To amend sections 124.11, 124.25, 124.26, 124.34, 329.021, 4121.121, 5123.08, and 5139.02, and to enact section 9.73 of the Revised Code to limit the use of criminal records in the hiring and employment practices of public employers.

Section 1. That sections 124.11, 124.25, 124.26, 124.34, 329.021, 4121.121, 5123.08, and 5139.02 be amended and section 9.73 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 9.73.  (A) As used in this section:

(1) "Public employer" means a state agency or a political subdivision of the state.

(2) "State agency" means any organized body, office, agency, institution, or other entity established by the laws of the state for the exercise of any function of government.

(3) "Political subdivision" means a county, township, municipal corporation, or any other body corporate and politic that is responsible for government activities in a geographic area smaller than that of the state.

(4) "Appointing authority" means the officer, commission, board, or body having the power of appointment to, or removal from, positions in any office, department, commission, board, or institution.

(B) Notwithstanding any provision of the Revised Code to the contrary, no appointing authority shall inquire into or consider the criminal background of an applicant to a position in the service of a public employer until the applicant has been selected for appointment and the appointing authority is prepared to make an offer of employment.

(C) An appointing authority may notify an applicant of any provision of the Revised Code or federal law that disqualifies an individual with a particular criminal history from employment in a particular position.

(D) Except if an applicant is specifically disqualified from employment by any provision of the Revised Code or under federal law because of the prior conviction of or plea of guilty to a particular offense, an applicant shall not be disqualified from employment in the service of a governmental entity based solely upon the prior conviction of or plea of guilty to an offense. An appointing authority may deny an applicant employment in the service of a public employer by reason of the prior conviction of or plea of guilty to an offense only after the appointing authority has considered all of the following factors:

(1) Whether the offense directly relates to the responsibilities of the position for which the applicant applied;

(2) The nature and severity of the offense;

(3) The age of the applicant at the time the applicant committed the offense;

(4) The date the offense was committed;

(5) How long the person has lived while not incarcerated or under correctional supervision without having any additional, subsequent convictions;

(6) Any documentation or testimony demonstrating the applicant's rehabilitation.

(E) If a conviction of or plea of guilty to an offense is used as a basis for the rejection of an applicant, the appointing authority shall state that rejection in writing and specifically state the evidence presented and reasons for rejection. The appointing authority shall send a copy of the rejection by registered mail to the applicant.

(F) No appointing authority shall use the record of an arrest of an applicant that is not followed by a conviction or plea of guilty in connection with an application for employment.

Sec. 124.11.  The civil service of the state and the several counties, cities, civil service townships, city health districts, general health districts, and city school districts of the state shall be divided into the unclassified service and the classified service.

(A) The unclassified service shall comprise the following positions, which shall not be included in the classified service, and which shall be exempt from all examinations required by this chapter:

(1) All officers elected by popular vote or persons appointed to fill vacancies in those offices;

(2) All election officers as defined in section 3501.01 of the Revised Code;

(3)(a) The members of all boards and commissions, and heads of principal departments, boards, and commissions appointed by the governor or by and with the governor's consent;

(b) The heads of all departments appointed by a board of county commissioners;

(c) The members of all boards and commissions and all heads of departments appointed by the mayor, or, if there is no mayor, such other similar chief appointing authority of any city or city school district;

Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(17) or (C) of this section, this chapter does not exempt the chiefs of police departments and chiefs of fire departments of cities or civil service townships from the competitive classified service.

(4) The members of county or district licensing boards or commissions and boards of revision, and not more than five deputy county auditors;

(5) All officers and employees elected or appointed by either or both branches of the general assembly, and employees of the city legislative authority engaged in legislative duties;

(6) All commissioned, warrant, and noncommissioned officers and enlisted persons in the Ohio organized militia, including military appointees in the adjutant general's department;

(7)(a) All presidents, business managers, administrative officers, superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals, deans, assistant deans, instructors, teachers, and such employees as are engaged in educational or research duties connected with the public school system, colleges, and universities, as determined by the governing body of the public school system, colleges, and universities;

(b) The library staff of any library in the state supported wholly or in part at public expense.

(8) Four clerical and administrative support employees for each of the elective state officers, four clerical and administrative support employees for each board of county commissioners and one such employee for each county commissioner, and four clerical and administrative support employees for other elective officers and each of the principal appointive executive officers, boards, or commissions, except for civil service commissions, that are authorized to appoint such clerical and administrative support employees;

(9) The deputies and assistants of state agencies authorized to act for and on behalf of the agency, or holding a fiduciary or administrative relation to that agency and those persons employed by and directly responsible to elected county officials or a county administrator and holding a fiduciary or administrative relationship to such elected county officials or county administrator, and the employees of such county officials whose fitness would be impracticable to determine by competitive examination, provided that division (A)(9) of this section shall not affect those persons in county employment in the classified service as of September 19, 1961. Nothing in division (A)(9) of this section applies to any position in a county department of job and family services created pursuant to Chapter 329. of the Revised Code.

