130th Ohio General Assembly
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H. B. No. 444  As Introduced
As Introduced

129th General Assembly
Regular Session
2011-2012
H. B. No. 444


Representative Henne 

Cosponsors: Representatives Young, Blair, Schuring, Huffman, Uecker, Slaby, Grossman, Johnson, Newbold, Brenner 



A BILL
To amend sections 149.43, 3313.33, 3313.811, and 5705.341 and to enact section 3313.174 of the Revised Code to authorize a pilot program for school districts in Montgomery County to operate certain for-profit activities.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1.  That section 3313.174 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 3313.174.  As used in this section, "public school" means a school district, a community school established under Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code, a STEM school established under Chapter 3326. of the Revised Code, a college-preparatory boarding school established under Chapter 3328. of the Revised Code, an educational service center, or a school operated by a county board of developmental disabilities.
This section shall operate as a pilot program, limited to school districts with any territory in Montgomery county, to demonstrate the effect of profit-making activities by school districts.
(A) The board of education of any school district with any of its territory located in Montgomery county, by a majority vote of all its members, may approve the operation of any of the following activities for profit by the district, for a duration determined by the board, if the activities are related to the ordinary functions of the school district:
(1) Design, development, distribution, licensing, or sale of technology to another public school, a nonpublic school, or any other nonprofit entity, regardless of where the school or entity is located;
(2) Provision of training, consulting, or educational services to another public school, a nonpublic school, any person, or any other public or private entity, regardless of where the school, person, or entity is located;
(3) Sale of merchandise and other paraphernalia resembling the school district's identified brand;
(4) Except as provided in sections 3313.76 and 3313.78, and subject to the provisions of sections 3313.75 and 3313.77 of the Revised Code, rental of the district's facilities.
(B) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Revised Code, operating a for-profit activity under this section shall be considered a proper school purpose.
(C) The board may allocate school district funds, property, personnel, and other resources to a for-profit activity approved under this section, so long as the allocation does not substantially interfere with the education of pupils in the school district. The board may acquire real or personal property by lease or purchase for a for-profit activity operated under this section.
(D) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Revised Code, the board may determine the price and terms for any licensing agreement, consulting-services agreement, or any other products or services provided by an activity approved under this section. Section 3313.41 of the Revised Code does not apply to nor affect the license or sale of any personal property under this section.
(E) All profits earned by the district through an activity approved under this section shall be either placed in the school district's general fund or reinvested into the operation of the activity.
(F) The provisions of section 3313.17 of the Revised Code apply to a for-profit activity approved under this section.
(G)(1) The board may appoint employees, including administrative, teaching, and nonteaching employees, who are completely, primarily, or in part employed to serve the needs of a for-profit activity approved under this section.
(2) An employee employed under this division shall serve at the pleasure of the board, subject to any contract entered into between the board and the employee.
(3) No employee employed under this division is a "public employee" for purposes of Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code.
(4) The provisions of this division prevail over any conflicting provisions of a collective bargaining agreement entered into by the district board on or after the effective date of this section.
(H) No revenue earned by a school district under this section shall affect the district's payments or adjustments under sections 321.24 and 323.156 or Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code or the computation of the district's "state education aid" under either section 5727.84 or 5751.20 of the Revised Code.
(I) Not later than three years after the effective date of this section, the superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with school districts undertaking a profit-making activity under this section, shall evaluate the implementation and operation of the pilot program and submit legislative recommendations to the governor and the general assembly, in accordance with section 101.68 of the Revised Code, as to the benefits, burdens, and other issues of the pilot program and whether or to what extent the pilot program should be continued, expanded in scope, or reduced in scope.
