As Introduced
136th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 250
2025-2026
Representatives Sweeney, Isaacsohn
Cosponsors: Representatives Brent, Brennan, Grim, Rader, Piccolantonio, White, E., McNally, Denson, Sims, Rogers, Lett, Russo, Upchurch, Abdullahi, Brownlee
To amend sections 3517.01, 3517.08, 3517.10, 3517.102, 3517.105, 3517.106, 3517.107, 3517.13, 3599.03, 3921.22, and 4503.03 of the Revised Code to modify the campaign finance law and to name this act the Ohio Anti-Corruption Act.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 3517.01, 3517.08, 3517.10, 3517.102, 3517.105, 3517.106, 3517.107, 3517.13, 3599.03, 3921.22, and 4503.03 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3517.01. (A)(1) A political party within the meaning of Title XXXV of the Revised Code is any group of voters that meets either of the following requirements:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this division, at the most recent regular state election, the group polled for its candidate for governor in the state or nominees for presidential electors at least three per cent of the entire vote cast for that office. A group that meets the requirements of this division remains a political party for a period of four years after meeting those requirements.
(b) The group filed with the secretary of state, subsequent to its failure to meet the requirements of division (A)(1)(a) of this section, a party formation petition that meets all of the following requirements:
(i) The petition is signed by qualified electors equal in number to at least one per cent of the total vote for governor or nominees for presidential electors at the most recent election for such office.
(ii) The petition is signed by not fewer than five hundred qualified electors from each of at least a minimum of one-half of the congressional districts in this state. If an odd number of congressional districts exists in this state, the number of districts that results from dividing the number of congressional districts by two shall be rounded up to the next whole number.
(iii) The petition declares the petitioners' intention of organizing a political party, the name of which shall be stated in the declaration, and of participating in the succeeding general election, held in even-numbered years, that occurs more than one hundred twenty-five days after the date of filing.
(iv) The petition designates a committee of not less than three nor more than five individuals of the petitioners, who shall represent the petitioners in all matters relating to the petition. Notice of all matters or proceedings pertaining to the petition may be served on the committee, or any of them, either personally or by registered mail, or by leaving such notice at the usual place of residence of each of them.
(2) No such group of electors shall assume a name or designation that is similar, in the opinion of the secretary of state, to that of an existing political party as to confuse or mislead the voters at an election.
(B) A campaign committee shall be legally liable for any debts, contracts, or expenditures incurred or executed in its name.
(C) Notwithstanding the definitions found in section 3501.01 of the Revised Code, as used in this section and sections 3517.08 to 3517.14, 3517.99, and 3517.992 of the Revised Code:
(1) "Campaign committee" means a candidate or a combination of two or more persons authorized by a candidate under section 3517.081 of the Revised Code to receive contributions and make expenditures.
(2) "Campaign treasurer" means an individual appointed by a candidate under section 3517.081 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Candidate" has the same meaning as in division (H) of section 3501.01 of the Revised Code and also includes any person who, at any time before or after an election, receives contributions or makes expenditures or other use of contributions, has given consent for another to receive contributions or make expenditures or other use of contributions, or appoints a campaign treasurer, for the purpose of bringing about the person's nomination or election to public office. When two persons jointly seek the offices of governor and lieutenant governor, "candidate" means the pair of candidates jointly. "Candidate" does not include candidates for election to the offices of member of a county or state central committee, presidential elector, and delegate to a national convention or conference of a political party.
(4)
"Continuing association" means an association, other than a
campaign committee, political party, legislative campaign fund,
political contributing entity, or labor organization, that is
intended to be a permanent organization that has a primary purpose
other than supporting or opposing specific candidates, political
parties, or ballot issues, and that functions on a regular basis
throughout the year. "Continuing association" includes
organizations that are determined to be not organized for profit
under subsection 501 and that are described in subsection 501(c)(3),
501(c)(4), or 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(5)
"Contribution" (4)(a)
Except as otherwise provided in divisions (C)(4)(b) to (d) of this
section, "contribution" means
a loan, gift, deposit, forgiveness of indebtedness, donation,
advance, payment, or transfer of funds or anything of value,
including a transfer of funds from an inter vivos or testamentary
trust or decedent's estate, and the payment by any person other than
the person to whom the services are rendered for the personal
services of another person, which contribution is made, received, or
used for the purpose of influencing the results of an election. Any
(b) Any loan, gift, deposit, forgiveness of indebtedness, donation, advance, payment, or transfer of funds or of anything of value, including a transfer of funds from an inter vivos or testamentary trust or decedent's estate, and the payment by any campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, political contributing entity, or person other than the person to whom the services are rendered for the personal services of another person, that is made, received, or used by a state or county political party, other than the moneys an entity may receive under sections 3517.101, 3517.1012, and 3517.1013 of the Revised Code, shall be considered to be a "contribution" for the purpose of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code and shall be included on a statement of contributions filed under that section.
(c)(i)
"Contribution"
does
not include any has
the meaning defined in division (C)(4)(a) of this section with
respect to contributions made to or received by a political
contributing entity if that political contributing entity does all of
the following:
(I) Deposits in a separate account from its general funds all loans, gifts, deposits, donations, advances, payments, or transfers of funds or anything of value, including a transfer of funds from an inter vivos or testamentary trust or decedent's estate and the payment by any person other than the person to whom the services are rendered for the personal services of another person, that are made to or received by the political contributing entity for the purpose of influencing the results of an election;
(II) Does not transfer to that separate account any other loans, gifts, deposits, donations, advances, payments, or transfers of funds or anything of value, including a transfer of funds from an inter vivos or testamentary trust or decedent's estate and the payment by any person other than the person to whom the services are rendered for the personal services of another person, that are made to or received by the political contributing entity;
(III) Makes contributions and expenditures only from that separate account.
(ii) If a political contributing entity does not follow the procedure described in division (C)(4)(c)(i) of this section, then any loan, gift, deposit, forgiveness of indebtedness, donation, advance, payment, or transfer of funds or anything of value, including a transfer of funds from an inter vivos or testamentary trust or decedent's estate and the payment by any person other than the person to whom the services are rendered for the personal services of another person, that is made to or received by the political contributing entity is considered a contribution, regardless of whether it is made or received for the purpose of influencing the results of an election.
(d) None of the following are considered a contribution under divisions (C)(4)(a) to (c) of this section:
(a)
(i)
Services
provided without compensation by individuals volunteering a portion
or all of their time on behalf of a person;
(b)
(ii)
Ordinary
home hospitality;
(c)
(iii)
The
personal expenses of a volunteer paid for by that volunteer campaign
worker;
(d)
(iv)
Any
gift given to an entity pursuant to section 3517.101 of the Revised
Code;
(e)
(v)
Any
contribution as defined in section 3517.1011 of the Revised Code that
is made, received, or used to pay the direct costs of producing or
airing an electioneering communication;
(f)
(vi)
Any
gift given to a state or county political party for the party's
restricted fund under division (A)(2) of section 3517.1012 of the
Revised Code;
(g)
(vii)
Any
gift given to a state political party for deposit in a Levin account
pursuant to section 3517.1013 of the Revised Code. As used in this
division, "Levin account" has the same meaning as in that
section.
(h)
(viii)
Any
donation given to a transition fund under section 3517.1014 of the
Revised Code.
(6)
(5)
"Expenditure"
means the disbursement or use of a contribution for the purpose of
influencing the results of an election or of making a charitable
donation under division (G) of section 3517.08 of the Revised Code.
Any disbursement or use of a contribution by a state or county
political party is an expenditure and shall be considered either to
be made for the purpose of influencing the results of an election or
to be made as a charitable donation under division (G) of section
3517.08 of the Revised Code and shall be reported on a statement of
expenditures filed under section 3517.10 of the Revised Code. During
the thirty days preceding a primary or general election, any
disbursement to pay the direct costs of producing or airing a
broadcast, cable, or satellite communication that refers to a clearly
identified candidate shall be considered to be made for the purpose
of influencing the results of that election and shall be reported as
an expenditure or as an independent expenditure under section 3517.10
or 3517.105 of the Revised Code, as applicable, except that the
information required to be reported regarding contributors for those
expenditures or independent expenditures shall be the same as the
information required to be reported under divisions (D)(1) and (2) of
section 3517.1011 of the Revised Code.
As used in this division, "broadcast, cable, or satellite communication" and "refers to a clearly identified candidate" have the same meanings as in section 3517.1011 of the Revised Code.
(7)
(6)
"Personal
expenses" includes, but is not limited to, ordinary expenses for
accommodations, clothing, food, personal motor vehicle or airplane,
and home telephone.
(8)
(7)
"Political
action committee" means a combination of two or more persons,
the primary or major purpose of which is to support or oppose any
candidate, political party, or issue, or to influence the result of
any election through express advocacy, and that is not a political
party, a campaign committee, a
political contributing entity, or
a legislative campaign fund. "Political action committee"
does not include either
of the following:
(a)
A continuing association that makes disbursements for the direct
costs of producing or airing electioneering communications and that
does not engage in express advocacy;
(b)
A a
political
club that is formed primarily for social purposes and that consists
of one hundred members or less, has officers and periodic meetings,
has less than two thousand five hundred dollars in its treasury at
all times, and makes an aggregate total contribution of one thousand
dollars or less per calendar year.
(9)
(8)
"Public
office" means any state, county, municipal, township, or
district office, except an office of a political party, that is
filled by an election and the offices of United States senator and
representative.
(10)
(9)
"Anything
of value" has the same meaning as in section 1.03 of the Revised
Code.
(11)
(10)
"Beneficiary
of a campaign fund" means a candidate, a public official or
employee for whose benefit a campaign fund exists, and any other
person who has ever been a candidate or public official or employee
and for whose benefit a campaign fund exists.
(12)
(11)
"Campaign
fund" means money or other property, including contributions.
(13)
(12)
"Public
official or employee" has the same meaning as in section 102.01
of the Revised Code.
(14)
(13)
"Caucus"
means all of the members of the house of representatives or all of
the members of the senate of the general assembly who are members of
the same political party.
(15)
(14)
"Legislative
campaign fund" means a fund that is established as an auxiliary
of a state political party and associated with one of the houses of
the general assembly.
(16)
(15)
"In-kind
contribution" means anything of value other than money that is
used to influence the results of an election or is transferred to or
used in support of or in opposition to a candidate, campaign
committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, political
action committee, or political contributing entity and that is made
with the consent of, in coordination, cooperation, or consultation
with, or at the request or suggestion of the benefited candidate,
committee, fund, party, or entity. The financing of the
dissemination, distribution, or republication, in whole or part, of
any broadcast or of any written, graphic, or other form of campaign
materials prepared by the candidate, the candidate's campaign
committee, or their authorized agents is an in-kind contribution to
the candidate and an expenditure by the candidate.
(17)
(16)
"Independent
expenditure" means an expenditure or
other use of funds or anything of value by
a person advocating
to
advocate the
election or defeat of an identified candidate or candidates, that is
not made with the consent of, in coordination, cooperation, or
consultation with, or at the request or suggestion of any candidate
or candidates or of the campaign committee or agent of the candidate
or candidates. As used in division (C)(17)
(C)(16)
of
this section:
(a)
"Person" means an individual, partnership,
unincorporated business organization or association, political
action committee, political contributing entity, separate segregated
fund, association, or other organization or group of persons,
but not a labor organization or a corporation unless the labor
organization or corporation is a political contributing entity.
(b)
"Advocating"
"Advocate"
means
to
make any
communication containing a message advocating the
election
or defeat
of an identified candidate or candidates.
(c) "Identified candidate" means that the name of the candidate appears, a photograph or drawing of the candidate appears, or the identity of the candidate is otherwise apparent by unambiguous reference.
(d) "Made in coordination, cooperation, or consultation with, or at the request or suggestion of, any candidate or the campaign committee or agent of the candidate" means made pursuant to any arrangement, coordination, or direction by the candidate, the candidate's campaign committee, or the candidate's agent prior to the publication, distribution, display, or broadcast of the communication. An expenditure is presumed to be so made when it is any of the following:
(i) Based on information about the candidate's plans, projects, or needs provided to the person making the expenditure by the candidate, or by the candidate's campaign committee or agent, with a view toward having an expenditure made;
(ii) Made by or through any person who is, or has been, authorized to raise or expend funds, who is, or has been, an officer of the candidate's campaign committee, or who is, or has been, receiving any form of compensation or reimbursement from the candidate or the candidate's campaign committee or agent;
(iii) Except as otherwise provided in division (D) of section 3517.105 of the Revised Code, made by a political party in support of a candidate, unless the expenditure is made by a political party to conduct voter registration or voter education efforts.
(e) "Agent" means any person who has actual oral or written authority, either express or implied, to make or to authorize the making of expenditures on behalf of a candidate, or means any person who has been placed in a position with the candidate's campaign committee or organization such that it would reasonably appear that in the ordinary course of campaign-related activities the person may authorize expenditures.
(18)
(17)
"Labor
organization" means a labor union; an employee organization; a
federation of labor unions, groups, locals, or other employee
organizations; an auxiliary of a labor union, employee organization,
or federation of labor unions, groups, locals, or other employee
organizations; or any other bona fide organization in which employees
participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of
dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages,
hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.
(19)
(18)
"Separate
segregated fund" means a separate segregated fund established
pursuant to the Federal Election Campaign Act.
(20)
(19)
"Federal
Election Campaign Act" means the "Federal Election Campaign
Act of 1971," 86 Stat. 11, 2 U.S.C.A. 431, et seq., as amended.