(10) Bailiffs, constables, official stenographers, and commissioners of courts of record, deputies of clerks of the courts of common pleas who supervise or who handle public moneys or secured documents, and such officers and employees of courts of record and such deputies of clerks of the courts of common pleas as the appointing authority finds it impracticable to determine their fitness by competitive examination;

(11) Assistants to the attorney general, special counsel appointed or employed by the attorney general, assistants to county prosecuting attorneys, and assistants to city directors of law;

(12) Such teachers and employees in the agricultural experiment stations; such students in normal schools, colleges, and universities of the state who are employed by the state or a political subdivision of the state in student or intern classifications; and such unskilled labor positions as the director of administrative services, with respect to positions in the service of the state, or any municipal civil service commission may find it impracticable to include in the competitive classified service; provided such exemptions shall be by order of the commission or the director, duly entered on the record of the commission or the director with the reasons for each such exemption;

(13) Any physician or dentist who is a full-time employee of the department of mental health and addiction services, the department of developmental disabilities, or an institution under the jurisdiction of either department; and physicians who are in residency programs at the institutions;

(14) Up to twenty positions at each institution under the jurisdiction of the department of mental health and addiction services or the department of developmental disabilities that the department director determines to be primarily administrative or managerial; and up to fifteen positions in any division of either department, excluding administrative assistants to the director and division chiefs, which are within the immediate staff of a division chief and which the director determines to be primarily and distinctively administrative and managerial;

(15) Noncitizens of the United States employed by the state, or its counties or cities, as physicians or nurses who are duly licensed to practice their respective professions under the laws of this state, or medical assistants, in mental or chronic disease hospitals, or institutions;

(16) Employees of the governor's office;

(17) Fire chiefs and chiefs of police in civil service townships appointed by boards of township trustees under section 505.38 or 505.49 of the Revised Code;

(18) Executive directors, deputy directors, and program directors employed by boards of alcohol, drug addiction, and mental health services under Chapter 340. of the Revised Code, and secretaries of the executive directors, deputy directors, and program directors;

(19) Superintendents, and management employees as defined in section 5126.20 of the Revised Code, of county boards of developmental disabilities;

(20) Physicians, nurses, and other employees of a county hospital who are appointed pursuant to sections 339.03 and 339.06 of the Revised Code;

(21) The executive director of the state medical board, who is appointed pursuant to division (B) of section 4731.05 of the Revised Code;

(22) County directors of job and family services as provided in section 329.02 of the Revised Code and administrators appointed under section 329.021 of the Revised Code;

(23) A director of economic development who is hired pursuant to division (A) of section 307.07 of the Revised Code;

(24) Chiefs of construction and compliance, of operations and maintenance, of worker protection, and of licensing and certification in the division of industrial compliance in the department of commerce;

(25) The executive director of a county transit system appointed under division (A) of section 306.04 of the Revised Code;

(26) Up to five positions at each of the administrative departments listed in section 121.02 of the Revised Code and at the department of taxation, department of the adjutant general, department of education, Ohio board of regents, bureau of workers' compensation, industrial commission, state lottery commission, opportunities for Ohioans with disabilities agency, and public utilities commission of Ohio that the head of that administrative department or of that other state agency determines to be involved in policy development and implementation. The head of the administrative department or other state agency shall set the compensation for employees in these positions at a rate that is not less than the minimum compensation specified in pay range 41 but not more than the maximum compensation specified in pay range 47 of salary schedule E-2 in section 124.152 of the Revised Code. The authority to establish positions in the unclassified service under division (A)(26) of this section is in addition to and does not limit any other authority that an administrative department or state agency has under the Revised Code to establish positions, appoint employees, or set compensation.

(27) Employees of the department of agriculture employed under section 901.09 of the Revised Code;

(28) For cities, counties, civil service townships, city health districts, general health districts, and city school districts, the deputies and assistants of elective or principal executive officers authorized to act for and in the place of their principals or holding a fiduciary relation to their principals;

(29) Employees who receive intermittent or temporary appointments under division (B) of section 124.30 of the Revised Code;

(30) Employees appointed to administrative staff positions for which an appointing authority is given specific statutory authority to set compensation;

(31) Employees appointed to highway patrol cadet or highway patrol cadet candidate classifications;

(32) Employees placed in the unclassified service by another section of the Revised Code.

(B) The classified service shall comprise all persons in the employ of the state and the several counties, cities, city health districts, general health districts, and city school districts of the state, not specifically included in the unclassified service. Upon the creation by the board of trustees of a civil service township civil service commission, the classified service shall also comprise, except as otherwise provided in division (A)(17) or (C) of this section, all persons in the employ of a civil service township police or fire department having ten or more full-time paid employees. The classified service consists of two classes, which shall be designated as the competitive class and the unskilled labor class.

(1) The competitive class shall include all positions and employments in the state and the counties, cities, city health districts, general health districts, and city school districts of the state, and, upon the creation by the board of trustees of a civil service township of a township civil service commission, all positions in a civil service township police or fire department having ten or more full-time paid employees, for which it is practicable to determine the merit and fitness of applicants by competitive examinations. Appointments shall be made to, or employment shall be given in, all positions in the competitive class that are not filled by promotion, reinstatement, transfer, or reduction, as provided in this chapter, and the rules of the director of administrative services, by appointment from those certified to the appointing officer in accordance with this chapter.

