
(l) Records maintained by the department of youth services pertaining to children in its custody released by the department of youth services to the department of rehabilitation and correction pursuant to section 5139.05 of the Revised Code;
(m) Intellectual property records;
(n) Donor profile records;
(o) Records maintained by the department of job and family services pursuant to section 3121.894 of the Revised Code;
(p) Peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer residential and familial information;
(q) In the case of a county hospital operated pursuant to Chapter 339. of the Revised Code or a municipal hospital operated pursuant to Chapter 749. of the Revised Code, information that constitutes a trade secret, as defined in section 1333.61 of the Revised Code;
(r) Information pertaining to the recreational activities of a person under the age of eighteen;
(s) Records provided to, statements made by review board members during meetings of, and all work products of a child fatality review board acting under sections 307.621 to 307.629 of the Revised Code, and child fatality review data submitted by the child fatality review board to the department of health or a national child death review database, other than the report prepared pursuant to division (A) of section 307.626 of the Revised Code;
(t) Records provided to and statements made by the executive director of a public children services agency or a prosecuting attorney acting pursuant to section 5153.171 of the Revised Code other than the information released under that section;
(u) Test materials, examinations, or evaluation tools used in an examination for licensure as a nursing home administrator that the board of examiners of nursing home administrators administers under section 4751.04 of the Revised Code or contracts under that section with a private or government entity to administer;
(v) Records the release of which is prohibited by state or federal law;
(w) Proprietary information of or relating to any person that is submitted to or compiled by the Ohio venture capital authority created under section 150.01 of the Revised Code;
(x) Information reported and evaluations conducted pursuant to section 3701.072 of the Revised Code;
(y) Financial statements and data any person submits for any purpose to the Ohio housing finance agency or the controlling board in connection with applying for, receiving, or accounting for financial assistance from the agency, and information that identifies any individual who benefits directly or indirectly from financial assistance from the agency;
(z) Records listed in section 5101.29 of the Revised Code.
(aa) Discharges recorded with a county recorder under section 317.24 of the Revised Code, as specified in division (B)(2) of that section.
(2) "Confidential law enforcement investigatory record" means any record that pertains to a law enforcement matter of a criminal, quasi-criminal, civil, or administrative nature, but only to the extent that the release of the record would create a high probability of disclosure of any of the following:
(a) The identity of a suspect who has not been charged with the offense to which the record pertains, or of an information source or witness to whom confidentiality has been reasonably promised;
(b) Information provided by an information source or witness to whom confidentiality has been reasonably promised, which information would reasonably tend to disclose the source's or witness's identity;
(c) Specific confidential investigatory techniques or procedures or specific investigatory work product;
(d) Information that would endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement personnel, a crime victim, a witness, or a confidential information source.
(3) "Medical record" means any document or combination of documents, except births, deaths, and the fact of admission to or discharge from a hospital, that pertains to the medical history, diagnosis, prognosis, or medical condition of a patient and that is generated and maintained in the process of medical treatment.
(4) "Trial preparation record" means any record that contains information that is specifically compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or in defense of, a civil or criminal action or proceeding, including the independent thought processes and personal trial preparation of an attorney.
(5) "Intellectual property record" means a record, other than a financial or administrative record, that is produced or collected by or for faculty or staff of a state institution of higher learning in the conduct of or as a result of study or research on an educational, commercial, scientific, artistic, technical, or scholarly issue, regardless of whether the study or research was sponsored by the institution alone or in conjunction with a governmental body or private concern, and that has not been publicly released, published, or patented.
(6) "Donor profile record" means all records about donors or potential donors to a public institution of higher education except the names and reported addresses of the actual donors and the date, amount, and conditions of the actual donation.