(21)
(20)
"Restricted
fund" means the fund a state or county political party must
establish under division (A)(1) of section 3517.1012 of the Revised
Code.
(22)
(21)
"Electioneering
communication" has the same meaning as in section 3517.1011 of
the Revised Code.
(23)
(22)
"Express
advocacy" means a communication that contains express words
advocating the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate or that
contains express words advocating the adoption or defeat of a
question or issue, as determined by a final judgment of a court of
competent jurisdiction.
(24)
(23)
"Political
committee" has the same meaning as in section 3517.1011 of the
Revised Code.
(25)
(24)
"Political
contributing entity" means any entity, including a corporation
or,
labor organization, partnership,
or unincorporated business organization or association, that
may
lawfully make makes
contributions
and
or
expenditures
and that is not an individual or a political action committee,
continuing
association, campaign
committee, political party, legislative campaign fund, designated
state campaign committee, or state candidate fund.
For purposes of this division, "lawfully" means not
prohibited by any section of the Revised Code, or authorized by a
final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction.
(26)
(25)
"Internet
identifier of record" has the same meaning as in section 9.312
of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3517.08. (A) The personal expenses of a candidate paid for by the candidate, from the candidate's personal funds, shall not be considered as a contribution by or an expenditure by the candidate and shall not be reported under section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1) An expenditure by a political action committee or a political contributing entity shall not be considered a contribution by the political action committee or the political contributing entity or an expenditure by or on behalf of the candidate if the purpose of the expenditure is to inform only its members by means of mailed publications of its activities or endorsements.
(2) An expenditure by a political party shall not be considered a contribution by the political party or an expenditure by or on behalf of the candidate if the purpose of the expenditure is to inform predominantly the party's members by means of mailed publications or other direct communication of its activities or endorsements, or for voter contact such as sample ballots, absent voter's ballots application mailings, voter registration, or get-out-the-vote activities.
(C)
An expenditure by a continuing
association, political
contributing entity,
or political party shall not be considered a contribution to any
campaign committee or an expenditure by or on behalf of any campaign
committee if the purpose of the expenditure is for the staff and
maintenance of the continuing
association's, political
contributing entity's,
or political party's headquarters, or for a political poll, survey,
index, or other type of measurement not on behalf of a specific
candidate.
(D) The expenses of maintaining a constituent office paid for, from the candidate's personal funds, by a candidate who is a member of the general assembly at the time of the election shall not be considered a contribution by or an expenditure by or on behalf of the candidate, and shall not be reported, if the constituent office is not used for any candidate's campaign activities.
(E) The net contribution of each social or fund-raising activity shall be calculated by totaling all contributions to the activity minus the expenditures made for the activity.
(F) An expenditure that purchases goods or services shall be attributed to an election when the disbursement of funds is made, rather than at the time the goods or services are used. The secretary of state, under the procedures of Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall establish rules for the attribution of expenditures to a candidate when the candidate is a candidate for more than one office during a reporting period and for expenditures made in a year in which no election is held. The secretary of state shall further define by rule those expenditures that are or are not by or on behalf of a candidate.
(G) An expenditure for the purpose of a charitable donation may be made if it is made to an organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under subsection 501(a) and described in subsection 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), 501(c)(8), 501(c)(10), or 501(c)(19) of the Internal Revenue Code or is approved by advisory opinion of the Ohio elections commission as a legitimate charitable organization. Each expenditure under this division shall be separately itemized on statements made pursuant to section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3517.10. (A) Except as otherwise provided in this division, every campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, and political contributing entity that made or received a contribution or made an expenditure in connection with the nomination or election of any candidate or in connection with any ballot issue or question at any election held or to be held in this state shall file, on a form prescribed under this section or by electronic means of transmission as provided in this section and section 3517.106 of the Revised Code, a full, true, and itemized statement, made under penalty of election falsification, setting forth in detail the contributions and expenditures, not later than four p.m. of the following dates:
(1) The twelfth day before the election to reflect contributions received and expenditures made from the close of business on the last day reflected in the last previously filed statement, if any, to the close of business on the twentieth day before the election;
(2) The thirty-eighth day after the election to reflect the contributions received and expenditures made from the close of business on the last day reflected in the last previously filed statement, if any, to the close of business on the seventh day before the filing of the statement;
(3) The last business day of January of every year to reflect the contributions received and expenditures made from the close of business on the last day reflected in the last previously filed statement, if any, to the close of business on the last day of December of the previous year;
(4) The last business day of July of every year to reflect the contributions received and expenditures made from the close of business on the last day reflected in the last previously filed statement, if any, to the close of business on the last day of June of that year.
A campaign committee shall only be required to file the statements prescribed under divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section in connection with the nomination or election of the committee's candidate.
The statement required under division (A)(1) of this section shall not be required of any campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity that has received contributions of less than one thousand dollars and has made expenditures of less than one thousand dollars at the close of business on the twentieth day before the election. Those contributions and expenditures shall be reported in the statement required under division (A)(2) of this section.
If an election to select candidates to appear on the general election ballot is held within sixty days before a general election, the campaign committee of a successful candidate in the earlier election may file the statement required by division (A)(1) of this section for the general election instead of the statement required by division (A)(2) of this section for the earlier election if the pregeneral election statement reflects the status of contributions and expenditures for the period twenty days before the earlier election to twenty days before the general election.
If a person becomes a candidate less than twenty days before an election, the candidate's campaign committee is not required to file the statement required by division (A)(1) of this section.
No statement under division (A)(3) of this section shall be required for any year in which a campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity is required to file a postgeneral election statement under division (A)(2) of this section. However, a statement under division (A)(3) of this section may be filed, at the option of the campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity.
No campaign committee of a candidate for the office of chief justice or justice of the supreme court, and no campaign committee of a candidate for the office of judge of any court in this state, shall be required to file a statement under division (A)(4) of this section.
Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph and in the next paragraph of this section, the only campaign committees required to file a statement under division (A)(4) of this section are the campaign committee of a statewide candidate and the campaign committee of a candidate for county office. The campaign committee of a candidate for any other nonjudicial office is required to file a statement under division (A)(4) of this section if that campaign committee receives, during that period, contributions exceeding ten thousand dollars.
No statement under division (A)(4) of this section shall be required of a campaign committee, a political action committee, a legislative campaign fund, a political party, or a political contributing entity for any year in which the campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity is required to file a postprimary election statement under division (A)(2) of this section. However, a statement under division (A)(4) of this section may be filed at the option of the campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity.
No statement under division (A)(3) or (4) of this section shall be required if the campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity has no contributions that it has received and no expenditures that it has made since the last date reflected in its last previously filed statement. However, the campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity shall file a statement to that effect, on a form prescribed under this section and made under penalty of election falsification, on the date required in division (A)(3) or (4) of this section, as applicable.
The campaign committee of a statewide candidate shall file a monthly statement of contributions received during each of the months of July, August, and September in the year of the general election in which the candidate seeks office. The campaign committee of a statewide candidate shall file the monthly statement not later than three business days after the last day of the month covered by the statement. During the period beginning on the nineteenth day before the general election in which a statewide candidate seeks election to office and extending through the day of that general election, each time the campaign committee of the joint candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor or of a candidate for the office of secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, or attorney general receives a contribution from a contributor that causes the aggregate amount of contributions received from that contributor during that period to equal or exceed ten thousand dollars and each time the campaign committee of a candidate for the office of chief justice or justice of the supreme court receives a contribution from a contributor that causes the aggregate amount of contributions received from that contributor during that period to exceed ten thousand dollars, the campaign committee shall file a two-business-day statement reflecting that contribution. Contributions reported on a two-business-day statement required to be filed by a campaign committee of a statewide candidate in a primary election shall also be included in the postprimary election statement required to be filed by that campaign committee under division (A)(2) of this section. A two-business-day statement required by this paragraph shall be filed not later than two business days after receipt of the contribution. The statements required by this paragraph shall be filed in addition to any other statements required by this section.
Subject to the secretary of state having implemented, tested, and verified the successful operation of any system the secretary of state prescribes pursuant to divisions (C)(6)(b) and (D)(6) of this section and division (F)(1) of section 3517.106 of the Revised Code for the filing of campaign finance statements by electronic means of transmission, a campaign committee of a statewide candidate shall file a two-business-day statement under the preceding paragraph by electronic means of transmission if the campaign committee is required to file a pre-election, postelection, or monthly statement of contributions and expenditures by electronic means of transmission under this section or section 3517.106 of the Revised Code.
If a campaign committee or political action committee has no balance on hand and no outstanding obligations and desires to terminate itself, it shall file a statement to that effect, on a form prescribed under this section and made under penalty of election falsification, with the official with whom it files a statement under division (A) of this section after filing a final statement of contributions and a final statement of expenditures, if contributions have been received or expenditures made since the period reflected in its last previously filed statement.
(B) Except as otherwise provided in division (C)(7) of this section, each statement required by division (A) of this section shall contain the following information:
(1) The full name and address of each campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity, including any treasurer of the committee, fund, party, or entity, filing a contribution and expenditure statement;
(2)(a) In the case of a campaign committee, the candidate's full name and address;
(b) In the case of a political action committee, the registration number assigned to the committee under division (D)(1) of this section;
(c) In the case of a political contributing entity that is a corporation or unincorporated business, all of the following:
(i) The name of each officer, director, principal shareholder, partner, owner, or member of the corporation or unincorporated business;
(ii) If the corporation or unincorporated business is controlled by a corporation or unincorporated business, the name of the controlling corporation or unincorporated business and the name of each officer, director, principal shareholder, partner, owner, or member of the controlling corporation or unincorporated business. For purposes of this division, a corporation or unincorporated business is deemed to control another corporation or unincorporated business if the corporation or unincorporated business, directly or indirectly, or acting through one or more persons or entities, owns, controls, or has the power to vote fifty per cent or more of any class of voting securities of the other corporation or unincorporated business.
(3) The date of the election and whether it was or will be a general, primary, or special election;
(4) A statement of contributions received, which shall include the following information:
(a) The month, day, and year of the contribution;
(b)(i) The full name and address of each person, political party, campaign committee, legislative campaign fund, political action committee, or political contributing entity from whom contributions are received and the registration number assigned to the political action committee under division (D)(1) of this section. The requirement of filing the full address does not apply to any statement filed by a state or local committee of a political party, to a finance committee of such committee, or to a committee recognized by a state or local committee as its fund-raising auxiliary. Notwithstanding division (F) of this section, the requirement of filing the full address shall be considered as being met if the address filed is the same address the contributor provided under division (E)(1) of this section.
(ii) If a political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or political party that is required to file campaign finance statements by electronic means of transmission under section 3517.106 of the Revised Code or a campaign committee of a statewide candidate or candidate for the office of member of the general assembly receives a contribution from an individual that exceeds one hundred dollars, the name of the individual's current employer, if any, or, if the individual is self-employed, the individual's occupation and the name of the individual's business, if any;
(iii) If a campaign committee of a statewide candidate or candidate for the office of member of the general assembly receives a contribution transmitted pursuant to section 3599.031 of the Revised Code from amounts deducted from the wages and salaries of two or more employees that exceeds in the aggregate one hundred dollars during any one filing period under division (A)(1), (2), (3), or (4) of this section, the full name of the employees' employer and the full name of the labor organization of which the employees are members, if any.
(c) A description of the contribution received, if other than money;
(d) The value in dollars and cents of the contribution;
(e)
A separately itemized account of all contributions and expenditures
regardless of the amount, except a receipt of a contribution from a
person in the sum of twenty-five dollars or less at one social or
fund-raising activity and a receipt of a contribution transmitted
pursuant to section 3599.031 of the Revised Code from amounts
deducted from the wages and salaries of employees if the contribution
from the amount deducted from the wages and salary of any one
employee is twenty-five dollars or less aggregated in a calendar
year. An account of the total contributions from each social or
fund-raising activity shall include a description of and the value of
each in-kind contribution received at that activity from any person
who made one or more such contributions whose aggregate value
exceeded two hundred fifty dollars and shall be listed separately,
together with the expenses incurred and paid in connection with that
activity. A campaign committee, political action committee,
legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing
entity shall keep records of contributions from each person in the
amount of twenty-five dollars or less at one social or fund-raising
activity and contributions from amounts deducted under section
3599.031 of the Revised Code from the wages and salary of each
employee in the amount of twenty-five dollars or less aggregated in a
calendar year. No continuing
association political
contributing entity that
is recognized by a state or local committee of a political party as
an auxiliary of the party and that makes a contribution from funds
derived solely from regular dues paid by members of the auxiliary
shall be required to list the name or address of any members who paid
those dues.
Contributions that are other income shall be itemized separately from all other contributions. The information required under division (B)(4) of this section shall be provided for all other income itemized. As used in this paragraph, "other income" means a loan, investment income, or interest income.
(f) In the case of a campaign committee of a state elected officer, if a person doing business with the state elected officer in the officer's official capacity makes a contribution to the campaign committee of that officer, the information required under division (B)(4) of this section in regard to that contribution, which shall be filed together with and considered a part of the committee's statement of contributions as required under division (A) of this section but shall be filed on a separate form provided by the secretary of state. As used in this division:
(i) "State elected officer" has the same meaning as in section 3517.092 of the Revised Code.
(ii) "Person doing business" means a person or an officer of an entity who enters into one or more contracts with a state elected officer or anyone authorized to enter into contracts on behalf of that officer to receive payments for goods or services, if the payments total, in the aggregate, more than five thousand dollars during a calendar year.
