To amend section 149.351 of the Revised Code to make changes to the statute authorizing injunctive relief and liquidated damages to compensate for harm caused by the destruction of public records, and to designate the Act as "The Public Corruption Prosecution Act."

Section 1. That section 149.351 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 149.351.  (A) All records are the property of the public office concerned and shall not be removed, destroyed, mutilated, transferred, or otherwise damaged or disposed of, in whole or in part, except as provided by law or under the rules adopted by the records commissions provided for under sections 149.38 to 149.42 of the Revised Code or under the records programs established by the boards of trustees of state-supported institutions of higher education under section 149.33 of the Revised Code. Those records shall be delivered by outgoing officials and employees to their successors and shall not be otherwise removed, destroyed, mutilated, or transferred unlawfully.

(B) Any person who is aggrieved by In the event of the removal, destruction, mutilation, or transfer of, or by other damage to or disposition of a record in violation of division (A) of this section, or by the threat of such removal, destruction, mutilation, transfer, or other damage to or disposition of such a record, any person may commence either or both of the following in the court of common pleas of the county in which division (A) of this section allegedly was violated or is threatened to be violated:

(1) A civil action for injunctive relief to compel compliance with division (A) of this section, and to obtain an award of the reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the person in the civil action;

(2) A civil action to recover a forfeiture liquidated damages to compensate for the harm caused by the violation in the amount of one thousand dollars for each violation, but not to exceed a cumulative total of ten one hundred thousand dollars, regardless of the number of violations, and to obtain an award of the reasonable attorney's fees incurred by the person in the civil action not to exceed the forfeiture amount recovered.

(C)(1) A person is not aggrieved by a violation of division (A) of this section if clear and convincing evidence shows that the request for a record was contrived as a pretext to create potential liability under this section. The commencement of a civil action under division (B) of this section waives any right under this chapter to decline to divulge the purpose for requesting the record, but only to the extent needed to evaluate whether the request was contrived as a pretext to create potential liability under this section.

(2) In a civil action under division (B) of this section, if clear and convincing evidence shows that the request for a record was a pretext to create potential liability under this section, the court may award reasonable attorney's fees to any defendant or defendants in the action The court, in its discretion, may limit the cumulative total amount of liquidated damages in an action under division (B)(2) of this section to ten thousand dollars, regardless of the number of violations, if the court determines both of the following:

(1) That, based on the ordinary application of statutory law and case law as it existed at the time of violation that was the basis of the action, a well-informed public official or employee reasonably would believe that the public office concerned was not violating this section; and

(2) That a well-informed public official or employee reasonably would believe that the conduct that was the basis of the action would serve the public policy that underlies the authority that is asserted as permitting that conduct.

(D) If clear and convincing evidence demonstrates that the party bringing an action under division (B) of this section was not harmed by the violation at issue and had no particularized reason for seeking access to or preservation of the record or records at issue, the court shall order that seventy-five per cent of the total amount of any liquidated damages awarded in the action shall be awarded to the Ohio historical society, and that only twenty-five per cent of the total of any liquidated damages awarded in the action shall be awarded to the party bringing the action. Nothing in this division shall affect the court's award of court costs and reasonable attorney's fees under this section.

(E) Once a person recovers a forfeiture liquidated damages in a civil action commenced under division (B)(2) of this section, no other person may recover a forfeiture liquidated damages under that division for a violation of division (A) of this section involving the same record, regardless of the number of persons aggrieved by a violation of division (A) of this section or the number of civil actions commenced under this section.

(E)(F) A civil action for injunctive relief under division (B)(1) of this section or a civil action to recover a forfeiture liquidated damages under division (B)(2) of this section shall be commenced within five years after the day in which division (A) of this section was allegedly violated or was threatened to be violated one year of the date when a violation is discovered or reasonably should have been discovered by the party bringing the action.

(G) Nothing in this section shall be construed to preclude any parallel or additional remedy available under any statute or the common law based on the removal, destruction, mutilation, or transfer of a record.

Section 2. That existing section 149.351 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.

Section 3. This act shall be known as "The Public Corruption Prosecution Act."