(7) "Peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer residential and familial information" means any information that discloses any of the following about a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer:
(a) The address of the actual personal residence of a peace officer, parole officer, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or an investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer, except for the state or political subdivision in which the peace officer, parole officer, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer resides;
(b) Information compiled from referral to or participation in an employee assistance program;
(c) The social security number, the residential telephone number, any bank account, debit card, charge card, or credit card number, or the emergency telephone number of, or any medical information pertaining to, a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer;
(d) The name of any beneficiary of employment benefits, including, but not limited to, life insurance benefits, provided to a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer by the peace officer's, parole officer's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, EMT's, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation's, or federal law enforcement officer's employer;
(e) The identity and amount of any charitable or employment benefit deduction made by the peace officer's, parole officer's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, EMT's, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation's, or federal law enforcement officer's employer from the peace officer's, parole officer's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, EMT's, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation's, or federal law enforcement officer's compensation unless the amount of the deduction is required by state or federal law;
(f) The name, the residential address, the name of the employer, the address of the employer, the social security number, the residential telephone number, any bank account, debit card, charge card, or credit card number, or the emergency telephone number of the spouse, a former spouse, or any child of a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer;
(g) A photograph of a peace officer or federal law enforcement officer who holds a position or has an assignment that may include undercover or plain clothes positions or assignments as determined by the peace officer's or federal law enforcement officer's appointing authority.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(9) of this section, "peace officer" has the same meaning as in section 109.71 of the Revised Code and also includes the superintendent and troopers of the state highway patrol; it does not include the sheriff of a county or a supervisory employee who, in the absence of the sheriff, is authorized to stand in for, exercise the authority of, and perform the duties of the sheriff.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(5) of this section, "correctional employee" means any employee of the department of rehabilitation and correction who in the course of performing the employee's job duties has or has had contact with inmates and persons under supervision.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(5) of this section, "youth services employee" means any employee of the department of youth services who in the course of performing the employee's job duties has or has had contact with children committed to the custody of the department of youth services.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(9) of this section, "firefighter" means any regular, paid or volunteer, member of a lawfully constituted fire department of a municipal corporation, township, fire district, or village.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(9) of this section, "EMT" means EMTs-basic, EMTs-I, and paramedics that provide emergency medical services for a public emergency medical service organization. "Emergency medical service organization," "EMT-basic," "EMT-I," and "paramedic" have the same meanings as in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(9) of this section, "investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation" has the meaning defined in section 2903.11 of the Revised Code.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(9) of this section, "federal law enforcement officer" means any officer of the United States who is authorized by federal law to conduct any investigation of, and make any arrest for, any offense against the United States in violation of federal law.
(8) "Information pertaining to the recreational activities of a person under the age of eighteen" means information that is kept in the ordinary course of business by a public office, that pertains to the recreational activities of a person under the age of eighteen years, and that discloses any of the following:
(a) The address or telephone number of a person under the age of eighteen or the address or telephone number of that person's parent, guardian, custodian, or emergency contact person;
(b) The social security number, birth date, or photographic image of a person under the age of eighteen;
(c) Any medical record, history, or information pertaining to a person under the age of eighteen;
(d) Any additional information sought or required about a person under the age of eighteen for the purpose of allowing that person to participate in any recreational activity conducted or sponsored by a public office or to use or obtain admission privileges to any recreational facility owned or operated by a public office.
(9) "Community control sanction" has the same meaning as in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.
(10) "Post-release control sanction" has the same meaning as in section 2967.01 of the Revised Code.
(11) "Redaction" means obscuring or deleting any information that is exempt from the duty to permit public inspection or copying from an item that otherwise meets the definition of a "record" in section 149.011 of the Revised Code.
(12) "Designee" and "elected official" have the same meanings as in section 109.43 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1) Upon request and subject to division (B)(8) of this section, all public records responsive to the request shall be promptly prepared and made available for inspection to any person at all reasonable times during regular business hours. Subject to division (B)(8) of this section, upon request, a public office or person responsible for public records shall make copies of the requested public record available at cost and within a reasonable period of time. If a public record contains information that is exempt from the duty to permit public inspection or to copy the public record, the public office or the person responsible for the public record shall make available all of the information within the public record that is not exempt. When making that public record available for public inspection or copying that public record, the public office or the person responsible for the public record shall notify the requester of any redaction or make the redaction plainly visible. A redaction shall be deemed a denial of a request to inspect or copy the redacted information, except if federal or state law authorizes or requires a public office to make the redaction.
(2) To facilitate broader access to public records, a public office or the person responsible for public records shall organize and maintain public records in a manner that they can be made available for inspection or copying in accordance with division (B) of this section. A public office also shall have available a copy of its current records retention schedule at a location readily available to the public. If a requester makes an ambiguous or overly broad request or has difficulty in making a request for copies or inspection of public records under this section such that the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record cannot reasonably identify what public records are being requested, the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record may deny the request but shall provide the requester with an opportunity to revise the request by informing the requester of the manner in which records are maintained by the public office and accessed in the ordinary course of the public office's or person's duties.
(3) If a request is ultimately denied, in part or in whole, the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record shall provide the requester with an explanation, including legal authority, setting forth why the request was denied. If the initial request was provided in writing, the explanation also shall be provided to the requester in writing. The explanation shall not preclude the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record from relying upon additional reasons or legal authority in defending an action commenced under division (C) of this section.
(4) Unless specifically required or authorized by state or federal law or in accordance with division (B) of this section, no public office or person responsible for public records may limit or condition the availability of public records by requiring disclosure of the requester's identity or the intended use of the requested public record. Any requirement that the requester disclose the requestor's identity or the intended use of the requested public record constitutes a denial of the request.