Section 2.  That sections 149.43, 3313.33, 3313.811, and 5705.341 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, probation officer, bailiff, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation residential and familial information;
(q) In the case of a county hospital operated pursuant to Chapter 339. of the Revised Code or a municipal hospital operated pursuant to Chapter 749. of the Revised Code, information that constitutes a trade secret, as defined in section 1333.61 of the Revised Code;
(r) Information pertaining to the recreational activities of a person under the age of eighteen;
(s) Records provided to, statements made by review board members during meetings of, and all work products of a child fatality review board acting under sections 307.621 to 307.629 of the Revised Code, and child fatality review data submitted by the child fatality review board to the department of health or a national child death review database, other than the report prepared pursuant to division (A) of section 307.626 of the Revised Code;
(t) Records provided to and statements made by the executive director of a public children services agency or a prosecuting attorney acting pursuant to section 5153.171 of the Revised Code other than the information released under that section;
(u) Test materials, examinations, or evaluation tools used in an examination for licensure as a nursing home administrator that the board of examiners of nursing home administrators administers under section 4751.04 of the Revised Code or contracts under that section with a private or government entity to administer;
(v) Records the release of which is prohibited by state or federal law;
(w) Proprietary information of or relating to any person that is submitted to or compiled by the Ohio venture capital authority created under section 150.01 of the Revised Code;
(x) Information reported and evaluations conducted pursuant to section 3701.072 of the Revised Code;
(y) Financial statements and data any person submits for any purpose to the Ohio housing finance agency or the controlling board in connection with applying for, receiving, or accounting for financial assistance from the agency, and information that identifies any individual who benefits directly or indirectly from financial assistance from the agency;
(z) Records listed in section 5101.29 of the Revised Code;
(aa) Discharges recorded with a county recorder under section 317.24 of the Revised Code, as specified in division (B)(2) of that section;
(bb) Usage information including names and addresses of specific residential and commercial customers of a municipally owned or operated public utility;
(cc) Any documents, electronic files, or other records maintained by a school district pertaining to research and development of technology or other trade secrets associated with a for-profit activity operated by the district under section 3313.174 of the Revised Code or any such document maintained by the department of education for purposes of division (I) of that section.
(2) "Confidential law enforcement investigatory record" means any record that pertains to a law enforcement matter of a criminal, quasi-criminal, civil, or administrative nature, but only to the extent that the release of the record would create a high probability of disclosure of any of the following:
(a) The identity of a suspect who has not been charged with the offense to which the record pertains, or of an information source or witness to whom confidentiality has been reasonably promised;
(b) Information provided by an information source or witness to whom confidentiality has been reasonably promised, which information would reasonably tend to disclose the source's or witness's identity;
(c) Specific confidential investigatory techniques or procedures or specific investigatory work product;
(d) Information that would endanger the life or physical safety of law enforcement personnel, a crime victim, a witness, or a confidential information source.
(3) "Medical record" means any document or combination of documents, except births, deaths, and the fact of admission to or discharge from a hospital, that pertains to the medical history, diagnosis, prognosis, or medical condition of a patient and that is generated and maintained in the process of medical treatment.
(4) "Trial preparation record" means any record that contains information that is specifically compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or in defense of, a civil or criminal action or proceeding, including the independent thought processes and personal trial preparation of an attorney.
(5) "Intellectual property record" means a record, other than a financial or administrative record, that is produced or collected by or for faculty or staff of a state institution of higher learning in the conduct of or as a result of study or research on an educational, commercial, scientific, artistic, technical, or scholarly issue, regardless of whether the study or research was sponsored by the institution alone or in conjunction with a governmental body or private concern, and that has not been publicly released, published, or patented.
(6) "Donor profile record" means all records about donors or potential donors to a public institution of higher education except the names and reported addresses of the actual donors and the date, amount, and conditions of the actual donation.