(2) The unskilled labor class shall include ordinary unskilled laborers. Vacancies in the labor class for positions in service of the state shall be filled by appointment from lists of applicants registered by the director or the director's designee. Vacancies in the labor class for all other positions shall be filled by appointment from lists of applicants registered by a commission. The director or the commission, as applicable, by rule, shall require an applicant for registration in the labor class to furnish evidence or take tests as the director or commission considers proper with respect to age, residence, physical condition, ability to labor, honesty, sobriety, industry, capacity, and experience in the work or employment for which application is made. Laborers who fulfill the requirements shall be placed on the eligible list for the kind of labor or employment sought, and preference shall be given in employment in accordance with the rating received from that evidence or in those tests. Upon the request of an appointing officer, stating the kind of labor needed, the pay and probable length of employment, and the number to be employed, the director or commission, as applicable, shall certify from the highest on the list double the number to be employed; from this number, the appointing officer shall appoint the number actually needed for the particular work. If more than one applicant receives the same rating, priority in time of application shall determine the order in which their names shall be certified for appointment.

(C) A municipal or civil service township civil service commission may place volunteer firefighters who are paid on a fee-for-service basis in either the classified or the unclassified civil service.

(D)(1) This division does not apply to persons in the unclassified service who have the right to resume positions in the classified service under sections 4121.121, 5119.18, 5120.38, 5120.381, 5120.382, 5123.08, 5139.02, and 5501.19 of the Revised Code or to cities, counties, or political subdivisions of the state.

(2) A person who holds a position in the classified service of the state and who is appointed to a position in the unclassified service shall retain the right to resume the position and status held by the person in the classified service immediately prior to the person's appointment to the position in the unclassified service, regardless of the number of positions the person held in the unclassified service. An employee's right to resume a position in the classified service may only be exercised when an appointing authority demotes the employee to a pay range lower than the employee's current pay range or revokes the employee's appointment to the unclassified service and:

(a) That person held a certified position prior to July 1, 2007, in the classified service within the appointing authority's agency; or

(b) That person held a permanent position on or after July 1, 2007, in the classified service within the appointing authority's agency.

(3) An employee forfeits the right to resume a position in the classified service when:

(a) The employee is removed from the position in the unclassified service due to incompetence, inefficiency, dishonesty, drunkenness, immoral conduct, insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public, neglect of duty, violation of this chapter or the rules of the director of administrative services, any other failure of good behavior, any other acts of misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, or conviction of a felony while employed in the civil service; or

(b) Upon transfer to a different agency.

(4) Reinstatement to a position in the classified service shall be to a position substantially equal to that position in the classified service held previously, as certified by the director of administrative services. If the position the person previously held in the classified service has been placed in the unclassified service or is otherwise unavailable, the person shall be appointed to a position in the classified service within the appointing authority's agency that the director of administrative services certifies is comparable in compensation to the position the person previously held in the classified service. Service in the position in the unclassified service shall be counted as service in the position in the classified service held by the person immediately prior to the person's appointment to the position in the unclassified service. When a person is reinstated to a position in the classified service as provided in this division, the person is entitled to all rights, status, and benefits accruing to the position in the classified service during the person's time of service in the position in the unclassified service.

Sec. 124.25.  The director of administrative services shall require persons applying for an examination for original appointment in the service of the state to file with the director or the director's designee, within reasonable time prior to the examination, a formal application, in which the applicant shall state the applicant's name, address, and such other information as may reasonably be required concerning the applicant's education and experience. No inquiry shall be made as to religious or political affiliations or as to racial or ethnic origin of the applicant, except as necessary to gather equal employment opportunity or other statistics that, when compiled, will not identify any specific individual. No inquiry shall be made as to the criminal background of the applicant. The director or the director's designee may notify an applicant of any provision of the Revised Code or federal law that disqualifies an individual with a particular criminal history from employment in a particular position.

Blank forms for applications shall be furnished by the director or the director's designee without charge to any person requesting the same. The director or the director's designee may require in connection with such application such certificate of persons having knowledge of the applicant as the good of the service demands. The director or the director's designee may refuse to appoint or examine an applicant, or, after an examination, refuse to certify the applicant as eligible, who is found to lack any of the established preliminary requirements for the examination, who is addicted to the habitual use of intoxicating liquors or drugs to excess, who has a pattern of poor work habits and performance with previous employers, who has been convicted of a felony, who has been guilty of infamous or notoriously disgraceful conduct, who has been dismissed from either branch of the civil service for delinquency or misconduct, or who has made false statements of any material fact, or practiced, or attempted to practice, any deception or fraud in the application or examination, in establishing eligibility, or securing an appointment.

Sec. 124.26.  From the returns of examinations for positions in the service of the state, the director of administrative services or the director's designee shall prepare an eligible list of the persons whose general average standing upon examinations for the class or position is not less than the minimum fixed by the rules of the director, and who are otherwise eligible. Those persons shall take rank upon the eligible list as candidates in the order of their relative excellence as determined by the examination without reference to priority of the time of examination. If two or more applicants receive the same mark in an open competitive examination, priority in the time of filing the application with the director or the director's designee shall determine the order in which their names shall be placed on the eligible list, except that applicants eligible for the veteran's or the reserve component member's preference under section 124.23 of the Revised Code shall receive priority in rank on the eligible list over nonveterans and nonmembers of the reserve component on the list with a rating equal to that of the veteran or reserve component member. Ties among veterans or among reserve component members shall be decided by priority of filing the application. A tie between a veteran and a reserve component member shall be decided in favor of the veteran.