(5) A public office or person responsible for public records may ask a requester to make the request in writing, may ask for the requester's identity, and may inquire about the intended use of the information requested, but may do so only after disclosing to the requester that a written request is not mandatory and that the requester may decline to reveal the requester's identity or the intended use and when a written request or disclosure of the identity or intended use would benefit the requester by enhancing the ability of the public office or person responsible for public records to identify, locate, or deliver the public records sought by the requester.
(6) If any person chooses to obtain a copy of a public record in accordance with division (B) of this section, the public office or person responsible for the public record may require that person to pay in advance the cost involved in providing the copy of the public record in accordance with the choice made by the person seeking the copy under this division. The public office or the person responsible for the public record shall permit that person to choose to have the public record duplicated upon paper, upon the same medium upon which the public office or person responsible for the public record keeps it, or upon any other medium upon which the public office or person responsible for the public record determines that it reasonably can be duplicated as an integral part of the normal operations of the public office or person responsible for the public record. When the person seeking the copy makes a choice under this division, the public office or person responsible for the public record shall provide a copy of it in accordance with the choice made by the person seeking the copy. Nothing in this section requires a public office or person responsible for the public record to allow the person seeking a copy of the public record to make the copies of the public record.
(7) Upon a request made in accordance with division (B) of this section and subject to division (B)(6) of this section, a public office or person responsible for public records shall transmit a copy of a public record to any person by United States mail or by any other means of delivery or transmission within a reasonable period of time after receiving the request for the copy. The public office or person responsible for the public record may require the person making the request to pay in advance the cost of postage if the copy is transmitted by United States mail or the cost of delivery if the copy is transmitted other than by United States mail, and to pay in advance the costs incurred for other supplies used in the mailing, delivery, or transmission.
Any public office may adopt a policy and procedures that it will follow in transmitting, within a reasonable period of time after receiving a request, copies of public records by United States mail or by any other means of delivery or transmission pursuant to this division. A public office that adopts a policy and procedures under this division shall comply with them in performing its duties under this division.
In any policy and procedures adopted under this division, a public office may limit the number of records requested by a person that the office will transmit by United States mail to ten per month, unless the person certifies to the office in writing that the person does not intend to use or forward the requested records, or the information contained in them, for commercial purposes. For purposes of this division, "commercial" shall be narrowly construed and does not include reporting or gathering news, reporting or gathering information to assist citizen oversight or understanding of the operation or activities of government, or nonprofit educational research.
(8) A public office or person responsible for public records is not required to permit a person who is incarcerated pursuant to a criminal conviction or a juvenile adjudication to inspect or to obtain a copy of any public record concerning a criminal investigation or prosecution or concerning what would be a criminal investigation or prosecution if the subject of the investigation or prosecution were an adult, unless the request to inspect or to obtain a copy of the record is for the purpose of acquiring information that is subject to release as a public record under this section and the judge who imposed the sentence or made the adjudication with respect to the person, or the judge's successor in office, finds that the information sought in the public record is necessary to support what appears to be a justiciable claim of the person.
(9) Upon written request made and signed by a journalist on or after December 16, 1999, a public office, or person responsible for public records, having custody of the records of the agency employing a specified peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer shall disclose to the journalist the address of the actual personal residence of the peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer and, if the peace officer's, parole officer's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, EMT's, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation's, or federal law enforcement officer's spouse, former spouse, or child is employed by a public office, the name and address of the employer of the peace officer's, parole officer's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, EMT's, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation's, or federal law enforcement officer's spouse, former spouse, or child. The request shall include the journalist's name and title and the name and address of the journalist's employer and shall state that disclosure of the information sought would be in the public interest.
As used in this division, "journalist" means a person engaged in, connected with, or employed by any news medium, including a newspaper, magazine, press association, news agency, or wire service, a radio or television station, or a similar medium, for the purpose of gathering, processing, transmitting, compiling, editing, or disseminating information for the general public.
(C)(1) If a person allegedly is aggrieved by the failure of a public office or the person responsible for public records to promptly prepare a public record and to make it available to the person for inspection in accordance with division (B) of this section or by any other failure of a public office or the person responsible for public records to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section, the person allegedly aggrieved may commence a mandamus action to obtain a judgment that orders the public office or the person responsible for the public record to comply with division (B) of this section, that awards court costs and reasonable attorney's fees to the person that instituted the mandamus action, and, if applicable, that includes an order fixing statutory damages under division (C)(1) of this section. The mandamus action may be commenced in the court of common pleas of the county in which division (B) of this section allegedly was not complied with, in the supreme court pursuant to its original jurisdiction under Section 2 of Article IV, Ohio Constitution, or in the court of appeals for the appellate district in which division (B) of this section allegedly was not complied with pursuant to its original jurisdiction under Section 3 of Article IV, Ohio Constitution.