(7) "Peace officer, parole officer, probation officer, bailiff, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation residential and familial information" means any information that discloses any of the following about a peace officer, parole officer, probation officer, bailiff, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation:
(a) The address of the actual personal residence of a peace officer, parole officer, probation officer, bailiff, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or an investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, except for the state or political subdivision in which the peace officer, parole officer, probation officer, bailiff, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation resides;
(b) Information compiled from referral to or participation in an employee assistance program;
(c) The social security number, the residential telephone number, any bank account, debit card, charge card, or credit card number, or the emergency telephone number of, or any medical information pertaining to, a peace officer, parole officer, probation officer, bailiff, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation;
(d) The name of any beneficiary of employment benefits, including, but not limited to, life insurance benefits, provided to a peace officer, parole officer, probation officer, bailiff, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation by the peace officer's, parole officer's, probation officer's, bailiff's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, EMT's, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation's employer;
(e) The identity and amount of any charitable or employment benefit deduction made by the peace officer's, parole officer's, probation officer's, bailiff's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, EMT's, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation's employer from the peace officer's, parole officer's, probation officer's, bailiff's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, EMT's, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation's compensation unless the amount of the deduction is required by state or federal law;
(f) The name, the residential address, the name of the employer, the address of the employer, the social security number, the residential telephone number, any bank account, debit card, charge card, or credit card number, or the emergency telephone number of the spouse, a former spouse, or any child of a peace officer, parole officer, probation officer, bailiff, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation;
(g) A photograph of a peace officer who holds a position or has an assignment that may include undercover or plain clothes positions or assignments as determined by the peace officer's appointing authority.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(9) of this section, "peace officer" has the same meaning as in section 109.71 of the Revised Code and also includes the superintendent and troopers of the state highway patrol; it does not include the sheriff of a county or a supervisory employee who, in the absence of the sheriff, is authorized to stand in for, exercise the authority of, and perform the duties of the sheriff.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(5) of this section, "correctional employee" means any employee of the department of rehabilitation and correction who in the course of performing the employee's job duties has or has had contact with inmates and persons under supervision.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(5) of this section, "youth services employee" means any employee of the department of youth services who in the course of performing the employee's job duties has or has had contact with children committed to the custody of the department of youth services.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(9) of this section, "firefighter" means any regular, paid or volunteer, member of a lawfully constituted fire department of a municipal corporation, township, fire district, or village.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(9) of this section, "EMT" means EMTs-basic, EMTs-I, and paramedics that provide emergency medical services for a public emergency medical service organization. "Emergency medical service organization," "EMT-basic," "EMT-I," and "paramedic" have the same meanings as in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code.
As used in divisions (A)(7) and (B)(9) of this section, "investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation" has the meaning defined in section 2903.11 of the Revised Code.
(8) "Information pertaining to the recreational activities of a person under the age of eighteen" means information that is kept in the ordinary course of business by a public office, that pertains to the recreational activities of a person under the age of eighteen years, and that discloses any of the following:
(a) The address or telephone number of a person under the age of eighteen or the address or telephone number of that person's parent, guardian, custodian, or emergency contact person;
(b) The social security number, birth date, or photographic image of a person under the age of eighteen;
(c) Any medical record, history, or information pertaining to a person under the age of eighteen;
(d) Any additional information sought or required about a person under the age of eighteen for the purpose of allowing that person to participate in any recreational activity conducted or sponsored by a public office or to use or obtain admission privileges to any recreational facility owned or operated by a public office.
(9) "Community control sanction" has the same meaning as in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.
(10) "Post-release control sanction" has the same meaning as in section 2967.01 of the Revised Code.
(11) "Redaction" means obscuring or deleting any information that is exempt from the duty to permit public inspection or copying from an item that otherwise meets the definition of a "record" in section 149.011 of the Revised Code.
(12) "Designee" and "elected official" have the same meanings as in section 109.43 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1) Upon request and subject to division (B)(8) of this section, all public records responsive to the request shall be promptly prepared and made available for inspection to any person at all reasonable times during regular business hours. Subject to division (B)(8) of this section, upon request, a public office or person responsible for public records shall make copies of the requested public record available at cost and within a reasonable period of time. If a public record contains information that is exempt from the duty to permit public inspection or to copy the public record, the public office or the person responsible for the public record shall make available all of the information within the public record that is not exempt. When making that public record available for public inspection or copying that public record, the public office or the person responsible for the public record shall notify the requester of any redaction or make the redaction plainly visible. A redaction shall be deemed a denial of a request to inspect or copy the redacted information, except if federal or state law authorizes or requires a public office to make the redaction.
(2) To facilitate broader access to public records, a public office or the person responsible for public records shall organize and maintain public records in a manner that they can be made available for inspection or copying in accordance with division (B) of this section. A public office also shall have available a copy of its current records retention schedule at a location readily available to the public. If a requester makes an ambiguous or overly broad request or has difficulty in making a request for copies or inspection of public records under this section such that the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record cannot reasonably identify what public records are being requested, the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record may deny the request but shall provide the requester with an opportunity to revise the request by informing the requester of the manner in which records are maintained by the public office and accessed in the ordinary course of the public office's or person's duties.
