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H. B. No. 310 As Passed by the HouseAs Passed by the House
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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Cosponsors:
Representatives Terhar, Adams, J., Grossman, Milkovich, Bishoff, Brown, Ramos, Schuring, Adams, R., Amstutz, Anielski, Antonio, Ashford, Baker, Barborak, Barnes, Beck, Buchy, Budish, Burkley, Butler, Carney, Celebrezze, Cera, Derickson, Dovilla, Fedor, Gerberry, Green, Hackett, Hagan, R., Hall, Heard, Huffman, Landis, Mallory, McClain, O'Brien, Patterson, Perales, Pillich, Retherford, Rogers, Romanchuk, Sears, Sheehy, Smith, Stinziano, Winburn Speaker Batchelder
A BILL
To amend sections 955.011, 955.43, and 955.99 of the
Revised Code to include persons diagnosed with
posttraumatic stress disorder as mobility impaired
persons for purposes of the statutes governing
assistance dogs and to prohibit misrepresentation
of a dog as an assistance dog.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 955.011, 955.43, and 955.99 of the
Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 955.011. (A) When an application is made for
registration of an assistance dog and the owner can show proof by
certificate or other means that the dog is an assistance dog, the
owner of the dog shall be exempt from any fee for the
registration. Registration for an assistance dog shall be
permanent and not subject to annual renewal so long as the dog is
an assistance dog. Certificates and tags stamped "Ohio Assistance
Dog-Permanent Registration," with registration number, shall be
issued upon registration of such a dog. Any certificate and tag
stamped "Ohio Guide Dog-Permanent Registration" or "Ohio Hearing
Dog-Permanent Registration," with registration number, that was
issued for a dog in accordance with this section as it existed
prior to July 4, 1984, any certificate and tag stamped "Ohio
Handicapped Assistance Dog-Permanent Registration," with
registration number, that was issued for a dog in accordance with
this section as it existed on and after July 5, 1984, but prior to
November 26, 2004, and any certificate and tag stamped "Ohio
Service Dog-Permanent Registration," with registration number,
that was issued for a dog in accordance with this section as it
existed on and after November 26, 2004, but prior to June 30,
2006, shall remain in effect as valid proof of the registration of
the dog on and after November 26, 2004. Duplicate certificates and
tags for a dog registered in accordance with this section, upon
proper proof of loss, shall be issued and no fee required. Each
duplicate certificate and tag that is issued shall be stamped
"Ohio Assistance Dog-Permanent Registration."
(B) As used in this section and in sections 955.16 and 955.43
of the Revised Code:
(1) "Mobility impaired person" means any person, regardless
of age, who is subject to a physiological defect or deficiency
regardless of its cause, nature, or extent that renders the person
unable to move about without the aid of crutches, a wheelchair, or
any other form of support, or that limits the person's functional
ability to ambulate, climb, descend, sit, rise, or perform any
related function. "Mobility impaired person" includes a person
with a neurological or psychological disability that limits the
person's functional ability to ambulate, climb, descend, sit,
rise, or perform any related function. "Mobility impaired person"
also includes a person with a seizure disorder and, a person who
is diagnosed with autism, and a person who is diagnosed with
posttraumatic stress disorder.
(2) "Blind" means either of the following:
(a) Vision twenty/two hundred or less in the better eye with
proper correction;
(b) Field defect in the better eye with proper correction
that contracts the peripheral field so that the diameter of the
visual field subtends an angle no greater than twenty degrees.
(3) "Assistance dog" means a guide dog, hearing dog, or
service dog that has been trained by a nonprofit special agency.
(4) "Guide dog" means a dog that has been trained or is in
training to assist a blind person.
(5) "Hearing dog" means a dog that has been trained or is in
training to assist a deaf or hearing-impaired person.
(6) "Service dog" means a dog that has been trained or is in
training to assist a mobility impaired person.
Sec. 955.43. (A) When either a blind, deaf or hearing
impaired, or mobility impaired person or a trainer of an
assistance dog is accompanied by an assistance dog, the person or
the trainer, as applicable, is entitled to the full and equal
accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of all
public conveyances, hotels, lodging places, all places of public
accommodation, amusement, or resort, all institutions of
education, and other places to which the general public is
invited, and may take the dog into such conveyances and places,
subject only to the conditions and limitations applicable to all
persons not so accompanied, except that:
(1) The dog shall not occupy a seat in any public conveyance.
(2) The dog shall be upon a leash while using the facilities
of a common carrier.
(3) Any dog in training to become an assistance dog shall be
covered by a liability insurance policy provided by the nonprofit
special agency engaged in such work protecting members of the
public against personal injury or property damage caused by the
dog.