If a requestor transmits a written request by hand delivery or certified mail to inspect or receive copies of any public record in a manner that fairly describes the public record or class of public records to the public office or person responsible for the requested public records, except as otherwise provided in this section, the requestor shall be entitled to recover the amount of statutory damages set forth in this division if a court determines that the public office or the person responsible for public records failed to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section.
The amount of statutory damages shall be fixed at one hundred dollars for each business day during which the public office or person responsible for the requested public records failed to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section, beginning with the day on which the requester files a mandamus action to recover statutory damages, up to a maximum of one thousand dollars. The award of statutory damages shall not be construed as a penalty, but as compensation for injury arising from lost use of the requested information. The existence of this injury shall be conclusively presumed. The award of statutory damages shall be in addition to all other remedies authorized by this section.
The court may reduce an award of statutory damages or not award statutory damages if the court determines both of the following:
(a) That, based on the ordinary application of statutory law and case law as it existed at the time of the conduct or threatened conduct of the public office or person responsible for the requested public records that allegedly constitutes a failure to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section and that was the basis of the mandamus action, a well-informed public office or person responsible for the requested public records reasonably would believe that the conduct or threatened conduct of the public office or person responsible for the requested public records did not constitute a failure to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section;
(b) That a well-informed public office or person responsible for the requested public records reasonably would believe that the conduct or threatened conduct of the public office or person responsible for the requested public records would serve the public policy that underlies the authority that is asserted as permitting that conduct or threatened conduct.
(2)(a) If the court issues a writ of mandamus that orders the public office or the person responsible for the public record to comply with division (B) of this section and determines that the circumstances described in division (C)(1) of this section exist, the court shall determine and award to the relator all court costs.
(b) If the court renders a judgment that orders the public office or the person responsible for the public record to comply with division (B) of this section, the court may award reasonable attorney's fees subject to reduction as described in division (C)(2)(c) of this section. The court shall award reasonable attorney's fees, subject to reduction as described in division (C)(2)(c) of this section when either of the following applies:
(i) The public office or the person responsible for the public records failed to respond affirmatively or negatively to the public records request in accordance with the time allowed under division (B) of this section.
(ii) The public office or the person responsible for the public records promised to permit the relator to inspect or receive copies of the public records requested within a specified period of time but failed to fulfill that promise within that specified period of time.
(c) Court costs and reasonable attorney's fees awarded under this section shall be construed as remedial and not punitive. Reasonable attorney's fees shall include reasonable fees incurred to produce proof of the reasonableness and amount of the fees and to otherwise litigate entitlement to the fees. The court may reduce an award of attorney's fees to the relator or not award attorney's fees to the relator if the court determines both of the following:
(i) That, based on the ordinary application of statutory law and case law as it existed at the time of the conduct or threatened conduct of the public office or person responsible for the requested public records that allegedly constitutes a failure to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section and that was the basis of the mandamus action, a well-informed public office or person responsible for the requested public records reasonably would believe that the conduct or threatened conduct of the public office or person responsible for the requested public records did not constitute a failure to comply with an obligation in accordance with division (B) of this section;
(ii) That a well-informed public office or person responsible for the requested public records reasonably would believe that the conduct or threatened conduct of the public office or person responsible for the requested public records as described in division (C)(2)(c)(i) of this section would serve the public policy that underlies the authority that is asserted as permitting that conduct or threatened conduct.
(D) Chapter 1347. of the Revised Code does not limit the provisions of this section.
(E)(1) To ensure that all employees of public offices are appropriately educated about a public office's obligations under division (B) of this section, all elected officials or their appropriate designees shall attend training approved by the attorney general as provided in section 109.43 of the Revised Code. In addition, all public offices shall adopt a public records policy in compliance with this section for responding to public records requests. In adopting a public records policy under this division, a public office may obtain guidance from the model public records policy developed and provided to the public office by the attorney general under section 109.43 of the Revised Code. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the policy may not limit the number of public records that the public office will make available to a single person, may not limit the number of public records that it will make available during a fixed period of time, and may not establish a fixed period of time before it will respond to a request for inspection or copying of public records, unless that period is less than eight hours.
(2) The public office shall distribute the public records policy adopted by the public office under division (E)(1) of this section to the employee of the public office who is the records custodian or records manager or otherwise has custody of the records of that office. The public office shall require that employee to acknowledge receipt of the copy of the public records policy. The public office shall create a poster that describes its public records policy and shall post the poster in a conspicuous place in the public office and in all locations where the public office has branch offices. The public office may post its public records policy on the internet web site of the public office if the public office maintains an internet web site. A public office that has established a manual or handbook of its general policies and procedures for all employees of the public office shall include the public records policy of the public office in the manual or handbook.
