Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement
127 th General Assembly of Ohio
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No
direct fiscal effect on the state.
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LOCAL
GOVERNMENT |
FY 2008 – FUTURE YEARS |
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Counties |
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Revenues |
Potential negligible
annual loss in court costs and fees |
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Expenditures |
Potential annual savings
effect, likely to more than offset potential revenues lost |
Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
·
County expenditures. If the bill were to reduce
the number of petitions filed to modify a death certificate or coroner's
verdict, or expedite the decision subsequent to such a filing, then presumably
a potential saving effect is created, as certain county entities (coroner,
prosecutor, and court of common pleas) will expend less time and effort on
these matters. If one were able to
quantify this potential savings, it appears unlikely to be significant in terms
of dollars and cents, and is probably best viewed as permitting those county
entities to more efficiently and effectively perform other duties and
responsibilities.
·
County revenues. If fewer petitions to modify
a death certificate or coroner's certificate were filed, or subsequent to
filing, decided in a timelier manner, then the court of common pleas may not
generate a mix of court costs and fees that might otherwise have been collected
from parties involved in the matter.
That said, the amount of this revenue that might be lost to any given
court of common pleas is likely to be negligible annually, especially in light
of the fact that the filing of such petitions is an extremely rare occurrence.
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Overview
For the purposes of this fiscal analysis, the bill
most notably:
·
Establishes
procedures for the commencement, determination, and appeal of an action to
change a death certificate or coroner's verdict.
·
Limits
the potential pool of interested parties who may petition for such a change.
·
Requires
generally that a petition to change a death certificate or coroner's verdict be
filed within three years from the time of death.
Local fiscal effects
Based on conversations with
a member of the Ohio State Coroner's Association (OSCA), LSC fiscal staff
learned that the filing of a petition in any given court of common pleas for
the purpose of modifying a death certificate or coroner's verdict is extremely
rare. According to the OSCA member, to
their knowledge only two county coroners in the past 20 years have been named
as respondents in the filing of such a petition, and the bill is not likely to
make the filing of such a petition noticeably more or less rare than is already
the case under current law and practice.
From LSC fiscal staff's
perspective, the practical effect of the bill may be to make it less likely
that certain parties will file a petition to modify a death certificate or
coroner's verdict, or if filed, the court of common pleas may render a
decision, including dismissal of the petition, in a timelier manner. For example, the bill: (1) defines "interested party,"
which is not defined in current law, and by doing so, limits the pool of
persons who may petition the court, and (2) requires generally an interested
party to file a petition within three years after the decedent's death, which
in effect limits the window of opportunity given current law contains no time
period within which such a petition must be filed.
County expenditures
Generally, the county
entities involved in handling a petition to modify a death certificate or
coroner's verdict include the county coroner (as the respondent named in the
petition), the county prosecutor (as the respondent's legal counsel), and the
court of common pleas (as the petition's adjudicator). If, as noted, the bill were to reduce the
number of petitions filed or expedite the decision subsequent to such a filing,
then presumably a potential savings effect is created, as these county entities
will expend less time and effort on these matters. If one were able to quantify this potential savings, it appears
unlikely to be significant in terms of dollars and cents, and is probably best
viewed as permitting those county entities to more efficiently and effectively
perform other duties and responsibilities.
County revenues
If fewer petitions to modify
a death certificate or coroner's certificate were filed, or subsequent to
filing, decided in a timelier manner, then the court of common pleas may not
generate a mix of court costs and fees that might otherwise have been collected
from parties involved in the matter.
That said, the amount of this revenue that might be lost to any given
court of common pleas is likely to be negligible annually, especially in light
of the fact that the filing of such petitions is an extremely rare occurrence.
State fiscal effects
The bill has no readily
discernible fiscal implications for state revenues or expenditures.
LSC fiscal staff: Jeffrey R. Kasler, Budget Analyst