(5) A statement of expenditures which shall include the following information:
(a) The month, day, and year of the expenditure;
(b) The full name and address of each person, political party, campaign committee, legislative campaign fund, political action committee, or political contributing entity to whom the expenditure was made and the registration number assigned to the political action committee under division (D)(1) of this section;
(c) The object or purpose for which the expenditure was made;
(d) The amount of each expenditure.
(C)(1) The statement of contributions and expenditures shall be signed by the person completing the form. If a statement of contributions and expenditures is filed by electronic means of transmission pursuant to this section or section 3517.106 of the Revised Code, the electronic signature of the person who executes the statement and transmits the statement by electronic means of transmission, as provided in division (F) of section 3517.106 of the Revised Code, shall be attached to or associated with the statement and shall be binding on all persons and for all purposes under the campaign finance reporting law as if the signature had been handwritten in ink on a printed form.
(2) The person filing the statement, under penalty of election falsification, shall include with it a list of each anonymous contribution, the circumstances under which it was received, and the reason it cannot be attributed to a specific donor.
(3) Each statement of a campaign committee of a candidate who holds public office shall contain a designation of each contributor who is an employee in any unit or department under the candidate's direct supervision and control. In a space provided in the statement, the person filing the statement shall affirm that each such contribution was voluntarily made.
(4) A campaign committee that did not receive contributions or make expenditures in connection with the nomination or election of its candidate shall file a statement to that effect, on a form prescribed under this section and made under penalty of election falsification, on the date required in division (A)(2) of this section.
(5) The campaign committee of any person who attempts to become a candidate and who, for any reason, does not become certified in accordance with Title XXXV of the Revised Code for placement on the official ballot of a primary, general, or special election to be held in this state, and who, at any time prior to or after an election, receives contributions or makes expenditures, or has given consent for another to receive contributions or make expenditures, for the purpose of bringing about the person's nomination or election to public office, shall file the statement or statements prescribed by this section and a termination statement, if applicable. Division (C)(5) of this section does not apply to any person with respect to an election to the offices of member of a county or state central committee, presidential elector, or delegate to a national convention or conference of a political party.
(6)(a) The statements required to be filed under this section shall specify the balance in the hands of the campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity and the disposition intended to be made of that balance.
(b) The secretary of state shall prescribe the form for all statements required to be filed under this section and shall furnish the forms to the boards of elections in the several counties. The boards of elections shall supply printed copies of those forms without charge. The secretary of state shall prescribe the appropriate methodology, protocol, and data file structure for statements required or permitted to be filed by electronic means of transmission to the secretary of state or a board of elections under division (A) of this section, division (E) of section 3517.106, division (D) of section 3517.1011, division (B) of section 3517.1012, division (C) of section 3517.1013, and divisions (D) and (I) of section 3517.1014 of the Revised Code. Subject to division (A) of this section, division (E) of section 3517.106, division (D) of section 3517.1011, division (B) of section 3517.1012, division (C) of section 3517.1013, and divisions (D) and (I) of section 3517.1014 of the Revised Code, the statements required to be stored on computer by the secretary of state under division (B) of section 3517.106 of the Revised Code shall be filed in whatever format the secretary of state considers necessary to enable the secretary of state to store the information contained in the statements on computer. Any such format shall be of a type and nature that is readily available to whoever is required to file the statements in that format.
(c)
The secretary of state shall assess the need for training regarding
the filing of campaign finance statements by electronic means of
transmission and regarding associated technologies for candidates,
campaign committees, political action committees, legislative
campaign funds, political parties, or
political
contributing entities, for
individuals,
partnerships,
or other
entities, for
persons
making disbursements to pay the direct costs of producing or airing
electioneering communications, or for treasurers of transition funds,
required or permitted to file statements by electronic means of
transmission under this section or section 3517.105, 3517.106,
3517.1011, 3517.1012, 3517.1013, or 3517.1014 of the Revised Code.
If, in the opinion of the secretary of state, training in these areas
is necessary, the secretary of state shall arrange for the provision
of voluntary training programs for candidates, campaign committees,
political action committees, legislative campaign funds, political
parties, or
political
contributing entities, for
individuals,
partnerships,
and other
entities, for
persons
making disbursements to pay the direct costs of producing or airing
electioneering communications, or for treasurers of transition funds,
as appropriate.
(7) Each monthly statement and each two-business-day statement required by division (A) of this section shall contain the information required by divisions (B)(1) to (4), (C)(2), and, if appropriate, (C)(3) of this section. Each statement shall be signed as required by division (C)(1) of this section.
(D)(1)(a) Prior to receiving a contribution or making an expenditure, every campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity shall appoint a treasurer and shall file, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state, a designation of that appointment, including the full name and address of the treasurer and of the campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity. That designation shall be filed with the official with whom the campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity is required to file statements under section 3517.11 of the Revised Code. The name of a campaign committee shall include at least the last name of the campaign committee's candidate. If two or more candidates are the beneficiaries of a single campaign committee under division (B) of section 3517.081 of the Revised Code, the name of the campaign committee shall include at least the last name of each candidate who is a beneficiary of that campaign committee. The secretary of state shall assign a registration number to each political action committee that files a designation of the appointment of a treasurer under this division if the political action committee is required by division (A)(1) of section 3517.11 of the Revised Code to file the statements prescribed by this section with the secretary of state.
(b) The secretary of state shall not accept for filing a designation of treasurer of a political action committee or political contributing entity if, in the opinion of the secretary of state, the name of the political action committee or political contributing entity would lead a reasonable person to believe that the political action committee or political contributing entity acts on behalf of or represents a county political party, unless the designation is accompanied by a written statement, signed by the chairperson of the county political party's executive committee, granting the political action committee or political contributing entity permission to act on behalf of or represent the county political party.
(2) The treasurer appointed under division (D)(1) of this section shall keep a strict account of all contributions, from whom received and the purpose for which they were disbursed.
(3)(a) Except as otherwise provided in section 3517.108 of the Revised Code, a campaign committee shall deposit all monetary contributions received by the committee into an account separate from a personal or business account of the candidate or campaign committee.
(b) A political action committee shall deposit all monetary contributions received by the committee into an account separate from all other funds.
(c) A state or county political party may establish a state candidate fund that is separate from all other funds. A state or county political party may deposit into its state candidate fund any amounts of monetary contributions that are made to or accepted by the political party subject to the applicable limitations, if any, prescribed in section 3517.102 of the Revised Code. A state or county political party shall deposit all other monetary contributions received by the party into one or more accounts that are separate from its state candidate fund.
(d) Each state political party shall have only one legislative campaign fund for each house of the general assembly. Each such fund shall be separate from any other funds or accounts of that state party. A legislative campaign fund is authorized to receive contributions and make expenditures for the primary purpose of furthering the election of candidates who are members of that political party to the house of the general assembly with which that legislative campaign fund is associated. Each legislative campaign fund shall be administered and controlled in a manner designated by the caucus. As used in this division, "caucus" has the same meaning as in section 3517.01 of the Revised Code and includes, as an ex officio member, the chairperson of the state political party with which the caucus is associated or that chairperson's designee.
(4) Every expenditure in excess of twenty-five dollars shall be vouched for by a receipted bill, stating the purpose of the expenditure, that shall be filed with the statement of expenditures. A canceled check with a notation of the purpose of the expenditure is a receipted bill for purposes of division (D)(4) of this section.
(5) The secretary of state or the board of elections, as the case may be, shall issue a receipt for each statement filed under this section and shall preserve a copy of the receipt for a period of at least six years. All statements filed under this section shall be open to public inspection in the office where they are filed and shall be carefully preserved for a period of at least six years after the year in which they are filed.
(6) The secretary of state, by rule adopted pursuant to section 3517.23 of the Revised Code, shall prescribe both of the following:
(a) The manner of immediately acknowledging, with date and time received, and preserving the receipt of statements that are transmitted by electronic means of transmission to the secretary of state or a board of elections pursuant to this section or section 3517.106, 3517.1011, 3517.1012, 3517.1013, or 3517.1014 of the Revised Code;
(b) The manner of preserving the contribution and expenditure, contribution and disbursement, deposit and disbursement, gift and disbursement, or donation and disbursement information in the statements described in division (D)(6)(a) of this section. The secretary of state shall preserve the contribution and expenditure, contribution and disbursement, deposit and disbursement, gift and disbursement, or donation and disbursement information in those statements for at least ten years after the year in which they are filed by electronic means of transmission.
(7)(a) The secretary of state, pursuant to division (G) of section 3517.106 of the Revised Code, shall make available online to the public through the internet the contribution and expenditure, contribution and disbursement, deposit and disbursement, gift and disbursement, or donation and disbursement information in all of the following documents:
(i) All statements, all addenda, amendments, or other corrections to statements, and all amended statements filed with the secretary of state by electronic or other means of transmission under this section, division (B)(2)(b) or (C)(2)(b) of section 3517.105, or section 3517.106, 3517.1011, 3517.1012, 3517.1013, 3517.1014, or 3517.11 of the Revised Code;
(ii) All statements filed with a board of elections by electronic means of transmission, and all addenda, amendments, corrections, and amended versions of those statements, filed with the board under this section, division (B)(2)(b) or (C)(2)(b) of section 3517.105, or section 3517.106, 3517.1012, or 3517.11 of the Revised Code.
(b) The secretary of state may remove the information from the internet after a reasonable period of time.
(E)(1) Any person, political party, campaign committee, legislative campaign fund, political action committee, or political contributing entity that makes a contribution in connection with the nomination or election of any candidate or in connection with any ballot issue or question at any election held or to be held in this state shall provide its full name and address to the recipient of the contribution at the time the contribution is made. The political action committee also shall provide the registration number assigned to the committee under division (D)(1) of this section to the recipient of the contribution at the time the contribution is made.
(2) Any individual who makes a contribution that exceeds one hundred dollars to a political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or political party or to a campaign committee of a statewide candidate or candidate for the office of member of the general assembly shall provide the name of the individual's current employer, if any, or, if the individual is self-employed, the individual's occupation and the name of the individual's business, if any, to the recipient of the contribution at the time the contribution is made. Sections 3599.39 and 3599.40 of the Revised Code do not apply to division (E)(2) of this section.
(3) If a campaign committee shows that it has exercised its best efforts to obtain, maintain, and submit the information required under divisions (B)(4)(b)(ii) and (iii) of this section, that committee is considered to have met the requirements of those divisions. A campaign committee shall not be considered to have exercised its best efforts unless, in connection with written solicitations, it regularly includes a written request for the information required under division (B)(4)(b)(ii) of this section from the contributor or the information required under division (B)(4)(b)(iii) of this section from whoever transmits the contribution.
(4) Any check that a political action committee uses to make a contribution or an expenditure shall contain the full name and address of the committee and the registration number assigned to the committee under division (D)(1) of this section.
(F) As used in this section:
(1)(a) Except as otherwise provided in division (F)(1) of this section, "address" means all of the following if they exist: apartment number, street, road, or highway name and number, rural delivery route number, city or village, state, and zip code as used in a person's post-office address, but not post-office box.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in division (F)(1) of this section, if an address is required in this section, a post-office box and office, room, or suite number may be included in addition to, but not in lieu of, an apartment, street, road, or highway name and number.
(c) If an address is required in this section, a campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity may use the business or residence address of its treasurer or deputy treasurer. The post-office box number of the campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity may be used in addition to that address.
(d) For the sole purpose of a campaign committee's reporting of contributions on a statement of contributions received under division (B)(4) of this section, "address" has one of the following meanings at the option of the campaign committee:
(i) The same meaning as in division (F)(1)(a) of this section;
(ii) All of the following, if they exist: the contributor's post-office box number and city or village, state, and zip code as used in the contributor's post-office address.
(e) As used with regard to the reporting under this section of any expenditure, "address" means all of the following if they exist: apartment number, street, road, or highway name and number, rural delivery route number, city or village, state, and zip code as used in a person's post-office address, or post-office box. If an address concerning any expenditure is required in this section, a campaign committee, political action committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or political contributing entity may use the business or residence address of its treasurer or deputy treasurer or its post-office box number.
(2) "Statewide candidate" means the joint candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor or a candidate for the office of secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, attorney general, member of the state board of education, chief justice of the supreme court, or justice of the supreme court.
(3) "Candidate for county office" means a candidate for the office of county auditor, county treasurer, clerk of the court of common pleas, judge of the court of common pleas, sheriff, county recorder, county engineer, county commissioner, prosecuting attorney, or coroner.
(4) "Unincorporated business" includes a cooperative, a sole proprietorship, a general partnership, a limited partnership, a limited partnership association, a limited liability partnership, and a limited liability company.
(G) An independent expenditure shall be reported whenever and in the same manner that an expenditure is required to be reported under this section and shall be reported pursuant to division (B)(2)(a) or (C)(2)(a) of section 3517.105 of the Revised Code.
(H)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (H)(2) of this section, if, during the combined pre-election and postelection reporting periods for an election, a campaign committee has received contributions of five hundred dollars or less and has made expenditures in the total amount of five hundred dollars or less, it may file a statement to that effect, under penalty of election falsification, in lieu of the statement required by division (A)(2) of this section. The statement shall indicate the total amount of contributions received and the total amount of expenditures made during those combined reporting periods.