(F)(1) The bureau of motor vehicles may adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to reasonably limit the number of bulk commercial special extraction requests made by a person for the same records or for updated records during a calendar year. The rules may include provisions for charges to be made for bulk commercial special extraction requests for the actual cost of the bureau, plus special extraction costs, plus ten per cent. The bureau may charge for expenses for redacting information, the release of which is prohibited by law.
(2) As used in division (F)(1) of this section:
(a) "Actual cost" means the cost of depleted supplies, records storage media costs, actual mailing and alternative delivery costs, or other transmitting costs, and any direct equipment operating and maintenance costs, including actual costs paid to private contractors for copying services.
(b) "Bulk commercial special extraction request" means a request for copies of a record for information in a format other than the format already available, or information that cannot be extracted without examination of all items in a records series, class of records, or data base by a person who intends to use or forward the copies for surveys, marketing, solicitation, or resale for commercial purposes. "Bulk commercial special extraction request" does not include a request by a person who gives assurance to the bureau that the person making the request does not intend to use or forward the requested copies for surveys, marketing, solicitation, or resale for commercial purposes.
(c) "Commercial" means profit-seeking production, buying, or selling of any good, service, or other product.
(d) "Special extraction costs" means the cost of the time spent by the lowest paid employee competent to perform the task, the actual amount paid to outside private contractors employed by the bureau, or the actual cost incurred to create computer programs to make the special extraction. "Special extraction costs" include any charges paid to a public agency for computer or records services.
(3) For purposes of divisions (F)(1) and (2) of this section, "surveys, marketing, solicitation, or resale for commercial purposes" shall be narrowly construed and does not include reporting or gathering news, reporting or gathering information to assist citizen oversight or understanding of the operation or activities of government, or nonprofit educational research.
Sec. 149.45. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Personal information" means any of the following:
(a) An individual's social security number;
(b) An individual's federal tax identification number;
(c) An individual's driver's license number or state identification number;
(d) An individual's checking account number, savings account number, or credit card number.
(2) "Public record" and "peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation residential and familial information" have the same meanings as in section 149.43 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Truncate" means to redact all but the last four digits of an individual's social security number.
(4) "Federal law enforcement officer" means any officer of the United States who is authorized by federal law to conduct any investigation of, and make any arrest for, any offense against the United States in violation of federal law.
(B)(1) No public office or person responsible for a public office's public records shall make available to the general public on the internet any document that contains an individual's social security number without otherwise redacting, encrypting, or truncating the social security number.
(2) A public office or person responsible for a public office's public records that prior to the effective date of this section made available to the general public on the internet any document that contains an individual's social security number shall redact, encrypt, or truncate the social security number from that document.
(3) Divisions (B)(1) and (2) of this section do not apply to documents that are only accessible through the internet with a password.
(C)(1) An individual may request that a public office or a person responsible for a public office's public records redact personal information of that individual from any record made available to the general public on the internet. An individual who makes a request for redaction pursuant to this division shall make the request in writing on a form developed by the attorney general and shall specify the personal information to be redacted and provide any information that identifies the location of that personal information within a document that contains that personal information.
(2) Upon receiving a request for a redaction pursuant to division (C)(1) of this section, a public office or a person responsible for a public office's public records shall act within five business days in accordance with the request to redact the personal information of the individual from any record made available to the general public on the internet, if practicable. If a redaction is not practicable, the public office or person responsible for the public office's public records shall verbally or in writing within five business days after receiving the written request explain to the individual why the redaction is impracticable.
(3) The attorney general shall develop a form to be used by an individual to request a redaction pursuant to division (C)(1) of this section. The form shall include a place to provide any information that identifies the location of the personal information to be redacted.
(D)(1) A peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer may request that a public office other than a county auditor or a person responsible for the public records of a public office other than a county auditor redact the address of the person making the request from any record made available to the general public on the internet that includes peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer residential and familial information of the person making the request. A person who makes a request for a redaction pursuant to this division shall make the request in writing and on a form developed by the attorney general.
(2) Upon receiving a written request for a redaction pursuant to division (D)(1) of this section, a public office other than a county auditor or a person responsible for the public records of a public office other than a county auditor shall act within five business days in accordance with the request to redact the address of the peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer making the request from any record made available to the general public on the internet that includes peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer residential and familial information of the person making the request, if practicable. If a redaction is not practicable, the public office or person responsible for the public office's public records shall verbally or in writing within five business days after receiving the written request explain to the peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer why the redaction is impracticable.