(B) No person shall deprive a blind, deaf or hearing
impaired, or mobility impaired person or a trainer of an
assistance dog who is accompanied by an assistance dog of any of
the advantages, facilities, or privileges provided in division (A)
of this section, nor charge the person or trainer a fee or charge
for the dog.
(C) No person shall use on a dog a harness, vest, or leash of
the type commonly used on assistance dogs in order to represent
that the person's dog is an assistance dog if the dog has not been
trained or is not in training as an assistance dog.
(D) As used in this section, "institutions of education"
means:
(1) Any state university or college as defined in section
3345.32 of the Revised Code;
(2) Any private college or university that holds a
certificate of authorization issued by the Ohio board of regents
pursuant to Chapter 1713. of the Revised Code;
(3) Any elementary or secondary school operated by a board of
education;
(4) Any chartered or nonchartered nonpublic elementary or
secondary school;
(5) Any school issued a certificate of registration by the
state board of career colleges and schools.
Sec. 955.99. (A)(1) Whoever violates division (E) of section
955.11 of the Revised Code because of a failure to comply with
division (B) of that section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(2) Whoever violates division (E) of section 955.11 of the
Revised Code because of a failure to comply with division (C) or
(D) of that section is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on a first
offense and of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on each
subsequent offense.
(B) Whoever violates section 955.10, 955.23, 955.24, or
955.25 of the Revised Code is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(C) Whoever violates section 955.261, 955.39, or 955.50 of
the Revised Code is guilty of a minor misdemeanor on a first
offense and of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on each
subsequent offense.
(D) Whoever violates division (F) of section 955.16 or
division (B) or (C) of section 955.43 of the Revised Code is
guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(E)(1) Whoever violates section 955.21 of the Revised Code,
violates division (B) of section 955.22 of the Revised Code, or
commits a violation of division (C) of section 955.22 of the
Revised Code that involves a dog that is not a nuisance dog,
dangerous dog, or vicious dog shall be fined not less than
twenty-five dollars or more than one hundred dollars on a first
offense, and on each subsequent offense shall be fined not less
than seventy-five dollars or more than two hundred fifty dollars
and may be imprisoned for not more than thirty days.
(2) In addition to the penalties prescribed in division
(E)(1) of this section, if the offender is guilty of a violation
of division (B) of section 955.22 of the Revised Code or a
violation of division (C) of section 955.22 of the Revised Code
that involves a dog that is not a nuisance dog, dangerous dog, or
vicious dog, the court may order the offender to personally
supervise the dog that the offender owns, keeps, or harbors, to
cause that dog to complete dog obedience training, or to do both.
(F)(1) Whoever commits a violation of division (C) of section
955.22 of the Revised Code that involves a nuisance dog is guilty
of a minor misdemeanor on the first offense and of a misdemeanor
of the fourth degree on each subsequent offense involving the same
dog. Upon a person being convicted of or pleading guilty to a
third violation of division (C) of section 955.22 of the Revised
Code involving the same dog, the court shall require the offender
to register the involved dog as a dangerous dog.
(2) In addition to the penalties prescribed in division
(F)(1) of this section, if a violation of division (C) of section
955.22 of the Revised Code involves a nuisance dog, the court may
order the offender to personally supervise the nuisance dog that
the offender owns, keeps, or harbors, to cause that dog to
complete dog obedience training, or to do both.
(G) Whoever commits a violation of division (C) of section
955.22 of the Revised Code that involves a dangerous dog or a
violation of division (D) of that section is guilty of a
misdemeanor of the fourth degree on a first offense and of a
misdemeanor of the third degree on each subsequent offense.
Additionally, the court may order the offender to personally
supervise the dangerous dog that the offender owns, keeps, or
harbors, to cause that dog to complete dog obedience training, or
to do both, and the court may order the offender to obtain
liability insurance pursuant to division (E) of section 955.22 of
the Revised Code. The court, in the alternative, may order the
dangerous dog to be humanely destroyed by a licensed veterinarian,
the county dog warden, or the county humane society at the owner's
expense. With respect to a violation of division (C) of section
955.22 of the Revised Code that involves a dangerous dog, until
the court makes a final determination and during the pendency of
any appeal of a violation of that division and at the discretion
of the dog warden, the dog shall be confined or restrained in
accordance with division (D) of section 955.22 of the Revised Code
or at the county dog pound at the owner's expense.
(H)(1) Whoever commits a violation of division (C) of section
955.22 of the Revised Code that involves a vicious dog is guilty
of one of the following:
(a) A felony of the fourth degree if the dog kills a person.