The director or the director's designee shall not inquire into or consider the criminal history of an applicant when preparing an eligible list.

An eligible list expires upon the filling or closing of the position. An expired eligible list may be used to fill a position of the same classification within the same appointing authority for which the list was created. But, in no event shall an expired list be used more than one year past its expiration date.

Sec. 124.34.  (A) The tenure of every officer or employee in the classified service of the state and the counties, civil service townships, cities, city health districts, general health districts, and city school districts of the state, holding a position under this chapter, shall be during good behavior and efficient service. No officer or employee shall be reduced in pay or position, fined, suspended, or removed, or have the officer's or employee's longevity reduced or eliminated, except as provided in section 124.32 of the Revised Code, and for incompetency, inefficiency, dishonesty, drunkenness, immoral conduct, insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public, neglect of duty, violation of any policy or work rule of the officer's or employee's appointing authority, violation of this chapter or the rules of the director of administrative services or the commission, any other failure of good behavior, any other acts of misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, or conviction of a felony while employed in the civil service. The denial of a one-time pay supplement or a bonus to an officer or employee is not a reduction in pay for purposes of this section.

This section does not apply to any modifications or reductions in pay or work week authorized by division (Q) of section 124.181 or section 124.392, 124.393, or 124.394 of the Revised Code.

An appointing authority may require an employee who is suspended to report to work to serve the suspension. An employee serving a suspension in this manner shall continue to be compensated at the employee's regular rate of pay for hours worked. The disciplinary action shall be recorded in the employee's personnel file in the same manner as other disciplinary actions and has the same effect as a suspension without pay for the purpose of recording disciplinary actions.

A finding by the appropriate ethics commission, based upon a preponderance of the evidence, that the facts alleged in a complaint under section 102.06 of the Revised Code constitute a violation of Chapter 102., section 2921.42, or section 2921.43 of the Revised Code may constitute grounds for dismissal. Failure to file a statement or falsely filing a statement required by section 102.02 of the Revised Code may also constitute grounds for dismissal. The tenure of an employee in the career professional service of the department of transportation is subject to section 5501.20 of the Revised Code.

Conviction of a felony while employed in the civil service is a separate basis for reducing in pay or position, suspending, or removing an officer or employee, even if the officer or employee has already been reduced in pay or position, suspended, or removed for the same conduct that is the basis of the felony. An officer or employee may not appeal to the state personnel board of review or the commission any disciplinary action taken by an appointing authority as a result of the officer's or employee's conviction of a felony. If an officer or employee removed under this section is reinstated as a result of an appeal of the removal, any conviction of a felony that occurs during the pendency of the appeal is a basis for further disciplinary action under this section upon the officer's or employee's reinstatement.

A person convicted of a felony while employed in the civil service immediately forfeits the person's status as a classified employee in any public employment on and after the date of the conviction for the felony. If an officer or employee is removed under this section as a result of being convicted of a felony or is subsequently convicted of a felony that involves the same conduct that was the basis for the removal, the officer or employee is barred from receiving any compensation after the removal notwithstanding any modification or disaffirmance of the removal, unless the conviction for the felony is subsequently reversed or annulled.

Any person removed for conviction of a felony is entitled to a cash payment for any accrued but unused sick, personal, and vacation leave as authorized by law. If subsequently reemployed in the public sector, the person shall qualify for and accrue these forms of leave in the manner specified by law for a newly appointed employee and shall not be credited with prior public service for the purpose of receiving these forms of leave.

As used in this division, "felony" means any of the following:

(1) A felony that is an offense of violence as defined in section 2901.01 of the Revised Code;

(2) A felony that is a felony drug abuse offense as defined in section 2925.01 of the Revised Code;

(3) A felony under the laws of this or any other state or the United States that is a crime of moral turpitude;

(4) A felony involving dishonesty, fraud, or theft;

(5) A felony that is a violation of section 2921.05, 2921.32, or 2921.42 of the Revised Code.

(B) In case of a reduction, a suspension of more than forty work hours in the case of an employee exempt from the payment of overtime compensation, a suspension of more than twenty-four work hours in the case of an employee required to be paid overtime compensation, a fine of more than forty hours' pay in the case of an employee exempt from the payment of overtime compensation, a fine of more than twenty-four hours' pay in the case of an employee required to be paid overtime compensation, or removal, except for the reduction or removal of a probationary employee, the appointing authority shall serve the employee with a copy of the order of reduction, fine, suspension, or removal, which order shall state the reasons for the action.

Within ten days following the date on which the order is served or, in the case of an employee in the career professional service of the department of transportation, within ten days following the filing of a removal order, the employee, except as otherwise provided in this section, may file an appeal of the order in writing with the state personnel board of review or the commission. For purposes of this section, the date on which an order is served is the date of hand delivery of the order or the date of delivery of the order by certified United States mail, whichever occurs first. If an appeal is filed, the board or commission shall forthwith notify the appointing authority and shall hear, or appoint a trial board to hear, the appeal within thirty days from and after its filing with the board or commission. The board, commission, or trial board may affirm, disaffirm, or modify the judgment of the appointing authority. However, in an appeal of a removal order based upon a violation of a last chance agreement, the board, commission, or trial board may only determine if the employee violated the agreement and thus affirm or disaffirm the judgment of the appointing authority.