(3) Except as provided in this section and section 319.28 of the Revised Code, a public office other than an employer of a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer or a person responsible for the public records of the employer is not required to redact the residential and familial information of the peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer from other records maintained by the public office.
(4) The attorney general shall develop a form to be used by a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer to request a redaction pursuant to division (D)(1) of this section. The form shall include a place to provide any information that identifies the location of the address of a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer to be redacted.
(E)(1) If a public office or a person responsible for a public office's public records becomes aware that an electronic record of that public office that is made available to the general public on the internet contains an individual's social security number that was mistakenly not redacted, encrypted, or truncated as required by division (B)(1) or (2) of this section, the public office or person responsible for the public office's public records shall redact, encrypt, or truncate the individual's social security number within a reasonable period of time.
(2) A public office or a person responsible for a public office's public records is not liable in damages in a civil action for any harm an individual allegedly sustains as a result of the inclusion of that individual's personal information on any record made available to the general public on the internet or any harm a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer sustains as a result of the inclusion of the address of the peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer on any record made available to the general public on the internet in violation of this section unless the public office or person responsible for the public office's public records acted with malicious purpose, in bad faith, or in a wanton or reckless manner or division (A)(6)(a) or (c) of section 2744.03 of the Revised Code applies.
Sec. 319.28.  (A) Except as otherwise provided in division (B) of this section, on or before the first Monday of August, annually, the county auditor shall compile and make up a general tax list of real and public utility property in the county, either in tabular form and alphabetical order, or, with the consent of the county treasurer, by listing all parcels in a permanent parcel number sequence to which a separate alphabetical index is keyed, containing the names of the several persons, companies, firms, partnerships, associations, and corporations in whose names real property has been listed in each township, municipal corporation, special district, or separate school district, or part of either in the auditor's county, placing separately, in appropriate columns opposite each name, the description of each tract, lot, or parcel of real estate, the value of each tract, lot, or parcel, the value of the improvements thereon, and of the names of the several public utilities whose property, subject to taxation on the general tax list and duplicate, has been apportioned by the department of taxation to the county, and the amount so apportioned to each township, municipal corporation, special district, or separate school district or part of either in the auditor's county, as shown by the certificates of apportionment of public utility property. If the name of the owner of any tract, lot, or parcel of real estate is unknown to the auditor, "unknown" shall be entered in the column of names opposite said tract, lot, or parcel. Such lists shall be prepared in duplicate. On or before the first Monday of September in each year, the auditor shall correct such lists in accordance with the additions and deductions ordered by the tax commissioner and by the county board of revision, and shall certify and on the first day of October deliver one copy thereof to the county treasurer. The copies prepared by the auditor shall constitute the auditor's general tax list and treasurer's general duplicate of real and public utility property for the current year.
Once a permanent parcel numbering system has been established in any county as provided by the preceding paragraph, such system shall remain in effect until otherwise agreed upon by the county auditor and county treasurer.
(B)(1) A peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer may submit a written request by affidavit to the county auditor requesting the county auditor to remove the name of the peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer from any record made available to the general public on the internet or a publicly accessible database and the general tax list of real and public utility property and the general duplicate of real and public utility property and insert the initials of the peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer on any record made available to the general public on the internet or a publicly accessible database and the general tax list of real and public utility property and the general duplicate of real and public utility property as the name of the peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer that appears on the deed.
(2) Upon receiving a written request by affidavit described in division (B)(1) of this section, the county auditor shall act within five business days in accordance with the request to remove the name of the peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer from any record made available to the general public on the internet or a publicly accessible database and the general tax list of real and public utility property and the general duplicate of real and public utility property and insert initials of the peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer on any record made available to the general public on the internet or a publicly accessible database and the general tax list of real and public utility property and the general duplicate of real and public utility property, if practicable. If the removal and insertion is not practicable, the county auditor shall verbally or in writing within five business days after receiving the written request explain to the peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer why the removal and insertion is impracticable.
(C) As used in this section, "federal law enforcement officer" means any officer of the United States who is authorized by federal law to conduct any investigation of, and make any arrest for, any offense against the United States in violation of federal law.
Sec. 319.54.  (A) On all moneys collected by the county treasurer on any tax duplicate of the county, other than estate tax duplicates, and on all moneys received as advance payments of personal property and classified property taxes, the county auditor, on settlement with the treasurer and tax commissioner, on or before the date prescribed by law for such settlement or any lawful extension of such date, shall be allowed as compensation for the county auditor's services the following percentages:
(1) On the first one hundred thousand dollars, two and one-half per cent;
(2) On the next two million dollars, eight thousand three hundred eighteen ten-thousandths of one per cent;
(3) On the next two million dollars, six thousand six hundred fifty-five ten-thousandths of one per cent;
(4) On all further sums, one thousand six hundred sixty-three ten-thousandths of one per cent.