Additionally, the court shall order that the vicious dog be
humanely destroyed by a licensed veterinarian, the county dog
warden, or the county humane society at the owner's expense.
(b) A misdemeanor of the first degree if the dog causes
serious injury to a person. Additionally, the court may order the
vicious dog to be humanely destroyed by a licensed veterinarian,
the county dog warden, or the county humane society at the owner's
expense.
(2) If the court does not order the vicious dog to be
destroyed under division (H)(1)(b) of this section, the court
shall issue an order that specifies that division (D) of section
955.11 and divisions (D) to (I) of section 955.22 of the Revised
Code apply with respect to the dog and the owner, keeper, or
harborer of the dog as if the dog were a dangerous dog and that
section 955.54 of the Revised Code applies with respect to the dog
as if it were a dangerous dog. As part of the order, the court
shall order the offender to obtain the liability insurance
required under division (E)(1) of section 955.22 of the Revised
Code in an amount, exclusive of interest and costs, that equals or
exceeds one hundred thousand dollars. Until the court makes a
final determination and during the pendency of any appeal of a
violation of division (C) of section 955.22 of the Revised Code
and at the discretion of the dog warden, the dog shall be confined
or restrained in accordance with the provisions described in
division (D) of section 955.22 of the Revised Code or at the
county dog pound at the owner's expense.
(I) Whoever violates division (A)(2) of section 955.01 of the
Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(J) Whoever violates division (E)(2) of section 955.22 of the
Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.
(K) Whoever violates division (C) of section 955.221 of the
Revised Code is guilty of a minor misdemeanor. Each day of
continued violation constitutes a separate offense. Fines levied
and collected for violations of that division shall be distributed
by the mayor or clerk of the municipal or county court in
accordance with section 733.40, division (F) of section 1901.31,
or division (C) of section 1907.20 of the Revised Code to the
treasury of the county, township, or municipal corporation whose
resolution or ordinance was violated.
(L) Whoever violates division (F)(1), (2), or (3) of section
955.22 of the Revised Code is guilty of a felony of the fourth
degree. Additionally, the court shall order that the dog involved
in the violation be humanely destroyed by a licensed veterinarian,
the county dog warden, or the county humane society. Until the
court makes a final determination and during the pendency of any
appeal of a violation of division (F)(1), (2), or (3) of section
955.22 of the Revised Code and at the discretion of the dog
warden, the dog shall be confined or restrained in accordance with
the provisions of division (D) of section 955.22 of the Revised
Code or at the county dog pound at the owner's expense.
(M) Whoever violates division (E)(1), (3), or (4) of section
955.22 of the Revised Code is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(N) Whoever violates division (I)(4) of section 955.22 of the
Revised Code is guilty of a minor misdemeanor.
(O) Whoever violates division (A) or (B) of section 955.54 of
the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(P)(1) If a dog is confined at the county dog pound pursuant
to division (G), (H), or (L) of this section, the county dog
warden shall give written notice of the confinement to the owner
of the dog. If the county dog warden is unable to give the notice
to the owner of the dog, the county dog warden shall post the
notice on the door of the residence of the owner of the dog or in
another conspicuous place on the premises at which the dog was
seized. The notice shall include a statement that a security in
the amount of one hundred dollars is due to the county dog warden
within ten days to secure payment of all reasonable expenses,
including medical care and boarding of the dog for sixty days,
expected to be incurred by the county dog pound in caring for the
dog pending the determination. The county dog warden may draw from
the security any actual costs incurred in caring for the dog.
(2) If the person ordered to post security under division
(P)(1) of this section does not do so within ten days of the
confinement of the animal, the dog is forfeited, and the county
dog warden may determine the disposition of the dog unless the
court issues an order that specifies otherwise.
(3) Not more than ten days after the court makes a final
determination under division (G), (H), or (L) of this section, the
county dog warden shall provide the owner of the dog with the
actual cost of the confinement of the dog. If the county dog
warden finds that the security provided under division (P)(1) of
this section is less than the actual cost of confinement of the
dog, the owner shall remit the difference between the security
provided and the actual cost to the county dog warden within
thirty days after the court's determination. If the county dog
warden finds that the security provided under division (P)(1) of
this section is greater than that actual cost, the county dog
warden shall remit the difference between the security provided
and the actual cost to the owner within thirty days after the
court's determination.
(Q) As used in this section, "nuisance dog," "dangerous dog,"
and "vicious dog" have the same meanings as in section 955.11 of
the Revised Code.
Section 2. That existing sections 955.011, 955.43, and 955.99
of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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