In cases of removal or reduction in pay for disciplinary reasons, either the appointing authority or the officer or employee may appeal from the decision of the state personnel board of review or the commission, and any such appeal shall be to the court of common pleas of the county in which the appointing authority is located, or to the court of common pleas of Franklin county, as provided by section 119.12 of the Revised Code.

(C) In the case of the suspension for any period of time, or a fine, demotion, or removal, of a chief of police, a chief of a fire department, or any member of the police or fire department of a city or civil service township, who is in the classified civil service, the appointing authority shall furnish the chief or member with a copy of the order of suspension, fine, demotion, or removal, which order shall state the reasons for the action. The order shall be filed with the municipal or civil service township civil service commission. Within ten days following the filing of the order, the chief or member may file an appeal, in writing, with the commission. If an appeal is filed, the commission shall forthwith notify the appointing authority and shall hear, or appoint a trial board to hear, the appeal within thirty days from and after its filing with the commission, and it may affirm, disaffirm, or modify the judgment of the appointing authority. An appeal on questions of law and fact may be had from the decision of the commission to the court of common pleas in the county in which the city or civil service township is situated. The appeal shall be taken within thirty days from the finding of the commission.

(D) A violation of division (A)(7) of section 2907.03 of the Revised Code is grounds for termination of employment of a nonteaching employee under this section.

(E) As used in this section, "last chance agreement" means an agreement signed by both an appointing authority and an officer or employee of the appointing authority that describes the type of behavior or circumstances that, if it occurs, will automatically lead to removal of the officer or employee without the right of appeal to the state personnel board of review or the appropriate commission.

Sec. 329.021.  (A) The board of county commissioners may, in addition to the county director of job and family services, appoint administrators to oversee services provided by the county department of job and family services, subject to the following limitations:

(1) If the county has a population of five hundred thousand or more, the board may appoint up to five administrators.

(2) If the county has a population of two hundred and fifty thousand or more, but less than five hundred thousand, the board may appoint up to four administrators.

(3) If the county has a population of one hundred thousand or more, but less than two hundred and fifty thousand, the board may appoint up to three administrators.

(4) If the county has a population of forty thousand or more, but less than one hundred thousand, the board may appoint up to two administrators.

(5) If the county has a population of less than forty thousand, the board may appoint one administrator.

(B) The administrators appointed by the board of county commissioners under this section shall be in the unclassified civil service and serve at the pleasure of the board. However, no administrator position that is filled by a person serving in the classified service on the effective date of this amendment July 1, 2007, shall be placed in the unclassified civil service until that person vacates the position.

(C) The board of county commissioners may appoint a person who holds a certified position in the classified service within the county department of job and family services to the position of administrator. A person appointed to the position of administrator pursuant to this division and later removed by the board retains the right to resume the position in the classified service held by that person immediately prior to being appointed to the position of administrator, except that a person first appointed to a classified position in the department on or after the effective date of this amendment July 1, 2007, shall retain the right to resume the position in the classified service for only six months after being appointed to the position of administrator. An employee forfeits the right to resume a position in the classified service when the employee is removed from the position of administrator due to incompetence, inefficiency, dishonesty, drunkenness, immoral conduct, insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public, neglect of duty, violation of any policy or work rule of the board or department, violation of Chapter 124. of the Revised Code or the rules of the director of administrative services, any other failure of good behavior, any other acts of misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, or conviction of a felony while employed in the civil service. If the position the person previously held in the classified service no longer exists or has been placed in the unclassified service, the person shall be appointed to a position in the classified service of the department that is equivalent to the classified position the person previously held, as determined by the board with the approval of the director of administrative services.

(D) As used in this section, "administrator" means assistant director, fiscal officer or director, personnel officer or director, social services administrator, income maintenance administrator, child support administrator in a combined agency, children services administrator in a combined agency, and workforce development administrator in a combined agency.

Sec. 4121.121.  (A) There is hereby created the bureau of workers' compensation, which shall be administered by the administrator of workers' compensation. A person appointed to the position of administrator shall possess significant management experience in effectively managing an organization or organizations of substantial size and complexity. A person appointed to the position of administrator also shall possess a minimum of five years of experience in the field of workers' compensation insurance or in another insurance industry, except as otherwise provided when the conditions specified in division (C) of this section are satisfied. The governor shall appoint the administrator as provided in section 121.03 of the Revised Code, and the administrator shall serve at the pleasure of the governor. The governor shall fix the administrator's salary on the basis of the administrator's experience and the administrator's responsibilities and duties under this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4125., 4127., 4131., and 4167. of the Revised Code. The governor shall not appoint to the position of administrator any person who has, or whose spouse has, given a contribution to the campaign committee of the governor in an amount greater than one thousand dollars during the two-year period immediately preceding the date of the appointment of the administrator.

The administrator shall hold no other public office and shall devote full time to the duties of administrator. Before entering upon the duties of the office, the administrator shall take an oath of office as required by sections 3.22 and 3.23 of the Revised Code, and shall file in the office of the secretary of state, a bond signed by the administrator and by surety approved by the governor, for the sum of fifty thousand dollars payable to the state, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the administrator's duties.