(3) If a request is ultimately denied, in part or in whole, the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record shall provide the requester with an explanation, including legal authority, setting forth why the request was denied. If the initial request was provided in writing, the explanation also shall be provided to the requester in writing. The explanation shall not preclude the public office or the person responsible for the requested public record from relying upon additional reasons or legal authority in defending an action commenced under division (C) of this section.
(4) Unless specifically required or authorized by state or federal law or in accordance with division (B) of this section, no public office or person responsible for public records may limit or condition the availability of public records by requiring disclosure of the requester's identity or the intended use of the requested public record. Any requirement that the requester disclose the requestor's identity or the intended use of the requested public record constitutes a denial of the request.
(5) A public office or person responsible for public records may ask a requester to make the request in writing, may ask for the requester's identity, and may inquire about the intended use of the information requested, but may do so only after disclosing to the requester that a written request is not mandatory and that the requester may decline to reveal the requester's identity or the intended use and when a written request or disclosure of the identity or intended use would benefit the requester by enhancing the ability of the public office or person responsible for public records to identify, locate, or deliver the public records sought by the requester.
(6) If any person chooses to obtain a copy of a public record in accordance with division (B) of this section, the public office or person responsible for the public record may require that person to pay in advance the cost involved in providing the copy of the public record in accordance with the choice made by the person seeking the copy under this division. The public office or the person responsible for the public record shall permit that person to choose to have the public record duplicated upon paper, upon the same medium upon which the public office or person responsible for the public record keeps it, or upon any other medium upon which the public office or person responsible for the public record determines that it reasonably can be duplicated as an integral part of the normal operations of the public office or person responsible for the public record. When the person seeking the copy makes a choice under this division, the public office or person responsible for the public record shall provide a copy of it in accordance with the choice made by the person seeking the copy. Nothing in this section requires a public office or person responsible for the public record to allow the person seeking a copy of the public record to make the copies of the public record.
(7) Upon a request made in accordance with division (B) of this section and subject to division (B)(6) of this section, a public office or person responsible for public records shall transmit a copy of a public record to any person by United States mail or by any other means of delivery or transmission within a reasonable period of time after receiving the request for the copy. The public office or person responsible for the public record may require the person making the request to pay in advance the cost of postage if the copy is transmitted by United States mail or the cost of delivery if the copy is transmitted other than by United States mail, and to pay in advance the costs incurred for other supplies used in the mailing, delivery, or transmission.
Any public office may adopt a policy and procedures that it will follow in transmitting, within a reasonable period of time after receiving a request, copies of public records by United States mail or by any other means of delivery or transmission pursuant to this division. A public office that adopts a policy and procedures under this division shall comply with them in performing its duties under this division.
In any policy and procedures adopted under this division, a public office may limit the number of records requested by a person that the office will transmit by United States mail to ten per month, unless the person certifies to the office in writing that the person does not intend to use or forward the requested records, or the information contained in them, for commercial purposes. For purposes of this division, "commercial" shall be narrowly construed and does not include reporting or gathering news, reporting or gathering information to assist citizen oversight or understanding of the operation or activities of government, or nonprofit educational research.
(8) A public office or person responsible for public records is not required to permit a person who is incarcerated pursuant to a criminal conviction or a juvenile adjudication to inspect or to obtain a copy of any public record concerning a criminal investigation or prosecution or concerning what would be a criminal investigation or prosecution if the subject of the investigation or prosecution were an adult, unless the request to inspect or to obtain a copy of the record is for the purpose of acquiring information that is subject to release as a public record under this section and the judge who imposed the sentence or made the adjudication with respect to the person, or the judge's successor in office, finds that the information sought in the public record is necessary to support what appears to be a justiciable claim of the person.