(2) In the case of a successful candidate at a primary election, if either the total contributions received by or the total expenditures made by the candidate's campaign committee during the preprimary, postprimary, pregeneral, and postgeneral election periods combined equal more than five hundred dollars, the campaign committee may file the statement under division (H)(1) of this section only for the primary election. The first statement that the campaign committee files in regard to the general election shall reflect all contributions received and all expenditures made during the preprimary and postprimary election periods.
(3) Divisions (H)(1) and (2) of this section do not apply if a campaign committee receives contributions or makes expenditures prior to the first day of January of the year of the election at which the candidate seeks nomination or election to office or if the campaign committee does not file a termination statement with its postprimary election statement in the case of an unsuccessful primary election candidate or with its postgeneral election statement in the case of other candidates.
(I) In the case of a contribution made by a partner of a partnership or an owner or a member of another unincorporated business from any funds of the partnership or other unincorporated business, all of the following apply:
(1) The recipient of the contribution shall report the contribution by listing both the partnership or other unincorporated business and the name of the partner, owner, or member making the contribution.
(2) In reporting the contribution, the recipient of the contribution shall be entitled to conclusively rely upon the information provided by the partnership or other unincorporated business, provided that the information includes one of the following:
(a) The name of each partner, owner, or member as of the date of the contribution or contributions, and a statement that the total contributions are to be allocated equally among all of the partners, owners, or members; or
(b) The name of each partner, owner, or member as of the date of the contribution or contributions who is participating in the contribution or contributions, and a statement that the contribution or contributions are to be allocated to those individuals in accordance with the information provided by the partnership or other unincorporated business to the recipient of the contribution.
(3) For purposes of section 3517.102 of the Revised Code, the contribution shall be considered to have been made by the partner, owner, or member reported under division (I)(1) of this section.
(4) No contribution from a partner of a partnership or an owner or a member of another unincorporated business shall be accepted from any funds of the partnership or other unincorporated business unless the recipient reports the contribution under division (I)(1) of this section together with the information provided under division (I)(2) of this section.
(5) No partnership or other unincorporated business shall make a contribution or contributions solely in the name of the partnership or other unincorporated business.
(6)
As used in division (I) of this section, "partnership or other
unincorporated business" includes, but is not limited to, a
cooperative, a sole proprietorship, a general partnership, a limited
partnership, a limited partnership association, a limited liability
partnership, and a limited liability company.
(J) A candidate shall have only one campaign committee at any given time for all of the offices for which the person is a candidate or holds office.
(K)(1) In addition to filing a designation of appointment of a treasurer under division (D)(1) of this section, the campaign committee of any candidate for an elected municipal office that pays an annual amount of compensation of five thousand dollars or less, the campaign committee of any candidate for member of a board of education except member of the state board of education, or the campaign committee of any candidate for township trustee or township fiscal officer may sign, under penalty of election falsification, a certificate attesting that the committee will not accept contributions during an election period that exceed in the aggregate two thousand dollars from all contributors and one hundred dollars from any one individual, and that the campaign committee will not make expenditures during an election period that exceed in the aggregate two thousand dollars.
The certificate shall be on a form prescribed by the secretary of state and shall be filed not later than ten days after the candidate files a declaration of candidacy and petition, a nominating petition, or a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in division (K)(3) of this section, a campaign committee that files a certificate under division (K)(1) of this section is not required to file the statements required by division (A) of this section.
(3) If, after filing a certificate under division (K)(1) of this section, a campaign committee exceeds any of the limitations described in that division during an election period, the certificate is void and thereafter the campaign committee shall file the statements required by division (A) of this section. If the campaign committee has not previously filed a statement, then on the first statement the campaign committee is required to file under division (A) of this section after the committee's certificate is void, the committee shall report all contributions received and expenditures made from the time the candidate filed the candidate's declaration of candidacy and petition, nominating petition, or declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate.
(4) As used in division (K) of this section, "election period" means the period of time beginning on the day a person files a declaration of candidacy and petition, nominating petition, or declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate through the day of the election at which the person seeks nomination to office if the person is not elected to office, or, if the candidate was nominated in a primary election, the day of the election at which the candidate seeks office.
(L) A political contributing entity that receives contributions from the dues, membership fees, or other assessments of its members or from its officers, shareholders, and employees may report the aggregate amount of contributions received from those contributors and the number of individuals making those contributions, for each filing period under divisions (A)(1), (2), (3), and (4) of this section, rather than reporting information as required under division (B)(4) of this section, including, when applicable, the name of the current employer, if any, of a contributor whose contribution exceeds one hundred dollars or, if such a contributor is self-employed, the contributor's occupation and the name of the contributor's business, if any. Division (B)(4) of this section applies to a political contributing entity with regard to contributions it receives from all other contributors.
Sec. 3517.102. (A) Except as otherwise provided in section 3517.103 of the Revised Code, as used in this section and sections 3517.103 and 3517.104 of the Revised Code:
(1) "Candidate" has the same meaning as in section 3517.01 of the Revised Code but includes only candidates for the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, attorney general, member of the state board of education, member of the general assembly, chief justice of the supreme court, and justice of the supreme court.
(2) "Statewide candidate" or "any one statewide candidate" means the joint candidates for the offices of governor and lieutenant governor or a candidate for the office of secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, attorney general, member of the state board of education, chief justice of the supreme court, or justice of the supreme court.
(3) "Senate candidate" means a candidate for the office of state senator.
(4) "House candidate" means a candidate for the office of state representative.
(5)(a) "Primary election period" for a candidate begins on the beginning date of the candidate's pre-filing period specified in division (A)(9) of section 3517.109 of the Revised Code and ends on the day of the primary election.
(b) In regard to any candidate, the "general election period" begins on the day after the primary election immediately preceding the general election at which the candidate seeks an office specified in division (A)(1) of this section and ends on the thirty-first day of December following that general election.
(6) "State candidate fund" means the state candidate fund established by a state or county political party under division (D)(3)(c) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(7) "Postgeneral election statement" means the statement filed under division (A)(2) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code by the campaign committee of a candidate after the general election in which the candidate ran for office or filed by legislative campaign fund after the general election in an even-numbered year.
(8) "Contribution" means any contribution that is required to be reported in the statement of contributions under section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(9)(a) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(9)(b) of this section, "designated state campaign committee" means:
(i) In the case of contributions to or from a state political party, a campaign committee of a statewide candidate, statewide officeholder, senate candidate, house candidate, or member of the general assembly.
(ii) In the case of contributions to or from a county political party, a campaign committee of a senate candidate or house candidate whose candidacy is to be submitted to some or all of the electors in that county, or member of the general assembly whose district contains all or part of that county.
(iii) In the case of contributions to or from a legislative campaign fund, a campaign committee of any of the following:
(I) A senate or house candidate who, if elected, will be a member of the same party that established the legislative campaign fund and the same house with which the legislative campaign fund is associated;
(II) A state senator or state representative who is a member of the same party that established the legislative campaign fund and the same house with which the legislative campaign fund is associated.
(b) A campaign committee is no longer a "designated state campaign committee" after the campaign committee's candidate changes the designation of treasurer required to be filed under division (D)(1) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code to indicate that the person intends to be a candidate for, or becomes a candidate for nomination or election to, any office that, if elected, would not qualify that candidate's campaign committee as a "designated state campaign committee" under division (A)(9)(a) of this section.
(B)(1)(a) No individual who is seven years of age or older shall make a contribution or contributions aggregating more than:
(i) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one statewide candidate in a primary election period or in a general election period;
(ii) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one senate candidate in a primary election period or in a general election period;
(iii) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one house candidate in a primary election period or in a general election period;
(iv) Ten thousand dollars to a county political party of the county in which the individual's designated Ohio residence is located for the party's state candidate fund in a calendar year;
(v) Fifteen thousand dollars to any one legislative campaign fund in a calendar year;
(vi) Thirty thousand dollars to any one state political party for the party's state candidate fund in a calendar year;
(vii) Ten thousand dollars to any one political action committee in a calendar year;
(viii) Ten thousand dollars to any one political contributing entity in a calendar year.
(b) No individual shall make a contribution or contributions to the state candidate fund of a county political party of any county other than the county in which the individual's designated Ohio residence is located.
(c) No individual who is under seven years of age shall make any contribution.
(2)(a) Subject to division (D)(1) of this section, no political action committee shall make a contribution or contributions aggregating more than:
(i) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one statewide candidate in a primary election period or in a general election period;
(ii) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one senate candidate in a primary election period or in a general election period;
(iii) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one house candidate in a primary election period or in a general election period;
(iv) Fifteen thousand dollars to any one legislative campaign fund in a calendar year;
(v) Thirty thousand dollars to any one state political party for the party's state candidate fund in a calendar year;
(vi)
Ten thousand dollars to another political action committee or to a
political contributing entity in a calendar year. This division does
not apply to a political action committee that makes a contribution
to a political action committee or a political contributing entity
affiliated with it. For purposes of this division, a political action
committee is affiliated with another political action committee or
with a political contributing entity if they are both established,
financed, maintained, or controlled by, or if they are, the same
corporation, organization, labor organization, continuing
association, or
other person, including any parent, subsidiary, division, or
department of that corporation, organization, labor organization,
continuing
association, or
other person.
(b) No political action committee shall make a contribution or contributions to a county political party for the party's state candidate fund.
(3) No campaign committee shall make a contribution or contributions aggregating more than:
(a) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one statewide candidate in a primary election period or in a general election period;
(b) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one senate candidate in a primary election period or in a general election period;
(c) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one house candidate in a primary election period or in a general election period;
(d) Ten thousand dollars to any one political action committee in a calendar year;
(e) Ten thousand dollars to any one political contributing entity in a calendar year.
(4)(a) Subject to division (D)(3) of this section, no political party shall make a contribution or contributions aggregating more than ten thousand dollars to any one political action committee or to any one political contributing entity in a calendar year.
(b) No county political party shall make a contribution or contributions to another county political party.
(5)(a) Subject to division (B)(5)(b) of this section, no campaign committee, other than a designated state campaign committee, shall make a contribution or contributions aggregating in a calendar year more than:
(i) Thirty thousand dollars to any one state political party for the party's state candidate fund;
(ii) Fifteen thousand dollars to any one legislative campaign fund;
(iii) Ten thousand dollars to any one county political party for the party's state candidate fund.
(b) No campaign committee shall make a contribution or contributions to a county political party for the party's state candidate fund unless one of the following applies:
(i) The campaign committee's candidate will appear on a ballot in that county.
(ii) The campaign committee's candidate is the holder of an elected public office that represents all or part of the population of that county at the time the contribution is made.
(6)(a) No state candidate fund of a county political party shall make a contribution or contributions, except a contribution or contributions to a designated state campaign committee, in a primary election period or a general election period, aggregating more than:
(i) Two hundred fifty thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one statewide candidate;
(ii) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one senate candidate;
(iii) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one house candidate.
(b)(i) No state candidate fund of a state or county political party shall make a transfer or a contribution or transfers or contributions of cash or cash equivalents to a designated state campaign committee in a primary election period or in a general election period aggregating more than:
(I) Five hundred thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one statewide candidate;
(II) One hundred thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one senate candidate;
(III) Fifty thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one house candidate.
(ii) No legislative campaign fund shall make a transfer or a contribution or transfers or contributions of cash or cash equivalents to a designated state campaign committee aggregating more than:
(I) Fifty thousand dollars in a primary election period or one hundred thousand dollars in a general election period to the campaign committee of any one senate candidate;
(II) Twenty-five thousand dollars in a primary election period or fifty thousand dollars in a general election period to the campaign committee of any one house candidate.
(iii) As used in divisions (B)(6)(b) and (C)(6) of this section, "transfer or contribution of cash or cash equivalents" does not include any in-kind contributions.
(c) A county political party that has no state candidate fund and that is located in a county having a population of less than one hundred fifty thousand may make one or more contributions from other accounts to any one statewide candidate or to any one designated state campaign committee that do not exceed, in the aggregate, two thousand five hundred dollars in any primary election period or general election period.
(d) No legislative campaign fund shall make a contribution, other than to a designated state campaign committee or to the state candidate fund of a political party.
(7)(a) Subject to division (D)(1) of this section, no political contributing entity shall make a contribution or contributions aggregating more than:
(i) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one statewide candidate in a primary election period or in a general election period;
(ii) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one senate candidate in a primary election period or in a general election period;
(iii) Ten thousand dollars to the campaign committee of any one house candidate in a primary election period or in a general election period;
(iv) Fifteen thousand dollars to any one legislative campaign fund in a calendar year;
(v) Thirty thousand dollars to any one state political party for the party's state candidate fund in a calendar year;
(vi)
Ten thousand dollars to another political contributing entity or to a
political action committee in a calendar year. This division does not
apply to a political contributing entity that makes a contribution to
a political contributing entity or a political action committee
affiliated with it. For purposes of this division, a political
contributing entity is affiliated with another political contributing
entity or with a political action committee if they are both
established, financed, maintained, or controlled by, or if they are,
the same corporation, organization, labor organization, continuing
association, or
other person, including any parent, subsidiary, division, or
department of that corporation, organization, labor organization,
continuing
association, or
other person.
(b) No political contributing entity shall make a contribution or contributions to a county political party for the party's state candidate fund.
(C)(1)(a) Subject to division (D)(1) of this section, no campaign committee of a statewide candidate shall do any of the following:
(i) Knowingly accept a contribution or contributions from any individual who is under seven years of age;
(ii) Accept a contribution or contributions aggregating more than ten thousand dollars from any one individual who is seven years of age or older, from any one political action committee, from any one political contributing entity, or from any one other campaign committee in a primary election period or in a general election period;
(iii) Accept a contribution or contributions aggregating more than two hundred fifty thousand dollars from any one or combination of state candidate funds of county political parties in a primary election period or in a general election period.