If any settlement is not made on or before the date prescribed by law for such settlement or any lawful extension of such date, the aggregate compensation allowed to the auditor shall be reduced one per cent for each day such settlement is delayed after the prescribed date. No penalty shall apply if the auditor and treasurer grant all requests for advances up to ninety per cent of the settlement pursuant to section 321.34 of the Revised Code. The compensation allowed in accordance with this section on settlements made before the dates prescribed by law, or the reduced compensation allowed in accordance with this section on settlements made after the date prescribed by law or any lawful extension of such date, shall be apportioned ratably by the auditor and deducted from the shares or portions of the revenue payable to the state as well as to the county, townships, municipal corporations, and school districts.
(B) For the purpose of reimbursing county auditors for the expenses associated with the increased number of applications for reductions in real property taxes under sections 323.152 and 4503.065 of the Revised Code that result from the amendment of those sections by Am. Sub. H.B. 119 of the 127th general assembly, there shall be paid from the state's general revenue fund to the county treasury, to the credit of the real estate assessment fund created by section 325.31 of the Revised Code, an amount equal to one per cent of the total annual amount of property tax relief reimbursement paid to that county under sections 323.156 and 4503.068 of the Revised Code for the preceding tax year. Payments made under this division shall be made at the same times and in the same manner as payments made under section 323.156 of the Revised Code.
(C) From all moneys collected by the county treasurer on any tax duplicate of the county, other than estate tax duplicates, and on all moneys received as advance payments of personal property and classified property taxes, there shall be paid into the county treasury to the credit of the real estate assessment fund created by section 325.31 of the Revised Code, an amount to be determined by the county auditor, which shall not exceed the percentages prescribed in divisions (C)(1) and (2) of this section.
(1) For payments made after June 30, 2007, and before 2011, the following percentages:
(a) On the first five hundred thousand dollars, four per cent;
(b) On the next five million dollars, two per cent;
(c) On the next five million dollars, one per cent;
(d) On all further sums not exceeding one hundred fifty million dollars, three-quarters of one per cent;
(e) On amounts exceeding one hundred fifty million dollars, five hundred eighty-five thousandths of one per cent.
(2) For payments made in or after 2011, the following percentages:
(a) On the first five hundred thousand dollars, four per cent;
(b) On the next ten million dollars, two per cent;
(c) On amounts exceeding ten million five hundred thousand dollars, three-fourths of one per cent.
Such compensation shall be apportioned ratably by the auditor and deducted from the shares or portions of the revenue payable to the state as well as to the county, townships, municipal corporations, and school districts.
(D) Each county auditor shall receive four per cent of the amount of tax collected and paid into the county treasury, on property omitted and placed by the county auditor on the tax duplicate.
(E) On all estate tax moneys collected by the county treasurer, the county auditor, on settlement semiannually with the tax commissioner, shall be allowed, as compensation for the auditor's services under Chapter 5731. of the Revised Code, the following percentages:
(1) Four per cent on the first one hundred thousand dollars;
(2) One-half of one per cent on all additional sums.
Such percentages shall be computed upon the amount collected and reported at each semiannual settlement, and shall be for the use of the general fund of the county.
(F) On all cigarette license moneys collected by the county treasurer, the county auditor, on settlement semiannually with the treasurer, shall be allowed as compensation for the auditor's services in the issuing of such licenses one-half of one per cent of such moneys, to be apportioned ratably and deducted from the shares of the revenue payable to the county and subdivisions, for the use of the general fund of the county.
