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H. B. No. 33 As IntroducedAs Introduced
129th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2011-2012 |
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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:
(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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