(b) No campaign committee of a statewide candidate shall accept a contribution or contributions aggregating more than two thousand five hundred dollars in a primary election period or in a general election period from a county political party that has no state candidate fund and that is located in a county having a population of less than one hundred fifty thousand.
(2)(a) Subject to division (D)(1) of this section and except for a designated state campaign committee, no campaign committee of a senate candidate shall do either of the following:
(i) Knowingly accept a contribution or contributions from any individual who is under seven years of age;
(ii) Accept a contribution or contributions aggregating more than ten thousand dollars from any one individual who is seven years of age or older, from any one political action committee, from any one political contributing entity, from any one state candidate fund of a county political party, or from any one other campaign committee in a primary election period or in a general election period.
(b) No campaign committee of a senate candidate shall accept a contribution or contributions aggregating more than two thousand five hundred dollars in a primary election period or in a general election period from a county political party that has no state candidate fund and that is located in a county having a population of less than one hundred fifty thousand.
(3)(a) Subject to division (D)(1) of this section and except for a designated state campaign committee, no campaign committee of a house candidate shall do either of the following:
(i) Knowingly accept a contribution or contributions from any individual who is under seven years of age;
(ii) Accept a contribution or contributions aggregating more than ten thousand dollars from any one individual who is seven years of age or older, from any one political action committee, from any one political contributing entity, from any one state candidate fund of a county political party, or from any one other campaign committee in a primary election period or in a general election period.
(b) No campaign committee of a house candidate shall accept a contribution or contributions aggregating more than two thousand five hundred dollars in a primary election period or in a general election period from a county political party that has no state candidate fund and that is located in a county having a population of less than one hundred fifty thousand.
(4)(a)(i) Subject to division (C)(4)(a)(ii) of this section and except for a designated state campaign committee, no county political party shall knowingly accept a contribution or contributions from any individual who is under seven years of age, or accept a contribution or contributions for the party's state candidate fund aggregating more than ten thousand dollars from any one individual whose designated Ohio residence is located within that county and who is seven years of age or older or from any one campaign committee in a calendar year.
(ii) Subject to division (D)(1) of this section, no county political party shall accept a contribution or contributions for the party's state candidate fund from any individual whose designated Ohio residence is located outside of that county and who is seven years of age or older, from any campaign committee unless the campaign committee's candidate will appear on a ballot in that county or unless the campaign committee's candidate is the holder of an elected public office that represents all or part of the population of that county at the time the contribution is accepted, or from any political action committee or any political contributing entity.
(iii) No county political party shall accept a contribution or contributions from any other county political party.
(b) Subject to division (D)(1) of this section, no state political party shall do either of the following:
(i) Knowingly accept a contribution or contributions from any individual who is under seven years of age;
(ii) Accept a contribution or contributions for the party's state candidate fund aggregating more than thirty thousand dollars from any one individual who is seven years of age or older, from any one political action committee, from any one political contributing entity, or from any one campaign committee, other than a designated state campaign committee, in a calendar year.
(5) Subject to division (D)(1) of this section, no legislative campaign fund shall do either of the following:
(a) Knowingly accept a contribution or contributions from any individual who is under seven years of age;
(b) Accept a contribution or contributions aggregating more than fifteen thousand dollars from any one individual who is seven years of age or older, from any one political action committee, from any one political contributing entity, or from any one campaign committee, other than a designated state campaign committee, in a calendar year.
(6)(a) No designated state campaign committee shall accept a transfer or contribution of cash or cash equivalents from a state candidate fund of a state political party aggregating in a primary election period or a general election period more than:
(i) Five hundred thousand dollars, in the case of a campaign committee of a statewide candidate;
(ii) One hundred thousand dollars, in the case of a campaign committee of a senate candidate;
(iii) Fifty thousand dollars, in the case of a campaign committee of a house candidate.
(b) No designated state campaign committee shall accept a transfer or contribution of cash or cash equivalents from a legislative campaign fund aggregating more than:
(i) Fifty thousand dollars in a primary election period or one hundred thousand dollars in a general election period, in the case of a campaign committee of a senate candidate;
(ii) Twenty-five thousand dollars in a primary election period or fifty thousand dollars in a general election period, in the case of a campaign committee of a house candidate.
(c) No campaign committee of a candidate for the office of member of the general assembly, including a designated state campaign committee, shall accept a transfer or contribution of cash or cash equivalents from any one or combination of state candidate funds of county political parties aggregating in a primary election period or a general election period more than:
(i) One hundred thousand dollars, in the case of a campaign committee of a senate candidate;
(ii) Fifty thousand dollars, in the case of a campaign committee of a house candidate.
(7)(a) Subject to division (D)(3) of this section, no political action committee and no political contributing entity shall do either of the following:
(i) Knowingly accept a contribution or contributions from any individual who is under seven years of age;
(ii) Accept a contribution or contributions aggregating more than ten thousand dollars from any one individual who is seven years of age or older, from any one campaign committee, or from any one political party in a calendar year.
(b)
Subject to division (D)(1) of this section, no political action
committee shall accept a contribution or contributions aggregating
more than ten thousand dollars from another political action
committee or from a political contributing entity in a calendar year.
Subject to division (D)(1) of this section, no political contributing
entity shall accept a contribution or contributions aggregating more
than ten thousand dollars from another political contributing entity
or from a political action committee in a calendar year. This
division does not apply to a political action committee or political
contributing entity that accepts a contribution from a political
action committee or political contributing entity affiliated with it.
For purposes of this division, a political action committee is
affiliated with another political action committee or with a
political contributing entity if they are both established, financed,
maintained, or controlled by the same corporation, organization,
labor organization, continuing
association, or
other person, including any parent, subsidiary, division, or
department of that corporation, organization, labor organization,
continuing
association, or
other person.
(D)(1)(a)
For purposes of the limitations prescribed in division (B)(2) of this
section and the limitations prescribed in divisions (C)(1), (2), (3),
(4), (5), and (7)(b) of this section, whichever is applicable, all
contributions made by and all contributions accepted from political
action committees that are established, financed, maintained, or
controlled by, or that are, the same corporation, organization, labor
organization, continuing
association, or
other person, including any parent, subsidiary, division, or
department of that corporation, organization, labor organization,
continuing
association, or
other person, are considered to have been made by or accepted from a
single political action committee.
(b)
For purposes of the limitations prescribed in division (B)(7) of this
section and the limitations prescribed in divisions (C)(1), (2), (3),
(4), (5), and (7)(b) of this section, whichever is applicable, all
contributions made by and all contributions accepted from political
contributing entities that are established, financed, maintained, or
controlled by, or that are, the same corporation, organization, labor
organization, continuing
association, or
other person, including any parent, subsidiary, division, or
department of that corporation, organization, labor organization,
continuing
association, or
other person, are considered to have been made by or accepted from a
single political contributing entity.
(2) As used in divisions (B)(1)(a)(vii), (B)(3)(d), (B)(4)(a), and (C)(7) of this section, "political action committee" does not include a political action committee that is organized to support or oppose a ballot issue or question and that makes no contributions to or expenditures on behalf of a political party, campaign committee, legislative campaign fund, political action committee, or political contributing entity. As used in divisions (B)(1)(a)(viii), (B)(3)(e), (B)(4)(a), and (C)(7) of this section, "political contributing entity" does not include a political contributing entity that is organized to support or oppose a ballot issue or question and that makes no contributions to or expenditures on behalf of a political party, campaign committee, legislative campaign fund, political action committee, or political contributing entity.
(3) For purposes of the limitations prescribed in divisions (B)(4) and (C)(7)(a) of this section, all contributions made by and all contributions accepted from a national political party, a state political party, and a county political party are considered to have been made by or accepted from a single political party and shall be combined with each other to determine whether the limitations have been exceeded.
(E)(1) If a legislative campaign fund has kept a total amount of contributions exceeding one hundred fifty thousand dollars at the close of business on the seventh day before the postgeneral election statement is required to be filed under section 3517.10 of the Revised Code, the legislative campaign fund shall comply with division (E)(2) of this section.
(2)(a) Any legislative campaign fund that has kept a total amount of contributions in excess of the amount specified in division (E)(1) of this section at the close of business on the seventh day before the postgeneral election statement is required to be filed under section 3517.10 of the Revised Code shall dispose of the excess amount in the manner prescribed in division (E)(2)(b)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this section not later than ninety days after the day the postgeneral election statement is required to be filed under section 3517.10 of the Revised Code. Any legislative campaign fund that is required to dispose of an excess amount of contributions under this division shall file a statement on the ninetieth day after the postgeneral election statement is required to be filed under section 3517.10 of the Revised Code indicating the total amount of contributions the fund has at the close of business on the seventh day before the postgeneral election statement is required to be filed under section 3517.10 of the Revised Code and that the excess contributions were disposed of pursuant to this division and division (E)(2)(b) of this section. The statement shall be on a form prescribed by the secretary of state and shall contain any additional information the secretary of state considers necessary.
(b) Any legislative campaign fund that is required to dispose of an excess amount of contributions under division (E)(2) of this section shall dispose of that excess amount by doing any of the following:
(i) Giving the amount to the treasurer of state for deposit into the state treasury to the credit of the Ohio elections commission fund created by division (I) of section 3517.152 of the Revised Code;
(ii) Giving the amount to individuals who made contributions to that legislative campaign fund as a refund of all or part of their contributions;
(iii) Giving the amount to a corporation that is exempt from federal income taxation under subsection 501(a) and described in subsection 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(F)(1) No legislative campaign fund shall fail to file a statement required by division (E) of this section.
(2) No legislative campaign fund shall fail to dispose of excess contributions as required by division (E) of this section.
(G) Nothing in this section shall affect, be used in determining, or supersede a limitation on campaign contributions as provided for in the Federal Election Campaign Act.
Sec. 3517.105. (A)(1) As used in this section, "public political advertising" means advertising to the general public through a broadcasting station, newspaper, magazine, poster, yard sign, or outdoor advertising facility, by direct mail, or by any other means of advertising to the general public.
(2) For purposes of this section and section 3517.20 of the Revised Code, a person is a member of a political action committee if the person makes one or more contributions to that political action committee, and a person is a member of a political contributing entity if the person makes one or more contributions to, or pays dues, membership fees, or other assessments to, that political contributing entity.
(B)(1) Whenever a candidate, a campaign committee, a political action committee or political contributing entity with ten or more members, or a legislative campaign fund makes an independent expenditure, or whenever a political action committee or political contributing entity with fewer than ten members makes an independent expenditure in excess of one hundred dollars for a local candidate, in excess of two hundred fifty dollars for a candidate for the office of member of the general assembly, or in excess of five hundred dollars for a statewide candidate, for the purpose of financing communications advocating the election or defeat of an identified candidate or solicits without the candidate's express consent a contribution for or against an identified candidate through public political advertising, a statement shall appear or be presented in a clear and conspicuous manner in the advertising that does both of the following:
(a) Clearly indicates that the communication or public political advertising is not authorized by the candidate or the candidate's campaign committee;
(b) Clearly identifies the candidate, campaign committee, political action committee, political contributing entity, or legislative campaign fund that has paid for the communication or public political advertising in accordance with section 3517.20 of the Revised Code.
(2)(a) Whenever any campaign committee, legislative campaign fund, political action committee, political contributing entity, or political party makes an independent expenditure in support of or opposition to any candidate, the committee, entity, fund, or party shall report the independent expenditure and identify the candidate on a statement prescribed by the secretary of state and filed by the committee, entity, fund, or party as part of its statement of contributions and expenditures pursuant to division (A) of section 3517.10 and division (A) of section 3517.11 of the Revised Code.
(b)
Whenever any individual,
partnership,
or other
entity,
except a corporation,
labor organization, campaign
committee, legislative campaign fund, political action committee,
political contributing entity, or political party, makes one or more
independent expenditures in support of or opposition to any
candidate, the individual,
partnership,
or other
entity
shall file with the secretary of state in the case of a statewide
candidate, or with the board of elections in the county in which the
candidate files the candidate's petitions for nomination or election
for district or local office, not later than the dates specified in
divisions (A)(1), (2), (3), and (4) of section 3517.10 of the Revised
Code, and, except as otherwise provided in that section, a statement
itemizing all independent expenditures made during the period since
the close of business on the last day reflected in the last
previously filed such statement, if any. The statement shall be made
on a form prescribed by the secretary of state or shall be filed by
electronic means of transmission pursuant to division (E) of section
3517.106 of the Revised Code as authorized or required by that
division. The statement shall indicate the date and the amount of
each independent expenditure and the candidate on whose behalf it was
made and shall be made under penalty of election falsification.
(C)(1)
Whenever a corporation,
labor organization, campaign
committee, political action committee or
political contributing entity with
ten or more members, or legislative campaign fund makes an
independent
expenditure,
or whenever a political action committee or
political contributing entity with
fewer than ten members makes an independent
expenditure
in excess of one hundred dollars for a local ballot issue or
question, or in excess of five hundred dollars for a statewide ballot
issue or question, for the purpose of financing communications
advocating support of or opposition to an identified ballot issue or
question or solicits without the express consent of the ballot issue
committee a contribution for or against an identified ballot issue or
question through public political advertising, a statement shall
appear or be presented in a clear and conspicuous manner in the
advertising that does both of the following:
(a) Clearly indicates that the communication or public political advertising is not authorized by the identified ballot issue committee;
(b)
Clearly identifies the corporation,
labor organization, campaign
committee, legislative campaign fund, or
political
action committee,
or political contributing entity
that has paid for the communication or public political advertising
in accordance with section 3517.20 of the Revised Code.