(9)(a) 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, probation officer, bailiff, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation shall disclose to the journalist the address of the actual personal residence of the peace officer, parole officer, probation officer, bailiff, prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, youth services employee, firefighter, EMT, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation and, if the peace officer's, parole officer's, probation officer's, bailiff's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, EMT's, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation's spouse, former spouse, or child is employed by a public office, the name and address of the employer of the peace officer's, parole officer's, probation officer's, bailiff's, prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's, correctional employee's, youth services employee's, firefighter's, EMT's, or investigator of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation's spouse, former spouse, or child. The request shall include the journalist's name and title and the name and address of the journalist's employer and shall state that disclosure of the information sought would be in the public interest.
(b) Division (B)(9)(a) of this section also applies to journalist requests for customer information maintained by a municipally owned or operated public utility, other than social security numbers and any private financial information such as credit reports, payment methods, credit card numbers, and bank account information.
(c) As used in division (B)(9) of this section, "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. 3313.33.  (A) Conveyances made by a board of education, including conveyances and contracts necessary for the operation of a for-profit activity under section 3313.174 of the Revised Code, shall be executed by the president and treasurer thereof.
(B) Except as provided in division (C) of this section, no member of the board shall have, directly or indirectly, any pecuniary interest in any contract of the board or be employed in any manner for compensation by the board of which the person is a member. No contract shall be binding upon any board unless it is made or authorized at a regular or special meeting of such board.
(C) A member of the board may have a pecuniary interest in a contract of the board if all of the following apply:
(1) The member's pecuniary interest in that contract is that the member is employed by a political subdivision, instrumentality, or agency of the state that is contracting with the board;
(2) The member does not participate in any discussion or debate regarding the contract or vote on the contract;
(3) The member files with the school district treasurer an affidavit stating the member's exact employment status with the political subdivision, instrumentality, or agency contracting with the board.
(D) This section does not apply where a member of the board, being a shareholder of a corporation but not being an officer or director thereof, owns not in excess of five per cent of the stock of such corporation. If a stockholder desires to avail self of the exception, before entering upon such contract such person shall first file with the treasurer an affidavit stating the stockholder's exact status and connection with said corporation.
This section does not apply where a member of the board elects to be covered by a health care plan under section 3313.202 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3313.811.  No board, the principal or teacher of any schoolroom, or class organization of any school district shall sell or offer for sale, or supervise the sale of uniform school supplies, foods, candies, or like supplies for profit on the school premises except when the profit derived from such sale is to be used for school purposes or for any activity in connection with the school on whose premises such uniform school supplies, food, candies, or supplies are sold or offered for sale. No individual student or class of students, acting as an agent for any person or group of persons directly connected with the school shall sell or offer for sale for profit outside the school building, any such articles, except when the profit derived from such sale is to be used for school purposes or for any activity in connection with the school.
Uniform school supplies are those adopted by the board for use in the schools of the district.
The enforcement of this section shall be under the jurisdiction of the state board of education.
The school district board of education shall provide revolving accounts for the purchase and sale of uniform school supplies either by appropriations from the general fund or accumulation from sales or receipts. Such accounts shall be kept separate from other transactions of the board.
This section does not apply to a for-profit activity approved by a district board under section 3313.174 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 5705.341.  Any person required to pay taxes on real, public utility, or tangible personal property in any taxing district or other political subdivision of this state may appeal to the board of tax appeals from the action of the county budget commission of any county which relates to the fixing of uniform rates of taxation and the rate necessary to be levied by each taxing authority within its subdivision or taxing unit and which action has been certified by the county budget commission to the taxing authority of any political subdivision or other taxing district within the county.
Such appeal shall be in writing and shall set forth the tax rate complained of and the reason that such a tax rate is not necessary to produce the revenue needed by the taxing district or political subdivision for the ensuing fiscal year as those needs are set out in the tax budget of said taxing unit or, if adoption of a tax budget was waived under section 5705.281 of the Revised Code, as set out in such other information the district or subdivision was required to provide under that section, or that the action of the budget commission appealed from does not otherwise comply with sections 5705.01 to 5705.47 of the Revised Code. The notice of appeal shall be filed with the board of tax appeals, and a true copy thereof shall be filed with the tax commissioner, the county auditor, and with the fiscal officer of each taxing district or political subdivision authorized to levy the tax complained of, and such notice of appeal and copies thereof must be filed within thirty days after the budget commission has certified its action as provided by section 5705.34 of the Revised Code. Such notice of appeal and the copies thereof may be filed either in person or by certified mail. If filed by certified mail, the date of the United States postmark placed on the sender's receipt by the postal employee to whom the notice of appeal is presented shall be treated as the date of filing.