(G) The county auditor shall charge and receive fees as follows:
(1) For deeds of land sold for taxes to be paid by the purchaser, five dollars;
(2) For the transfer or entry of land, lot, or part of lot, or the transfer or entry on or after January 1, 2000, of a used manufactured home or mobile home as defined in section 5739.0210 of the Revised Code, fifty cents for each transfer or entry, to be paid by the person requiring it;
(3) For receiving statements of value and administering section 319.202 of the Revised Code, one dollar, or ten cents for each one hundred dollars or fraction of one hundred dollars, whichever is greater, of the value of the real property transferred or, for sales occurring on or after January 1, 2000, the value of the used manufactured home or used mobile home, as defined in section 5739.0210 of the Revised Code, transferred, except no fee shall be charged when the transfer is made:
(a) To or from the United States, this state, or any instrumentality, agency, or political subdivision of the United States or this state;
(b) Solely in order to provide or release security for a debt or obligation;
(c) To confirm or correct a deed previously executed and recorded or when a current owner on any record made available to the general public on the internet or a publicly accessible database and the general tax list of real and public utility property and the general duplicate of real and public utility property is a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, or federal law enforcement officer and is changing the current owner name listed on any record made available to the general public on the internet or a publicly accessible database and the general tax list of real and public utility property and the general duplicate of real and public utility property to the initials of the current owner as prescribed in division (B)(1) of section 319.28 of the Revised Code;
(d) To evidence a gift, in trust or otherwise and whether revocable or irrevocable, between husband and wife, or parent and child or the spouse of either;
(e) On sale for delinquent taxes or assessments;
(f) Pursuant to court order, to the extent that such transfer is not the result of a sale effected or completed pursuant to such order;
(g) Pursuant to a reorganization of corporations or unincorporated associations or pursuant to the dissolution of a corporation, to the extent that the corporation conveys the property to a stockholder as a distribution in kind of the corporation's assets in exchange for the stockholder's shares in the dissolved corporation;
(h) By a subsidiary corporation to its parent corporation for no consideration, nominal consideration, or in sole consideration of the cancellation or surrender of the subsidiary's stock;
(i) By lease, whether or not it extends to mineral or mineral rights, unless the lease is for a term of years renewable forever;
(j) When the value of the real property or the manufactured or mobile home or the value of the interest that is conveyed does not exceed one hundred dollars;
(k) Of an occupied residential property, including a manufactured or mobile home, being transferred to the builder of a new residence or to the dealer of a new manufactured or mobile home when the former residence is traded as part of the consideration for the new residence or new manufactured or mobile home;
(l) To a grantee other than a dealer in real property or in manufactured or mobile homes, solely for the purpose of, and as a step in, the prompt sale of the real property or manufactured or mobile home to others;
(m) To or from a person when no money or other valuable and tangible consideration readily convertible into money is paid or to be paid for the real estate or manufactured or mobile home and the transaction is not a gift;
(n) Pursuant to division (B) of section 317.22 of the Revised Code, or section 2113.61 of the Revised Code, between spouses or to a surviving spouse pursuant to section 5302.17 of the Revised Code as it existed prior to April 4, 1985, between persons pursuant to section 5302.17 or 5302.18 of the Revised Code on or after April 4, 1985, to a person who is a surviving, survivorship tenant pursuant to section 5302.17 of the Revised Code on or after April 4, 1985, or pursuant to section 5309.45 of the Revised Code;
(o) To a trustee acting on behalf of minor children of the deceased;
(p) Of an easement or right-of-way when the value of the interest conveyed does not exceed one thousand dollars;
(q) Of property sold to a surviving spouse pursuant to section 2106.16 of the Revised Code;
(r) To or from an organization exempt from federal income taxation under section 501(c)(3) of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C.A. 1, as amended, provided such transfer is without consideration and is in furtherance of the charitable or public purposes of such organization;
(s) Among the heirs at law or devisees, including a surviving spouse, of a common decedent, when no consideration in money is paid or to be paid for the real property or manufactured or mobile home;
(t) To a trustee of a trust, when the grantor of the trust has reserved an unlimited power to revoke the trust;
(u) To the grantor of a trust by a trustee of the trust, when the transfer is made to the grantor pursuant to the exercise of the grantor's power to revoke the trust or to withdraw trust assets;
(v) To the beneficiaries of a trust if the fee was paid on the transfer from the grantor of the trust to the trustee or if the transfer is made pursuant to trust provisions which became irrevocable at the death of the grantor;
(w) To a corporation for incorporation into a sports facility constructed pursuant to section 307.696 of the Revised Code;
(x) Between persons pursuant to section 5302.18 of the Revised Code;
(y) From a county land reutilization corporation organized under Chapter 1724. of the Revised Code to a third party.
The auditor shall compute and collect the fee. The auditor shall maintain a numbered receipt system, as prescribed by the tax commissioner, and use such receipt system to provide a receipt to each person paying a fee. The auditor shall deposit the receipts of the fees on conveyances in the county treasury daily to the credit of the general fund of the county, except that fees charged and received under division (G)(3) of this section for a transfer of real property to a county land reutilization corporation shall be credited to the county land reutilization corporation fund established under section 321.263 of the Revised Code.
The real property transfer fee provided for in division (G)(3) of this section shall be applicable to any conveyance of real property presented to the auditor on or after January 1, 1968, regardless of its time of execution or delivery.
The transfer fee for a used manufactured home or used mobile home shall be computed by and paid to the county auditor of the county in which the home is located immediately prior to the transfer.
(H) As used in this section, "federal law enforcement officer" means any officer of the United States who is authorized by federal law to conduct any investigation of, and make any arrest for, any offense against the United States in violation of federal law.
Section 2. That existing sections 149.43, 149.45, 319.28, and 319.54 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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