(2)(a)
Whenever any corporation,
labor organization, campaign
committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or
political
action committee,
or political contributing entity
makes an independent
expenditure
in support of or opposition to any ballot issue or question, the
corporation or labor organization shall report the independent
expenditure in accordance with division (C) of section 3599.03 of the
Revised Code, and the
campaign committee, legislative campaign fund, political party, or
political
action committee,
or political contributing entity
shall report the independent
expenditure
and identify the ballot issue or question on a statement prescribed
by the secretary of state and filed by the committee, fund, or party
as part of its statement of contributions and expenditures pursuant
to division (A) of section 3517.10 and division (A) of section
3517.11 of the Revised Code.
(b)
Whenever any individual,
partnership,
or other entity, except a corporation,
labor organization, campaign
committee, legislative campaign fund, political action committee,
political
contributing entity, or
political party, makes one or more independent
expenditures
in excess of one hundred dollars in support of or opposition to any
ballot issue or question, the individual,
partnership,
or other entity shall file with the secretary of state in the case of
a statewide ballot issue or question, or with the board of elections
in the county that certifies the issue or question for placement on
the ballot in the case of a district or local issue or question, not
later than the dates specified in divisions (A)(1), (2), (3), and (4)
of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code, and, except as otherwise
provided in that section, a statement itemizing all independent
expenditures
made during the period since the close of business on the last day
reflected in the last previously filed such statement, if any. The
statement shall be made on a form prescribed by the secretary of
state or shall be filed by electronic means of transmission pursuant
to division (E) of section 3517.106 of the Revised Code as authorized
or required by that division. The statement shall indicate the date
and the amount of each independent
expenditure
and the ballot issue or question in support of or opposition to which
it was made and shall be made under penalty of election
falsification.
(3)
No person, campaign committee, legislative campaign fund, political
action committee, corporation,
labor organization, political
contributing entity, or
other organization or association shall use or cause to be used a
false or fictitious name in making an independent expenditure in
support of or opposition to any candidate,
or an
expenditure in support of or opposition to any
ballot issue or question. A name is false or fictitious if the
person, campaign committee, legislative campaign fund, political
action committee, corporation,
labor organization,political
contributing entity,
or other organization or association does not actually exist or
operate, if the corporation,
labor organization, or other organization
or association has failed to file a fictitious name or other
registration with the secretary of state, if it is required to do so,
or if the person, campaign committee, legislative campaign fund, or
political
action committee,
or political contributing entity
has failed to file a designation of the appointment of a treasurer,
if it is required to do so by division (D)(1) of section 3517.10 of
the Revised Code.
(D) Any expenditure by a political party for the purpose of financing communications advocating the election or defeat of a candidate for judicial office shall be deemed to be an independent expenditure subject to the provisions of this section.
Sec. 3517.106. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Statewide office" means any of the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, attorney general, chief justice of the supreme court, and justice of the supreme court.
(2) "Addendum to a statement" includes an amendment or other correction to that statement.
(B) The secretary of state shall store all of the following information on computer:
(1)
The information contained in statements of contributions and
expenditures and monthly statements required to be filed under
section 3517.10 of the Revised Code and in statements of independent
expenditures
required to be filed under section 3517.105 of the Revised Code with
the secretary of state and the information transmitted to the
secretary of state by boards of elections under division (E)(2) of
this section;
(2) The information contained in disclosure of electioneering communications statements required to be filed under section 3517.1011 of the Revised Code;
(3) The information contained in deposit and disbursement statements required to be filed with the office of the secretary of state under section 3517.1012 of the Revised Code;
(4) The gift and disbursement information contained in statements required to be filed with the office of the secretary of state under section 3517.1013 of the Revised Code;
(5) The information contained in donation and disbursement statements required to be filed with the office of the secretary of state under section 3517.1014 of the Revised Code.
(C)(1)
The secretary of state shall make available to the campaign
committees, political action committees, political contributing
entities, legislative campaign funds, political parties, individuals,
partnerships,
corporations, labor organizations, treasurers
of transition funds, and other entities that are permitted or
required to file statements by electronic means of transmission, and
to members of the news media and other interested persons, for a
reasonable fee, computer programs that are compatible with the
secretary of state's method of storing the information contained in
the statements.
(2) The secretary of state shall make the information required to be stored under division (B) of this section available on computer at the secretary of state's office so that, to the maximum extent feasible, individuals may obtain at the secretary of state's office any part or all of that information for any given year, subject to the limitation expressed in division (D) of this section.
(D) The secretary of state shall keep the information stored on computer under division (B) of this section for at least six years.
(E)(1) Subject to division (J) of this section and subject to the secretary of state having implemented, tested, and verified the successful operation of any system the secretary of state prescribes pursuant to division (F)(1) of this section and divisions (C)(6)(b) and (D)(6) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code for the filing of campaign finance statements by electronic means of transmission, each of the following entities shall be permitted or required to file statements by electronic means of transmission, as applicable:
(a) The campaign committee of each candidate for statewide office may file the statements prescribed by section 3517.10 of the Revised Code by electronic means of transmission or, if the total amount of the contributions received or the total amount of the expenditures made by the campaign committee for the applicable reporting period as specified in division (A) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code exceeds ten thousand dollars, shall file those statements by electronic means of transmission.
(b) A campaign committee of a candidate for the office of member of the general assembly or a campaign committee of a candidate for the office of judge of a court of appeals may file the statements prescribed by section 3517.10 of the Revised Code in accordance with division (A)(2) of section 3517.11 of the Revised Code or by electronic means of transmission to the office of the secretary of state or, if the total amount of the contributions received by the campaign committee for the applicable reporting period as specified in division (A) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code exceeds ten thousand dollars, shall file those statements by electronic means of transmission to the office of the secretary of state.
(c) A campaign committee of a candidate for an office other than a statewide office, the office of member of the general assembly, or the office of judge of a court of appeals may file the statements prescribed by section 3517.10 of the Revised Code by electronic means of transmission to the secretary of state or the board of elections, as applicable.
(d) A political action committee and a political contributing entity described in division (A)(1) of section 3517.11 of the Revised Code, a legislative campaign fund, and a state political party may file the statements prescribed by section 3517.10 of the Revised Code by electronic means of transmission to the office of the secretary of state or, if the total amount of the contributions received or the total amount of the expenditures made by the political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or state political party for the applicable reporting period as specified in division (A) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code exceeds ten thousand dollars, shall file those statements by electronic means of transmission.
(e) A county political party shall file the statements prescribed by section 3517.10 of the Revised Code with respect to its state candidate fund by electronic means of transmission to the office of the secretary of state.
(f) A county political party may file all other statements prescribed by section 3517.10 of the Revised Code by electronic means of transmission to the board of elections.
(g) A political action committee or political contributing entity described in division (A)(3) of section 3517.11 of the Revised Code may file the statements prescribed by section 3517.10 of the Revised Code by electronic means of transmission to the board of elections.
(h)
Any individual,
partnership,
or other
entity
that makes independent expenditures in support of or opposition to a
statewide candidate or expenditures
in support of or opposition to a
statewide ballot issue or question as provided in division (B)(2)(b)
or (C)(2)(b) of section 3517.105 of the Revised Code may file the
statement specified in that division by electronic means of
transmission to the office of the secretary of state or, if the total
amount of independent
expenditures
made during the reporting period under that division exceeds ten
thousand dollars, shall file the statement specified in that division
by electronic means of transmission.
(i)
Any individual,
partnership,
or other
entity
that makes independent expenditures in support of or opposition to a
candidate or expenditures
in support of or opposition to a ballot
issue other than a statewide candidate or a statewide ballot issue as
provided in division (B)(2)(b) or (C)(2)(b) of section 3517.105 of
the Revised Code may file the statement specified in that division by
electronic means of transmission to the board of elections.
(2) A board of elections that receives a statement by electronic means of transmission shall transmit that statement to the secretary of state within five business days after receiving the statement. If the board receives an addendum or an amended statement from an entity that filed a statement with the board by electronic means of transmission, the board shall transmit the addendum or amended statement to the secretary of state not later than the close of business on the day the board received the addendum or amended statement.
(3)(a) Except as otherwise provided in division (E)(3)(b) of this section, within five business days after a statement filed under division (E)(1) of this section is received by the secretary of state by electronic or other means of transmission, the secretary of state shall make available online to the public through the internet, as provided in division (G) of this section, the contribution and expenditure information in that statement.
(b) The secretary of state shall not make available online to the public through the internet any contribution or expenditure information contained in a statement for any candidate until the secretary of state is able to make available online to the public through the internet the contribution and expenditure information for all candidates for a particular office, or until the applicable filing deadline for that statement has passed, whichever is sooner. As soon as the secretary of state has available all of the contribution and expenditure information for all candidates for a particular office, or as soon as the applicable filing deadline for a statement has passed, whichever is sooner, the secretary of state shall simultaneously make available online to the public through the internet the information for all candidates for that office.
(4)(a) If a statement filed by electronic means of transmission is found to be incomplete or inaccurate after the examination of the statement for completeness and accuracy pursuant to division (B)(3)(a) of section 3517.11 of the Revised Code, the entity that filed the statement shall file by electronic means of transmission any addendum to the statement that provides the information necessary to complete or correct the statement or, if required under that division, an amended statement.
(b) Within five business days after the secretary of state receives an addendum to the statement or an amended statement by electronic or other means of transmission, the secretary of state shall make the contribution and expenditure information in the addendum or amended statement available online to the public through the internet as provided in division (G) of this section.
(5) If a campaign committee for the office of member of the general assembly or a campaign committee of a candidate for the office of judge of a court of appeals files a statement, addendum, or amended statement by printed version only with the appropriate board of elections, the campaign committee shall file two copies of the printed version of the statement, addendum, or amended statement with the board of elections. The board of elections shall send one of those copies by certified mail or an electronic copy to the secretary of state before the close of business on the day the board of elections receives the statement, addendum, or amended statement.
(F)(1) The secretary of state, by rule adopted pursuant to section 3517.23 of the Revised Code, shall prescribe one or more techniques by which a person who executes and transmits to the secretary of state or a board of elections by electronic means a statement of contributions and expenditures, a statement of independent expenditures, a disclosure of electioneering communications statement, a deposit and disbursement statement, a gift and disbursement statement, or a donation and disbursement statement, an addendum to any of those statements, an amended statement of contributions and expenditures, an amended statement of independent expenditures, an amended disclosure of electioneering communications statement, an amended deposit and disbursement statement, an amended gift and disbursement statement, or an amended donation and disbursement statement, under this section or section 3517.10, 3517.105, 3517.1011, 3517.1012, 3517.1013, or 3517.1014 of the Revised Code shall electronically sign the statement, addendum, or amended statement. Any technique prescribed by the secretary of state pursuant to this division shall create an electronic signature that satisfies all of the following:
(a) It is unique to the signer.
(b) It objectively identifies the signer.
(c) It involves the use of a signature device or other means or method that is under the sole control of the signer and that cannot be readily duplicated or compromised.
(d) It is created and linked to the electronic record to which it relates in a manner that, if the record or signature is intentionally or unintentionally changed after signing, the electronic signature is invalidated.
(2) An electronic signature prescribed by the secretary of state under division (F)(1) of this section shall be attached to or associated with the statement of contributions and expenditures, the statement of independent expenditures, the disclosure of electioneering communications statement, the deposit and disbursement statement, the gift and disbursement statement, or the donation and disbursement statement, the addendum to any of those statements, the amended statement of contributions and expenditures, the amended statement of independent expenditures, the amended disclosure of electioneering communications statement, the amended deposit and disbursement statement, the amended gift and disbursement statement, or the amended donation and disbursement statement that is executed and transmitted by electronic means by the person to whom the electronic signature is attributed. The electronic signature that is attached to or associated with the statement, addendum, or amended statement under this division shall be binding on all persons and for all purposes under the campaign finance reporting law as if the signature had been handwritten in ink on a printed form.
(G) The secretary of state shall make all of the following information available online to the public by any means that are searchable, viewable, and accessible through the internet:
(1) The contribution and expenditure, the contribution and disbursement, the deposit and disbursement, the gift and disbursement, or the donation and disbursement information in all statements, all addenda to the statements, and all amended statements that are filed with the secretary of state by electronic or other means of transmission under this section or section 3517.10, 3517.105, 3517.1011, 3517.1012, 3517.1013, 3517.1014, or 3517.11 of the Revised Code;
(2) The contribution and expenditure or the deposit and disbursement information in all statements that are filed with a board of elections by electronic means of transmission, and in all addenda to those statements and all amended versions of those statements, under this section or section 3517.10, 3517.105, 3517.1012, or 3517.11 of the Revised Code.
(H)(1) As used in this division, "library" means a library that is open to the public and that is one of the following:
(a) A library that is maintained and regulated under section 715.13 of the Revised Code;
(b) A library that is created, maintained, and regulated under Chapter 3375. of the Revised Code.
(2) The secretary of state shall notify all libraries of the location on the internet at which the contribution and expenditure, contribution and disbursement, deposit and disbursement, gift and disbursement, or donation and disbursement information in campaign finance statements required to be made available online to the public through the internet pursuant to division (G) of this section may be accessed.