Prior to filing the appeal provided by this section, the appellant shall deposit with the county auditor of the county or, in the event the appeal concerns joint taxing districts in two or more counties, with the county auditor of the county with the greatest valuation of taxable property the sum of five hundred dollars to cover the costs of the proceeding. The county auditor shall forthwith issue a pay-in order and pay such money into the county treasury to the credit of the general fund. The appellant shall produce the receipt of the county treasurer for such deposit and shall file such receipt with the notice of appeal.
The board of tax appeals shall forthwith consider the matter presented on appeal from the action of the county budget commission and may modify any action of the commission with reference to the fixing of tax rates, to the end that no tax rate shall be levied above that necessary to produce the revenue needed by the taxing district or political subdivision for the ensuing fiscal year and to the end that the action of the budget commission appealed from shall otherwise be in conformity with sections 5705.01 to 5705.47 of the Revised Code. The findings of the board of tax appeals shall be substituted for the findings of the budget commission and shall be sent to the county auditor and the taxing authority of the taxing district or political subdivision affected as the action of such budget commission under sections 5705.01 to 5705.47 of the Revised Code and to the tax commissioner. At the request of an appellant, the findings of the board of tax appeals shall be sent by certified mail at the appellant's expense.
The board of tax appeals shall promptly prepare a cost bill listing the expenses incurred by the board in conducting any hearing on the appeal and certify the cost bill to the county auditor of the county receiving the deposit for costs, who shall forthwith draw a warrant on the general fund of the county in favor of the person or persons named in the bill of costs certified by the board of tax appeals.
In the event the appellant prevails, the board of tax appeals promptly shall direct the county auditor to refund the deposit to the appellant and the costs shall be taxed to the taxing district or political subdivision involved in the appeal. The county auditor shall withhold from any funds then or thereafter in the auditor's possession belonging to the taxing district or political subdivision named in the order of the board of tax appeals and shall reimburse the general fund of the county.
If the appellant fails, the costs shall be deducted from the deposit provided for in this section and any balance which remains shall be refunded promptly to the appellant by warrant of the county auditor drawn on the general fund of the county.
Nothing in this section or any section of the Revised Code shall permit or require the levying of any rate of taxation, whether within the ten-mill limitation or whether the levy has been approved by the electors of the taxing district, the political subdivision, or the charter of a municipal corporation in excess of such ten-mill limitation, unless such rate of taxation for the ensuing fiscal year is clearly required by a budget of the taxing district or political subdivision properly and lawfully adopted under this chapter, or by other information that must be provided under section 5705.281 of the Revised Code if a tax budget was waived. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the profits or benefits derived from a for-profit activity approved by a school district board of education and operated by the district under section 3313.174 of the Revised Code may not be used to reduce the district's levying of any rate of taxation or its tax revenue as determined by the county budget commission. However, the school district board may reduce the rate of taxation of a levy approved by the electors, at its discretion, due to revenue the district receives from that activity.
In the event more than one appeal is filed involving the same taxing district or political subdivision, all such appeals may be consolidated by the board of tax appeals and heard at the same time.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to bar or prohibit the tax commissioner from initiating an investigation or hearing on the commissioner's own motion.
The tax commissioner shall adopt and issue such orders, rules, and instructions, not inconsistent with law, as the commissioner deems necessary, as to the exercise of the powers and the discharge of the duties of any particular county budget commission, county auditor, or other officer which relate to the budget, the assessment of property, or the levy and collection of taxes. The commissioner shall cause the orders and instructions issued by the commissioner to be obeyed.
Section 3. That existing sections 149.43, 3313.33, 3313.811, and 5705.341 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 4.  Section 149.43 of the Revised Code is presented in this act as a composite of the section as amended by both Sub. H.B. 64 and Am. Sub. H.B. 153 of the 129th General Assembly. The General Assembly, applying the principle stated in division (B) of section 1.52 of the Revised Code that amendments are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation, finds that the composite is the resulting version of the section in effect prior to the effective date of the section as presented in this act.
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