To amend sections 305.03 and 313.01 and to enact section 313.011 of the Revised Code to authorize one or more boards of county commissioners to contract with another board of county commissioners for the services of that county's coroner.

Section 1.  That sections 305.03 and 313.01 be amended and section 313.011 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 305.03.  (A) Whenever any county officer fails to perform the duties of office for ninety consecutive days, except in case of sickness or injury as provided in divisions (B) and (C) of this section, the office shall be deemed vacant.

(B) Whenever any county officer is absent because of sickness or injury, the officer shall cause to be filed with the board of county commissioners a physician's certificate of the officer's sickness or injury. If such certificate is not filed with the board within ten days after the expiration of ninety consecutive days of absence, the office shall be deemed vacant.

(C) Whenever a county officer files a physician's certificate under division (B) of this section, but continues to be absent for an additional thirty days commencing immediately after the last day on which this certificate may be filed under division (B) of this section, the office shall be deemed vacant.

(D) If at any time two county commissioners in a county are absent and have filed a physician's certificate under division (B) of this section, the county coroner treasurer, in addition to performing the duties of coroner county treasurer, shall serve as county commissioner until at least one of the absent commissioners returns to office or until the office of at least one of the absent commissioners is deemed vacant under this section and the vacancy is filled. If the coroner county treasurer so requests, the coroner county treasurer shall be paid a per diem rate for the coroner's service as a commissioner. That per diem rate shall be the annual salary specified by law for a county commissioner of that county whose term of office began in the same year as the coroner's county treasurer's term of office began, divided by the number of days in the year.

While the coroner county treasurer is serving as a county commissioner, the coroner county treasurer shall be considered an acting county commissioner and shall perform the duties of the office of county commissioner until at least one of the absent commissioners returns to office or until the office of at least one of the absent commissioners is deemed vacant. Before assuming the office of acting county commissioner, the coroner county treasurer shall take an oath of office as provided in sections 3.22 and 3.23 of the Revised Code. The coroner's county treasurer's service as an acting county commissioner does not constitute the holding of an incompatible public office or employment in violation of any statutory or common law prohibition against the simultaneous holding of more than one public officer office or employment.

The coroner county treasurer shall give a new bond in the same amount and signed and approved as provided in section 305.04 of the Revised Code. The bond shall be conditioned for the faithful discharge of the coroner's county treasurer's duties as acting county commissioner and for the payment of any loss or damage that the county may sustain by reason of the coroner's county treasurer's failure in those duties. The bond, along with the oath of office and approval of the probate judge indorsed on it, shall be deposited and paid for as provided for the bonds in section 305.04 of the Revised Code.

(E) Any vacancy declared under this section shall be filled in the manner provided by section 305.02 of the Revised Code.

(F) This section shall not apply to a county officer while in the active military service of the United States.

Sec. 313.01.  A Except as provided in section 313.011 of the Revised Code, a coroner shall be elected quadrennially in each county, who shall hold his office for a term of four years, beginning on the first Monday of January next after his election.

As used in the Revised Code, unless the context otherwise requires, "coroner" means the coroner of the county in which death occurs or the dead human body is found.

Sec. 313.011.  (A) One or more boards of county commissioners may enter into a contract with another board of county commissioners for the services of that county's coroner. A contract entered into under this section shall not take effect before the first Monday of January 2017, and shall be for a term of not less than four years that coincides with the term of office of coroners elected under section 313.01 of the Revised Code. The election for and the office of coroner shall be eliminated in any county that is contracting for the services of another county's coroner for the term of the contract. A coroner under contract with any board of county commissioners is the coroner of that county for purposes of the Revised Code.

(B) The contract shall set forth the conditions of employment and the term of the contract, and shall specify that the coroner's office is eliminated in any county that is contracting for the services of another county's coroner and that no election for coroner shall be held in that county during the term of the contract. The contract shall be entered into and any board of county commissioners that is contracting for the services of another county's coroner shall provide to the board of elections a copy of the contract, at least fifteen days before the deadline established under section 3513.05 of the Revised Code for filing a declaration of candidacy for the office of coroner. Once the board of elections receives a copy of the contract, the board shall not accept any declarations of candidacy for the office of coroner of that county during the term of the contract.

(C) A contract entered into under this section may not be terminated during its term unless both of the following conditions are met before the contract is terminated:

(1) All of the boards of county commissioners that are parties to the contract agree to its termination;

(2) Any board of county commissioners that entered into the contract for the services of the other county's coroner enters into a contract, in accordance with this section, with another board of county commissioners for the services of that county's coroner for the duration of that part of the four-year term that remains.

(D) In the last year of a contract entered into under this section, any board of county commissioners that contracted for the services of another county's coroner may renew the contract in accordance with this section, may enter into a new contract under this section with another board of county commissioners for the provision of such services, or may allow the contract to expire and instead elect a coroner for the county. If any board of county commissioners fails to renew a contract or to enter into a new contract for the services of another county's coroner, the board shall give written notice of that fact to the county's board of elections at least sixty days before the deadline established under section 3513.05 of the Revised Code for filing a declaration of candidacy for the office of coroner. Not later than five business days after receiving the notice, the board of elections shall publish a notice once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation or as provided in section 7.16 of the Revised Code that the board of elections will accept declarations of candidacy for the office of coroner of the county.

Section 2.  That existing sections 305.03 and 313.01 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.