Sub. S.B. 97

127th General Assembly

(H. Criminal Justice)

The House Committee adopted amendments to do the following:

Decrease the penalty from a felony of the third degree to a felony of the fourth degree for a violation of the SORN Law's registration, notification, and verification requirements when the offender has previously been convicted of, pleaded guilty to, or adjudicated a delinquent child for such a violation and the underlying offense that gave rise to the registration, notification, or verification requirement is a misdemeanor.

Permit, instead of require, a sheriff who has established on the Internet a sex offender and child-victim offender database to include a link on the database to educational information for the public on current research about sex offenders and child-victim offenders.

Modify the definition of "sexually oriented business" as enacted in Sub. S.B. 16 of the 127th General Assembly so that the definition excludes businesses that would be included in the definition solely by reason of showing, selling, or renting materials that may depict sex instead of Sub. S.B. 16's reference to materials rated NC 17 or R.

Give townships the authority, by resolution, to restrict the residency of sex offenders and child-victim offenders in the same manner as municipal corporations.

Direct the Superintendent of BCII to establish and maintain a Retained Applicant Fingerprint Database comprised of fingerprints of individuals on whom BCII has conducted criminal records checks for the purpose of determining eligibility for employment with or licensure by a public office.

Prohibit a superintendent of a school district, educational service center, community school, or public or private employer from permitting the operation of a vehicle used for pupil transportation within Ohio by an individual unless certain information about that driver has been submitted to the Department of Education and a criminal records check by BCII, including information from the FBI, has been completed and received by the Superintendent or public or private employer.

Prohibit the owner of a school bus or van from permitting a person to operate the bus or van for six years after the date on which the person pleads guilty to or is convicted of state OVI or state OVUAC or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance.

S0097-127.doc/ar 6/20/2007