If that location is part of the world wide web and if the secretary of state has notified a library of that world wide web location as required by this division, the library shall include a link to that world wide web location on each internet-connected computer it maintains that is accessible to the public.
(3) If the system the secretary of state prescribes for the filing of campaign finance statements by electronic means of transmission pursuant to division (F)(1) of this section and divisions (C)(6)(b) and (D)(6) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code includes filing those statements through the internet via the world wide web, the secretary of state shall notify all libraries of the world wide web location at which those statements may be filed.
If those statements may be filed through the internet via the world wide web and if the secretary of state has notified a library of that world wide web location as required by this division, the library shall include a link to that world wide web location on each internet-connected computer it maintains that is accessible to the public.
(I)
It is an affirmative defense to a complaint or charge brought against
any campaign committee, political action committee, political
contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or
political
party, any
individual,
partnership,
or other entity, any person making disbursements to pay the direct
costs of producing or airing electioneering communications, or any
treasurer of a transition fund, for the failure to file by electronic
means of transmission a campaign finance statement as required by
this section or section 3517.10, 3517.105, 3517.1011, 3517.1012,
3517.1013, or 3517.1014 of the Revised Code that all of the following
apply to the campaign committee, political action committee,
political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or
political
party, the
individual,
partnership,
or other entity, the person making disbursements to pay the direct
costs of producing or airing electioneering communications, or the
treasurer of a transition fund that failed to so file:
(1)
The campaign committee, political action committee, political
contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or
political
party, the
individual,
partnership,
or other entity, the person making disbursements to pay the direct
costs of producing or airing electioneering communications, or the
treasurer of a transition fund attempted to file by electronic means
of transmission the required statement prior to the deadline set
forth in the applicable section.
(2)
The campaign committee, political action committee, political
contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or
political
party, the
individual,
partnership,
or other entity, the person making disbursements to pay the direct
costs of producing or airing electioneering communications, or the
treasurer of a transition fund was unable to file by electronic means
of transmission due to an expected or unexpected shutdown of the
whole or part of the electronic campaign finance statement-filing
system, such as for maintenance or because of hardware, software, or
network connection failure.
(3)
The campaign committee, political action committee, political
contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or
political
party, the
individual,
partnership,
or other entity, the person making disbursements to pay the direct
costs of producing or airing electioneering communications, or the
treasurer of a transition fund filed by electronic means of
transmission the required statement within a reasonable period of
time after being unable to so file it under the circumstance
described in division (I)(2) of this section.
(J)(1) The secretary of state shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to permit a campaign committee of a candidate for statewide office that makes expenditures of less than twenty-five thousand dollars during the filing period or a campaign committee for the office of member of the general assembly or the office of judge of a court of appeals that would otherwise be required to file campaign finance statements by electronic means of transmission under division (E) of this section to file those statements by paper with the office of the secretary of state. Those rules shall provide for all of the following:
(a) An eligible campaign committee that wishes to file a campaign finance statement by paper instead of by electronic means of transmission shall file the statement on paper with the office of the secretary of state not sooner than twenty-four hours after the end of the filing period set forth in section 3517.10 of the Revised Code that is covered by the applicable statement.
(b) The statement shall be accompanied by a fee, the amount of which the secretary of state shall determine by rule. The amount of the fee established under this division shall not exceed the data entry and data verification costs the secretary of state will incur to convert the information on the statement to an electronic format as required under division (G) of this section.
(c) The secretary of state shall arrange for the information in campaign finance statements filed pursuant to division (J) of this section to be made available online to the public through the internet in the same manner, and at the same times, as information is made available under divisions (E) and (G) of this section for candidates whose campaign committees file those statements by electronic means of transmission.
(d) The candidate of an eligible campaign committee that intends to file a campaign finance statement pursuant to division (J) of this section shall file a notice indicating that the candidate's campaign committee intends to so file and stating that filing the statement by electronic means of transmission would constitute a hardship for the candidate or for the eligible campaign committee.
(e) An eligible campaign committee that files a campaign finance statement on paper pursuant to division (J) of this section shall review the contribution and information made available online by the secretary of state with respect to that paper filing and shall notify the secretary of state of any errors with respect to that filing that appear in the data made available on that web site.
(f) If an eligible campaign committee whose candidate has filed a notice in accordance with rules adopted under division (J)(1)(d) of this section subsequently fails to file that statement on paper by the applicable deadline established in rules adopted under division (J)(1)(a) of this section, penalties for the late filing of the campaign finance statement shall apply to that campaign committee for each day after that paper filing deadline, as if the campaign committee had filed the statement after the applicable deadline set forth in division (A) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(2) The process for permitting campaign committees that would otherwise be required to file campaign finance statements by electronic means of transmission to file those statements on paper with the office of the secretary of state that is required to be developed under division (J)(1) of this section shall be in effect and available for use by eligible campaign committees for all campaign finance statements that are required to be filed on or after June 30, 2005. Notwithstanding any provision of the Revised Code to the contrary, if the process the secretary of state is required to develop under division (L)(1) of this section is not in effect and available for use on and after June 30, 2005, all penalties for the failure of campaign committees to file campaign finance statements by electronic means of transmission shall be suspended until such time as that process is in effect and available for use.
(3) Notwithstanding any provision of the Revised Code to the contrary, any eligible campaign committee that files campaign finance statements on paper with the office of the secretary of state pursuant to division (J)(1) of this section shall be deemed to have filed those campaign finance statements by electronic means of transmission to the office of the secretary of state.
Sec. 3517.107. (A) As used in this section, "federal political committee" means a political committee, as defined in the Federal Election Campaign Act, that is registered with the federal election commission under that act.
(B) Any federal political committee may make contributions, expenditures, or independent expenditures from its federal account in connection with any state or local election in Ohio. Prior to making any such contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure, the federal political committee shall register with the secretary of state by filing a copy of its most recent federal statement of organization. A federal political committee registered with the secretary of state under this division shall file with the secretary of state any amendment to its statement of organization that is required under the Federal Election Campaign Act to be reported to the federal election commission.
(C) When, during any federal reporting period under the Federal Election Campaign Act, a federal political committee makes a contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure from its federal account in connection with a state or local election in Ohio, the committee shall file with the secretary of state not later than the date on which its report is required to be filed with the appropriate federal office or officer under the Federal Election Campaign Act, copies of the following pages from that report:
(1) The summary page;
(2) The detailed summary page;
(3) The page or pages that contain an itemized list of the contributions, expenditures, and independent expenditures made in connection with state and local elections in Ohio.
The total amount of contributions, expenditures, and independent expenditures made in connection with state and local elections in Ohio shall be reflected on the summary page or on a form that the secretary of state shall prescribe.
(D)
When, during any calendar year, a federal political committee makes a
contribution from its federal account in connection with a state or
local election in Ohio to a state or local political action committee
that is required under section 3517.11 of the Revised Code to file
any statement prescribed by section 3517.10 of the Revised Code, and
the federal political committee and state or local political action
committee are established, financed, maintained, or controlled by the
same corporation, organization, continuing
association, or
other person, including any parent, subsidiary, division, department,
or unit of that corporation, organization, continuing
association, or
other person, the federal political committee shall file a statement
with the secretary of state not later than the last business day of
January of the next calendar year. The statement shall be on a form
prescribed by the secretary of state and shall include a list of the
names and addresses of contributors that are residents of Ohio that
made contributions to the federal political committee during the
calendar year covered by the statement and, for each name listed, the
aggregate total amount contributed by each contributor during the
reporting period.
Sec. 3517.13. (A)(1) No campaign committee of a statewide candidate shall fail to file a complete and accurate statement required under division (A)(1) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(2) No campaign committee of a statewide candidate shall fail to file a complete and accurate monthly statement, and no campaign committee of a statewide candidate or a candidate for the office of chief justice or justice of the supreme court shall fail to file a complete and accurate two-business-day statement, as required under section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
As used in this division, "statewide candidate" has the same meaning as in division (F)(2) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(B) No campaign committee shall fail to file a complete and accurate statement required under division (A)(1) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(C) No campaign committee shall fail to file a complete and accurate statement required under division (A)(2) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(D) No campaign committee shall fail to file a complete and accurate statement required under division (A)(3) or (4) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(E) No person other than a campaign committee shall knowingly fail to file a statement required under section 3517.10 or 3517.107 of the Revised Code.
(F) No person shall make cash contributions to any person totaling more than one hundred dollars in each primary, special, or general election.
(G)(1) No person shall knowingly conceal or misrepresent contributions given or received, expenditures made, or any other information required to be reported by a provision in sections 3517.08 to 3517.13 of the Revised Code.
(2)(a) No person shall make a contribution to a campaign committee, political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, political party, or person making disbursements to pay the direct costs of producing or airing electioneering communications in the name of another person.
(b) A person does not make a contribution in the name of another when either of the following applies:
(i) An individual makes a contribution from a partnership or other unincorporated business account, if the contribution is reported by listing both the name of the partnership or other unincorporated business and the name of the partner or owner making the contribution as required under division (I) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(ii) A person makes a contribution in that person's spouse's name or in both of their names.
(H) No person within this state, publishing a newspaper or other periodical, shall charge a campaign committee for political advertising a rate in excess of the rate such person would charge if the campaign committee were a general rate advertiser whose advertising was directed to promoting its business within the same area as that encompassed by the particular office that the candidate of the campaign committee is seeking. The rate shall take into account the amount of space used, as well as the type of advertising copy submitted by or on behalf of the campaign committee. All discount privileges otherwise offered by a newspaper or periodical to general rate advertisers shall be available upon equal terms to all campaign committees.
No person within this state, operating a radio or television station or network of stations in this state, shall charge a campaign committee for political broadcasts a rate that exceeds:
(1) During the forty-five days preceding the date of a primary election and during the sixty days preceding the date of a general or special election in which the candidate of the campaign committee is seeking office, the lowest unit charge of the station for the same class and amount of time for the same period;
(2) At any other time, the charges made for comparable use of that station by its other users.
(I) Subject to divisions (K), (L), (M), and (N) of this section, no agency or department of this state or any political subdivision shall award any contract, other than one let by competitive bidding or a contract incidental to such contract or which is by force account, for the purchase of goods costing more than five hundred dollars or services costing more than five hundred dollars to any individual, partnership, association, including, without limitation, a professional association organized under Chapter 1785. of the Revised Code, estate, or trust if the individual has made or the individual's spouse has made, or any partner, shareholder, administrator, executor, or trustee or the spouse of any of them has made, as an individual, within the two previous calendar years, one or more contributions totaling in excess of one thousand dollars to the holder of the public office having ultimate responsibility for the award of the contract or to the public officer's campaign committee.
(J) Subject to divisions (K), (L), (M), and (N) of this section, no agency or department of this state or any political subdivision shall award any contract, other than one let by competitive bidding or a contract incidental to such contract or which is by force account, for the purchase of goods costing more than five hundred dollars or services costing more than five hundred dollars to a corporation or business trust, except a professional association organized under Chapter 1785. of the Revised Code, if an owner of more than twenty per cent of the corporation or business trust or the spouse of that person has made, as an individual, within the two previous calendar years, taking into consideration only owners for all of that period, one or more contributions totaling in excess of one thousand dollars to the holder of a public office having ultimate responsibility for the award of the contract or to the public officer's campaign committee.
(K) For purposes of divisions (I) and (J) of this section, if a public officer who is responsible for the award of a contract is appointed by the governor, whether or not the appointment is subject to the advice and consent of the senate, excluding members of boards, commissions, committees, authorities, councils, boards of trustees, task forces, and other such entities appointed by the governor, the office of the governor is considered to have ultimate responsibility for the award of the contract.
(L) For purposes of divisions (I) and (J) of this section, if a public officer who is responsible for the award of a contract is appointed by the elected chief executive officer of a municipal corporation, or appointed by the elected chief executive officer of a county operating under an alternative form of county government or county charter, excluding members of boards, commissions, committees, authorities, councils, boards of trustees, task forces, and other such entities appointed by the chief executive officer, the office of the chief executive officer is considered to have ultimate responsibility for the award of the contract.
(M)(1) Divisions (I) and (J) of this section do not apply to contracts awarded by the board of commissioners of the sinking fund, municipal legislative authorities, boards of education, boards of county commissioners, boards of township trustees, or other boards, commissions, committees, authorities, councils, boards of trustees, task forces, and other such entities created by law, by the supreme court or courts of appeals, by county courts consisting of more than one judge, courts of common pleas consisting of more than one judge, or municipal courts consisting of more than one judge, or by a division of any court if the division consists of more than one judge. This division shall apply to the specified entity only if the members of the entity act collectively in the award of a contract for goods or services.
(2) Divisions (I) and (J) of this section do not apply to actions of the controlling board.
(N)(1) Divisions (I) and (J) of this section apply to contributions made to the holder of a public office having ultimate responsibility for the award of a contract, or to the public officer's campaign committee, during the time the person holds the office and during any time such person was a candidate for the office. Those divisions do not apply to contributions made to, or to the campaign committee of, a candidate for or holder of the office other than the holder of the office at the time of the award of the contract.
(2) Divisions (I) and (J) of this section do not apply to contributions of a partner, shareholder, administrator, executor, trustee, or owner of more than twenty per cent of a corporation or business trust made before the person held any of those positions or after the person ceased to hold any of those positions in the partnership, association, estate, trust, corporation, or business trust whose eligibility to be awarded a contract is being determined, nor to contributions of the person's spouse made before the person held any of those positions, after the person ceased to hold any of those positions, before the two were married, after the granting of a decree of divorce, dissolution of marriage, or annulment, or after the granting of an order in an action brought solely for legal separation. Those divisions do not apply to contributions of the spouse of an individual whose eligibility to be awarded a contract is being determined made before the two were married, after the granting of a decree of divorce, dissolution of marriage, or annulment, or after the granting of an order in an action brought solely for legal separation.