(B) The administrator is responsible for the management of the bureau and for the discharge of all administrative duties imposed upon the administrator in this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4125., 4127., 4131., and 4167. of the Revised Code, and in the discharge thereof shall do all of the following:

(1) Perform all acts and exercise all authorities and powers, discretionary and otherwise that are required of or vested in the bureau or any of its employees in this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4125., 4127., 4131., and 4167. of the Revised Code, except the acts and the exercise of authority and power that is required of and vested in the bureau of workers' compensation board of directors or the industrial commission pursuant to those chapters. The treasurer of state shall honor all warrants signed by the administrator, or by one or more of the administrator's employees, authorized by the administrator in writing, or bearing the facsimile signature of the administrator or such employee under sections 4123.42 and 4123.44 of the Revised Code.

(2) Employ, direct, and supervise all employees required in connection with the performance of the duties assigned to the bureau by this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4125., 4127., 4131., and 4167. of the Revised Code, including an actuary, and may establish job classification plans and compensation for all employees of the bureau provided that this grant of authority shall not be construed as affecting any employee for whom the state employment relations board has established an appropriate bargaining unit under section 4117.06 of the Revised Code. All positions of employment in the bureau are in the classified civil service except those employees the administrator may appoint to serve at the administrator's pleasure in the unclassified civil service pursuant to section 124.11 of the Revised Code. The administrator shall fix the salaries of employees the administrator appoints to serve at the administrator's pleasure, including the chief operating officer, staff physicians, and other senior management personnel of the bureau and shall establish the compensation of staff attorneys of the bureau's legal section and their immediate supervisors, and take whatever steps are necessary to provide adequate compensation for other staff attorneys.

The administrator may appoint a person who holds a certified position in the classified service within the bureau to a position in the unclassified service within the bureau. A person appointed pursuant to this division to a position in the unclassified service shall retain the right to resume the position and status held by the person in the classified service immediately prior to the person's appointment in the unclassified service, regardless of the number of positions the person held in the unclassified service. An employee's right to resume a position in the classified service may only be exercised when the administrator demotes the employee to a pay range lower than the employee's current pay range or revokes the employee's appointment to the unclassified service. An employee forfeits the right to resume a position in the classified service when the employee is removed from the position in the unclassified service due to incompetence, inefficiency, dishonesty, drunkenness, immoral conduct, insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public, neglect of duty, violation of this chapter or Chapter 124., 4123., 4125., 4127., 4131., or 4167. of the Revised Code, violation of the rules of the director of administrative services or the administrator, any other failure of good behavior, any other acts of misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, or conviction of a felony while employed in the civil service. An employee also forfeits the right to resume a position in the classified service upon transfer to a different agency.

Reinstatement to a position in the classified service shall be to a position substantially equal to that position in the classified service held previously, as certified by the department of administrative services. If the position the person previously held in the classified service has been placed in the unclassified service or is otherwise unavailable, the person shall be appointed to a position in the classified service within the bureau that the director of administrative services certifies is comparable in compensation to the position the person previously held in the classified service. Service in the position in the unclassified service shall be counted as service in the position in the classified service held by the person immediately prior to the person's appointment in the unclassified service. When a person is reinstated to a position in the classified service as provided in this division, the person is entitled to all rights, status, and benefits accruing to the position during the person's time of service in the position in the unclassified service.

(3) Reorganize the work of the bureau, its sections, departments, and offices to the extent necessary to achieve the most efficient performance of its functions and to that end may establish, change, or abolish positions and assign and reassign duties and responsibilities of every employee of the bureau. All persons employed by the commission in positions that, after November 3, 1989, are supervised and directed by the administrator under this section are transferred to the bureau in their respective classifications but subject to reassignment and reclassification of position and compensation as the administrator determines to be in the interest of efficient administration. The civil service status of any person employed by the commission is not affected by this section. Personnel employed by the bureau or the commission who are subject to Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code shall retain all of their rights and benefits conferred pursuant to that chapter as it presently exists or is hereafter amended and nothing in this chapter or Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code shall be construed as eliminating or interfering with Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code or the rights and benefits conferred under that chapter to public employees or to any bargaining unit.

(4) Provide offices, equipment, supplies, and other facilities for the bureau.

(5) Prepare and submit to the board information the administrator considers pertinent or the board requires, together with the administrator's recommendations, in the form of administrative rules, for the advice and consent of the board, for classifications of occupations or industries, for premium rates and contributions, for the amount to be credited to the surplus fund, for rules and systems of rating, rate revisions, and merit rating. The administrator shall obtain, prepare, and submit any other information the board requires for the prompt and efficient discharge of its duties.

(6) Keep the accounts required by division (A) of section 4123.34 of the Revised Code and all other accounts and records necessary to the collection, administration, and distribution of the workers' compensation funds and shall obtain the statistical and other information required by section 4123.19 of the Revised Code.

(7) Exercise the investment powers vested in the administrator by section 4123.44 of the Revised Code in accordance with the investment policy approved by the board pursuant to section 4121.12 of the Revised Code and in consultation with the chief investment officer of the bureau of workers' compensation. The administrator shall not engage in any prohibited investment activity specified by the board pursuant to division (F)(9) of section 4121.12 of the Revised Code and shall not invest in any type of investment specified in divisions (B)(1) to (10) of section 4123.442 of the Revised Code. All business shall be transacted, all funds invested, all warrants for money drawn and payments made, and all cash and securities and other property held, in the name of the bureau, or in the name of its nominee, provided that nominees are authorized by the administrator solely for the purpose of facilitating the transfer of securities, and restricted to the administrator and designated employees.

