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S. B. No. 329 As IntroducedAs Introduced
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Gentile, Sawyer, Cafaro, Turner, Skindell, Brown, Tavares
A BILL
To amend sections 117.11 and 149.351 and to enact
sections 117.102, 149.46, and 3314.031 of the
Revised Code regarding audit and record-keeping
requirements for community school sponsors and
operators.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 117.11 and 149.351 be amended and
sections 117.102, 149.46, and 3314.031 of the Revised Code be
enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 117.102. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Community school" means a school established under
Chapter 3314. of the Revised Code.
(2) "Operator" has the same meaning as in section 3314.02 of
the Revised Code.
(B) The auditor of state annually shall audit each community
school operator and each community school sponsor described in
division (C)(1) of section 3314.02 or section 3314.021 or 3314.027
of the Revised Code. In the case of a nonpublic operator or
sponsor, the audit shall cover only those accounts, reports,
records, and files regarding the operator's or sponsor's receipt
or expenditure of public funds relating to the operation or
sponsorship of a community school.
Sec. 117.11. (A) Except as otherwise provided in this
division and in sections 117.102, 117.112, 117.113, and 117.114 of
the Revised Code, the auditor of state shall audit each public
office at least once every two fiscal years. The auditor of state
shall audit a public office each fiscal year if that public office
is required to be audited on an annual basis pursuant to "The
Single Audit Act of 1984," 98 Stat. 2327, 31 U.S.C.A. 7501 et
seq., as amended. In the annual or biennial audit, inquiry shall
be made into the methods, accuracy, and legality of the accounts,
financial reports, records, files, and reports of the office,
whether the laws, rules, ordinances, and orders pertaining to the
office have been observed, and whether the requirements and rules
of the auditor of state have been complied with. Except as
otherwise provided in this division or where auditing standards or
procedures dictate otherwise, each audit shall cover at least one
fiscal year. If a public office is audited only once every two
fiscal years, the audit shall cover both fiscal years.
(B) In addition to the annual or biennial audit provided for
in division (A) of this section or in section 117.114 of the
Revised Code, the auditor of state may conduct an audit of a
public office at any time when so requested by the public office
or upon the auditor of state's own initiative if the auditor of
state has reasonable cause to believe that an additional audit is
in the public interest.
(C)(1) The auditor of state shall identify any public office
in which the auditor of state will be unable to conduct an audit
at least once every two fiscal years as required by division (A)
of this section and shall provide immediate written notice to the
clerk of the legislative authority or governing board of the
public office so identified. Within six months of the receipt of
such notice, the legislative authority or governing board may
engage an independent certified public accountant to conduct an
audit pursuant to section 117.12 of the Revised Code.
(2) When the chief fiscal officer of a public office notifies
the auditor of state that an audit is required at a time prior to
the next regularly scheduled audit by the auditor of state, the
auditor of state shall either cause an earlier audit to be made by
the auditor of state or authorize the legislative authority or
governing board of the public office to engage an independent
certified public accountant to conduct the required audit. The
scope of the audit shall be as authorized by the auditor of state.
(3) The auditor of state shall approve the scope of an audit
under division (C)(1) or (2) of this section as set forth in the
contract for the proposed audit before the contract is executed on
behalf of the public office that is to be audited. The independent
accountant conducting an audit under division (C)(1) or (2) of
this section shall be paid by the public office.
(4) The contract for attest services with an independent
accountant employed pursuant to this section or section 115.56 of
the Revised Code may include binding arbitration provisions,
provisions of Chapter 2711. of the Revised Code, or any other
alternative dispute resolution procedures to be followed in the
event a dispute remains between the state or public office and the
independent accountant concerning the terms of or services under
the contract, or a breach of the contract, after the
administrative provisions of the contract have been exhausted.
(D) If a uniform accounting network is established under
section 117.101 of the Revised Code, the auditor of state or a
certified public accountant employed pursuant to this section or
section 115.56 or 117.112 of the Revised Code shall, to the extent
practicable, utilize services offered by the network in order to
conduct efficient and economical audits of public offices.
(E) The auditor of state, in accordance with division (A)(3)
of section 9.65 of the Revised Code and this section, may audit an
annuity program for volunteer fire fighters established by a
political subdivision under section 9.65 of the Revised Code. As
used in this section, "volunteer fire fighters" and "political
subdivision" have the same meanings as in division (C) of section
9.65 of the Revised Code.
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
and section 149.46 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 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
threat of such removal, destruction, mutilation, transfer, or
other damage to or disposition of such a record, 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 in the amount of
one thousand dollars for each violation, but not to exceed a
cumulative total of ten 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.
(D) Once a person recovers a forfeiture in a civil action
commenced under division (B)(2) of this section, no other person
may recover a forfeiture 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) A civil action for injunctive relief under division
(B)(1) of this section or a civil action to recover a forfeiture
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.
Sec. 149.46. Each community school, established under Chapter
3314. of the Revised Code, shall have a school records commission.
The commission shall meet at least once every twelve months. The
function of the commission shall be to review applications for
one-time disposal of obsolete records and schedules of records
retention and disposition submitted by any employee of the school.
The commission may dispose of records pursuant to the procedure
outlined in section 149.381 of the Revised Code. The commission,
at any time, may review any schedule it has previously approved
and, for good cause shown, may revise that schedule under the
procedure outlined in that section.
Sec. 3314.031. Each nonpublic operator of a community school
and each nonpublic entity that sponsors a community school shall
comply with section 149.43 of the Revised Code as if it were a
public office with respect to all records pertaining to the
management or sponsorship of the school.
Section 2. That existing sections 117.11 and 149.351 of the
Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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