(8) Make contracts for and supervise the construction of any project or improvement or the construction or repair of buildings under the control of the bureau.

(9) Purchase supplies, materials, equipment, and services; make contracts for, operate, and superintend the telephone, other telecommunication, and computer services for the use of the bureau; and make contracts in connection with office reproduction, forms management, printing, and other services. Notwithstanding sections 125.12 to 125.14 of the Revised Code, the administrator may transfer surplus computers and computer equipment directly to an accredited public school within the state. The computers and computer equipment may be repaired or refurbished prior to the transfer.

(10) Prepare and submit to the board an annual budget for internal operating purposes for the board's approval. The administrator also shall, separately from the budget the industrial commission submits, prepare and submit to the director of budget and management a budget for each biennium. The budgets submitted to the board and the director shall include estimates of the costs and necessary expenditures of the bureau in the discharge of any duty imposed by law.

(11) As promptly as possible in the course of efficient administration, decentralize and relocate such of the personnel and activities of the bureau as is appropriate to the end that the receipt, investigation, determination, and payment of claims may be undertaken at or near the place of injury or the residence of the claimant and for that purpose establish regional offices, in such places as the administrator considers proper, capable of discharging as many of the functions of the bureau as is practicable so as to promote prompt and efficient administration in the processing of claims. All active and inactive lost-time claims files shall be held at the service office responsible for the claim. A claimant, at the claimant's request, shall be provided with information by telephone as to the location of the file pertaining to the claimant's claim. The administrator shall ensure that all service office employees report directly to the director for their service office.

(12) Provide a written binder on new coverage where the administrator considers it to be in the best interest of the risk. The administrator, or any other person authorized by the administrator, shall grant the binder upon submission of a request for coverage by the employer. A binder is effective for a period of thirty days from date of issuance and is nonrenewable. Payroll reports and premium charges shall coincide with the effective date of the binder.

(13) Set standards for the reasonable and maximum handling time of claims payment functions, ensure, by rules, the impartial and prompt treatment of all claims and employer risk accounts, and establish a secure, accurate method of time stamping all incoming mail and documents hand delivered to bureau employees.

(14) Ensure that all employees of the bureau follow the orders and rules of the commission as such orders and rules relate to the commission's overall adjudicatory policy-making and management duties under this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4127., and 4131. of the Revised Code.

(15) Manage and operate a data processing system with a common data base for the use of both the bureau and the commission and, in consultation with the commission, using electronic data processing equipment, shall develop a claims tracking system that is sufficient to monitor the status of a claim at any time and that lists appeals that have been filed and orders or determinations that have been issued pursuant to section 4123.511 or 4123.512 of the Revised Code, including the dates of such filings and issuances.

(16) Establish and maintain a medical section within the bureau. The medical section shall do all of the following:

(a) Assist the administrator in establishing standard medical fees, approving medical procedures, and determining eligibility and reasonableness of the compensation payments for medical, hospital, and nursing services, and in establishing guidelines for payment policies which recognize usual, customary, and reasonable methods of payment for covered services;

(b) Provide a resource to respond to questions from claims examiners for employees of the bureau;

(c) Audit fee bill payments;

(d) Implement a program to utilize, to the maximum extent possible, electronic data processing equipment for storage of information to facilitate authorizations of compensation payments for medical, hospital, drug, and nursing services;

(e) Perform other duties assigned to it by the administrator.

(17) Appoint, as the administrator determines necessary, panels to review and advise the administrator on disputes arising over a determination that a health care service or supply provided to a claimant is not covered under this chapter or Chapter 4123., 4127., or 4131. of the Revised Code or is medically unnecessary. If an individual health care provider is involved in the dispute, the panel shall consist of individuals licensed pursuant to the same section of the Revised Code as such health care provider.

(18) Pursuant to section 4123.65 of the Revised Code, approve applications for the final settlement of claims for compensation or benefits under this chapter and Chapters 4123., 4127., and 4131. of the Revised Code as the administrator determines appropriate, except in regard to the applications of self-insuring employers and their employees.

(19) Comply with section 3517.13 of the Revised Code, and except in regard to contracts entered into pursuant to the authority contained in section 4121.44 of the Revised Code, comply with the competitive bidding procedures set forth in the Revised Code for all contracts into which the administrator enters provided that those contracts fall within the type of contracts and dollar amounts specified in the Revised Code for competitive bidding and further provided that those contracts are not otherwise specifically exempt from the competitive bidding procedures contained in the Revised Code.

(20) Adopt, with the advice and consent of the board, rules for the operation of the bureau.

(21) Prepare and submit to the board information the administrator considers pertinent or the board requires, together with the administrator's recommendations, in the form of administrative rules, for the advice and consent of the board, for the health partnership program and the qualified health plan system, as provided in sections 4121.44, 4121.441, and 4121.442 of the Revised Code.

(C) The administrator, with the advice and consent of the senate, shall appoint a chief operating officer who has a minimum of five years of experience in the field of workers' compensation insurance or in another similar insurance industry if the administrator does not possess such experience. The chief operating officer shall not commence the chief operating officer's duties until after the senate consents to the chief operating officer's appointment. The chief operating officer shall serve in the unclassified civil service of the state.

Sec. 5123.08.  An appointing officer may appoint a person who holds a certified position in the classified service within the department of developmental disabilities to a position in the unclassified service within the department. A person appointed pursuant to this section to a position in the unclassified service shall retain the right to resume the position and status held by the person in the classified service immediately prior to the person's appointment to the position in the unclassified service, regardless of the number of positions the person held in the unclassified service. An employee's right to resume a position in the classified service may only be exercised when an appointing authority demotes the employee to a pay range lower than the employee's current pay range or revokes the employee's appointment to the unclassified service. An employee forfeits the right to resume a position in the classified service when the employee is removed from the position in the unclassified service due to incompetence, inefficiency, dishonesty, drunkenness, immoral conduct, insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public, neglect of duty, violation of this chapter or Chapter 124. of the Revised Code, the rules of the director of developmental disabilities or the director of administrative services, any other failure of good behavior, any other acts of misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, or conviction of a felony while employed in the civil service. An employee also forfeits the right to resume a position in the classified service upon transfer to a different agency.

Reinstatement to a position in the classified service shall be to a position substantially equal to that position in the classified service held previously, as certified by the director of administrative services. If the position the person previously held in the classified service has been placed in the unclassified service or is otherwise unavailable, the person shall be appointed to a position in the classified service within the department that the director of administrative services certifies is comparable in compensation to the position the person previously held in the classified service. Service in the position in the unclassified service shall be counted as service in the position in the classified service held by the person immediately prior to the person's appointment to the position in the unclassified service. When a person is reinstated to a position in the classified service as provided in this section, the person is entitled to all rights, status, and benefits accruing to the position in the classified service during the time of the person's service in the position in the unclassified service.

Sec. 5139.02.  (A)(1) As used in this section, "managing officer" means a deputy director, an assistant deputy director, a superintendent, a regional administrator, a deputy superintendent, or the superintendent of schools of the department of youth services, a member of the release authority, the chief of staff to the release authority, and the victims administrator of the office of victim services.

(2) Each division established by the director of youth services shall consist of managing officers and other employees, including those employed in institutions and regions as necessary to perform the functions assigned to them. The director or appropriate deputy director or managing officer of the department shall supervise the work of each division and determine general policies governing the exercise of powers vested in the department and assigned to each division. The appropriate managing officer or deputy director is responsible to the director for the organization, direction, and supervision of the work of the division or unit and for the exercise of the powers and the performance of the duties of the department assigned to it and, with the director's approval, may establish bureaus or other administrative units within the department.

(B) The director shall appoint all managing officers, who shall be in the unclassified civil service. The director may appoint a person who holds a certified position in the classified service within the department to a position as a managing officer within the department. A person appointed pursuant to this division to a position as a managing officer shall retain the right to resume the position and status held by the person in the classified service immediately prior to the person's appointment as managing officer, regardless of the number of positions the person held in the unclassified service. A managing officer's right to resume a position in the classified service may only be exercised when the director demotes the managing officer to a pay range lower than the managing officer's current pay range or revokes the managing officer's appointment to the position of managing officer. A managing officer forfeits the right to resume a position in the classified service when the managing officer is removed from the position of managing officer due to incompetence, inefficiency, dishonesty, drunkenness, immoral conduct, insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public, neglect of duty, violation of this chapter or Chapter 124. of the Revised Code, the rules of the director of youth services or the director of administrative services, any other failure of good behavior, any other acts of misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, or conviction of a felony while employed in the civil service. A managing officer also forfeits the right to resume a position in the classified service upon transfer to a different agency.

Reinstatement to a position in the classified service shall be to the position held in the classified service immediately prior to appointment as managing officer, or to another position certified by the director of administrative services as being substantially equal to that position. If the position the person previously held in the classified service immediately prior to appointment as a managing officer has been placed in the unclassified service or is otherwise unavailable, the person shall be appointed to a position in the classified service within the department that the director of administrative services certifies is comparable in compensation to the position the person previously held in the classified service. Service as a managing officer shall be counted as service in the position in the classified service held by the person immediately prior to the person's appointment as a managing officer. If a person is reinstated to a position in the classified service under this division, the person shall be returned to the pay range and step to which the person had been assigned at the time of the appointment as managing officer. Longevity, where applicable, shall be calculated pursuant to the provisions of section 124.181 of the Revised Code.

(C) Each person appointed as a managing officer shall have received special training and shall have experience in the type of work that the person's division is required to perform. Each managing officer, under the supervision of the director, has entire charge of the division, institution, unit, or region for which the managing officer is appointed and, with the director's approval, shall appoint necessary employees and may remove them for cause.

(D) The director may designate one or more deputy directors to sign any personnel actions on the director's behalf. The director shall make a designation in a writing signed by the director, and the designation shall remain in effect until the director revokes or supersedes it with a new designation.

Section 2.  That existing sections 124.11, 124.25, 124.26, 124.34, 329.021, 4121.121, 5123.08, and 5139.02 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3.  Section 124.26 of the Revised Code is presented in this act as a composite of the section as amended by both Am. Sub. H.B. 487 and Am. Sub. H.B. 490 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.