(O) No beneficiary of a campaign fund or other person shall convert for personal use, and no person shall knowingly give to a beneficiary of a campaign fund or any other person, for the beneficiary's or any other person's personal use, anything of value from the beneficiary's campaign fund, including, without limitation, payments to a beneficiary for services the beneficiary personally performs, except as reimbursement for any of the following:
(1) Legitimate and verifiable prior campaign expenses incurred by the beneficiary;
(2) Legitimate and verifiable ordinary and necessary prior expenses incurred by the beneficiary in connection with duties as the holder of a public office, including, without limitation, expenses incurred through participation in nonpartisan or bipartisan events if the participation of the holder of a public office would normally be expected;
(3) Legitimate and verifiable ordinary and necessary prior expenses incurred by the beneficiary while doing any of the following:
(a) Engaging in activities in support of or opposition to a candidate other than the beneficiary, political party, or ballot issue;
(b) Raising funds for a political party, political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, campaign committee, or other candidate;
(c) Participating in the activities of a political party, political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or campaign committee;
(d) Attending a political party convention or other political meeting.
For purposes of this division, an expense is incurred whenever a beneficiary has either made payment or is obligated to make payment, as by the use of a credit card or other credit procedure or by the use of goods or services received on account.
(P) No beneficiary of a campaign fund shall knowingly accept, and no person shall knowingly give to the beneficiary of a campaign fund, reimbursement for an expense under division (O) of this section to the extent that the expense previously was reimbursed or paid from another source of funds. If an expense is reimbursed under division (O) of this section and is later paid or reimbursed, wholly or in part, from another source of funds, the beneficiary shall repay the reimbursement received under division (O) of this section to the extent of the payment made or reimbursement received from the other source.
(Q) No candidate or public official or employee shall accept for personal or business use anything of value from a political party, political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or campaign committee other than the candidate's or public official's or employee's own campaign committee, and no person shall knowingly give to a candidate or public official or employee anything of value from a political party, political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or such a campaign committee, except for the following:
(1) Reimbursement for legitimate and verifiable ordinary and necessary prior expenses not otherwise prohibited by law incurred by the candidate or public official or employee while engaged in any legitimate activity of the political party, political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or such campaign committee. Without limitation, reimbursable expenses under this division include those incurred while doing any of the following:
(a) Engaging in activities in support of or opposition to another candidate, political party, or ballot issue;
(b) Raising funds for a political party, legislative campaign fund, campaign committee, or another candidate;
(c) Attending a political party convention or other political meeting.
(2) Compensation not otherwise prohibited by law for actual and valuable personal services rendered under a written contract to the political party, political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or such campaign committee for any legitimate activity of the political party, political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or such campaign committee.
Reimbursable expenses under this division do not include, and it is a violation of this division for a candidate or public official or employee to accept, or for any person to knowingly give to a candidate or public official or employee from a political party, political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or campaign committee other than the candidate's or public official's or employee's own campaign committee, anything of value for activities primarily related to the candidate's or public official's or employee's own campaign for election, except for contributions to the candidate's or public official's or employee's campaign committee.
For purposes of this division, an expense is incurred whenever a candidate or public official or employee has either made payment or is obligated to make payment, as by the use of a credit card or other credit procedure, or by the use of goods or services on account.
(R)(1) Division (O) or (P) of this section does not prohibit a campaign committee from making direct advance or post payment from contributions to vendors for goods and services for which reimbursement is permitted under division (O) of this section, except that no campaign committee shall pay its candidate or other beneficiary for services personally performed by the candidate or other beneficiary.
(2) If any expense that may be reimbursed under division (O), (P), or (Q) of this section is part of other expenses that may not be paid or reimbursed, the separation of the two types of expenses for the purpose of allocating for payment or reimbursement those expenses that may be paid or reimbursed may be by any reasonable accounting method, considering all of the surrounding circumstances.
(3) For purposes of divisions (O), (P), and (Q) of this section, mileage allowance at a rate not greater than that allowed by the internal revenue service at the time the travel occurs may be paid instead of reimbursement for actual travel expenses allowable.
(S)(1) As used in division (S) of this section:
(a) "State elective office" has the same meaning as in section 3517.092 of the Revised Code.
(b) "Federal office" means a federal office as defined in the Federal Election Campaign Act.
(c) "Federal campaign committee" means a principal campaign committee or authorized committee as defined in the Federal Election Campaign Act.
(2) No person who is a candidate for state elective office and who previously sought nomination or election to a federal office shall transfer any funds or assets from that person's federal campaign committee for nomination or election to the federal office to that person's campaign committee as a candidate for state elective office.
(3) No campaign committee of a person who is a candidate for state elective office and who previously sought nomination or election to a federal office shall accept any funds or assets from that person's federal campaign committee for that person's nomination or election to the federal office.
(T)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(6)(c) of section 3517.102 of the Revised Code, a state or county political party shall not disburse moneys from any account other than a state candidate fund to make contributions to any of the following:
(a) A state candidate fund;
(b) A legislative campaign fund;
(c) A campaign committee of a candidate for the office of governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer of state, attorney general, member of the state board of education, or member of the general assembly.
(2) No state candidate fund, legislative campaign fund, or campaign committee of a candidate for any office described in division (T)(1)(c) of this section shall knowingly accept a contribution in violation of division (T)(1) of this section.
(U) No person shall fail to file a statement required under section 3517.12 of the Revised Code.
(V) No campaign committee shall fail to file a statement required under division (K)(3) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(W)(1)
No foreign national shall, directly or indirectly through any other
person or entity, make a contribution, expenditure, or independent
expenditure or promise, either expressly or implicitly, to make a
contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure
in support of or opposition to a candidate for any elective office in
this state, including an office of a political party.
(2) No candidate, campaign committee, political action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, state candidate fund, political party, or separate segregated fund shall solicit or accept a contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure from a foreign national. The secretary of state may direct any candidate, committee, entity, fund, or party that accepts a contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure in violation of this division to return the contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure or, if it is not possible to return the contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure, then to return instead the value of it, to the contributor.
(3)
As used in division (W) of this section, "foreign national"
has
means
any of the
same
meaning as in following:
(a) A "foreign national" for purposes of section 441e(b) of the Federal Election Campaign Act;
(b) A corporation that is owned twenty per cent or more by persons or entities whose domicile, if the owner is a corporation, or whose citizenship, if the owner is an individual or an unincorporated association or entity, is outside the United States;
(c) A corporation that is owned five per cent or more by any one person or entity whose domicile, if the owner is a corporation, or whose citizenship, if the owner is an individual or an unincorporated association or entity, is outside the United States.
(X)(1) No state or county political party shall transfer any moneys from its restricted fund to any account of the political party into which contributions may be made or from which contributions or expenditures may be made.
(2)(a) No state or county political party shall deposit a contribution or contributions that it receives into its restricted fund.
(b) No state or county political party shall make a contribution or an expenditure from its restricted fund.
(3)(a) No corporation or labor organization shall make a gift or gifts from the corporation's or labor organization's money or property aggregating more than ten thousand dollars to any one state or county political party for the party's restricted fund in a calendar year.
(b) No state or county political party shall accept a gift or gifts for the party's restricted fund aggregating more than ten thousand dollars from any one corporation or labor organization in a calendar year.
(4) No state or county political party shall transfer any moneys in the party's restricted fund to any other state or county political party.
(5) No state or county political party shall knowingly fail to file a statement required under section 3517.1012 of the Revised Code.
(Y) The administrator of workers' compensation and the employees of the bureau of workers' compensation shall not conduct any business with or award any contract, other than one awarded by competitive bidding, for the purchase of goods costing more than five hundred dollars or services costing more than five hundred dollars to any individual, partnership, association, including, without limitation, a professional association organized under Chapter 1785. of the Revised Code, estate, or trust, if the individual has made, or the individual's spouse has made, or any partner, shareholder, administrator, executor, or trustee, or the spouses of any of those individuals has made, as an individual, within the two previous calendar years, one or more contributions totaling in excess of one thousand dollars to the campaign committee of the governor or lieutenant governor or to the campaign committee of any candidate for the office of governor or lieutenant governor.
(Z) The administrator of workers' compensation and the employees of the bureau of workers' compensation shall not conduct business with or award any contract, other than one awarded by competitive bidding, for the purchase of goods costing more than five hundred dollars or services costing more than five hundred dollars to a corporation or business trust, except a professional association organized under Chapter 1785. of the Revised Code, if an owner of more than twenty per cent of the corporation or business trust, or the spouse of the owner, has made, as an individual, within the two previous calendar years, taking into consideration only owners for all of such period, one or more contributions totaling in excess of one thousand dollars to the campaign committee of the governor or lieutenant governor or to the campaign committee of any candidate for the office of governor or lieutenant governor.
Sec.
3599.03. (A)(1)
Except to carry on activities specified in sections 3517.082,
3517.101, 3517.105,
and
3517.1011, division (A)(2) of section 3517.1012, division (B) of
section 3517.1013, division (C)(1) of section 3517.1014, and section
3599.031 of the Revised Code and except as otherwise
provided
in divisions
(D), (E), and (F) of this
section, no corporation, no nonprofit corporation, and no labor
organization, directly or indirectly, shall pay or use, or offer,
advise, consent, or agree to pay or use, the corporation's money or
property, or the labor organization's money, including dues,
initiation fees, or other assessments paid by members, or property,
for or in aid of or opposition to a political party, a candidate for
election or nomination to public office, a political action committee
including a political action committee of the corporation or labor
organization, a legislative campaign fund, or any organization that
supports or opposes any such candidate, or for any partisan political
purpose, shall violate any law requiring the filing of an affidavit
or statement respecting such use of those funds, or shall pay or use
the corporation's or labor organization's money for the expenses of a
social fund-raising event for its political action committee if an
employee's or labor organization member's right to attend such an
event is predicated on the employee's or member's contribution to the
corporation's or labor organization's political action committee.
(2) Whoever violates division (A)(1) of this section shall be fined not less than five hundred nor more than five thousand dollars.
(B)(1) No officer, stockholder, attorney, or agent of a corporation or nonprofit corporation, no member, including an officer, attorney, or agent, of a labor organization, and no candidate, political party official, or other individual shall knowingly aid, advise, solicit, or receive money or other property in violation of division (A)(1) of this section.
(2) Whoever violates division (B)(1) of this section shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.
(C)
A
Except
as otherwise provided in division (W) of section 3517.13 of the
Revised Code, a corporation,
a nonprofit corporation, or a labor organization may use its funds or
property for or in aid of or opposition to a proposed or certified
ballot issue. Such use of funds or property shall be reported on
a form prescribed by the secretary of state. Reports of contributions
in connection with statewide ballot issues shall be filed with the
secretary of state. Reports of contributions in connection with local
issues shall be filed with the board of elections of the most
populous county of the district in which the issue is submitted or to
be submitted to the electors. Reports made pursuant to this division
shall be filed by the times specified in
divisions
(A)(1) and (2) of section accordance
with sections 3517.10
and
3517.105 of
the Revised Code.
(D)
A nonprofit corporation that is a membership association and that is
exempt from taxation under subsection 501(c)(6) of the Internal
Revenue Code may transfer contributions received as part of a regular
dues payment from member partnerships and other unincorporated
businesses as defined in division (I)(6)
(F)(4)
of
section 3517.10 of the Revised Code to its political action
committee. Contributions received under this division shall be
itemized and allocated to individuals subject to contribution limits.
(E)(1) Any gift made pursuant to section 3517.101 of the Revised Code does not constitute a violation of this section or of any other section of the Revised Code.
(2) Any gift made pursuant to division (A)(2) of section 3517.1012 of the Revised Code does not constitute a violation of this section.
(3) Any gift made pursuant to division (B) of section 3517.1013 of the Revised Code does not constitute a violation of this section.
(4) Any donation made pursuant to division (C)(1) of section 3517.1014 of the Revised Code does not constitute a violation of this section.
(F) Any compensation or fees paid by a financial institution to a state political party for services rendered pursuant to division (B) of section 3517.19 of the Revised Code do not constitute a violation of this section or of any other section of the Revised Code.
(G)(1) The use by a nonprofit corporation of its money or property for communicating information for a purpose specified in division (A) of this section is not a violation of that division if the stockholders, members, donors, trustees, or officers of the nonprofit corporation are the predominant recipients of the communication.
(2) The placement of a campaign sign on the property of a corporation, nonprofit corporation, or labor organization is not a use of property in violation of division (A) of this section by that corporation, nonprofit corporation, or labor organization.
(3) The use by a corporation or labor organization of its money or property for communicating information for a purpose specified in division (A) of this section is not a violation of that division if it is not a communication made by mass broadcast such as radio or television or made by advertising in a newspaper of general circulation but is a communication sent exclusively to members, employees, officers, or trustees of that labor organization or shareholders, employees, officers, or directors of that corporation or to members of the immediate families of any such individuals or if the communication intended to be so sent exclusively is unintentionally sent as well to a de minimis number of other individuals.
(H) In addition to the laws listed in division (A) of section 4117.10 of the Revised Code that prevail over conflicting agreements between employee organizations and public employers, this section prevails over any conflicting provisions of agreements between labor organizations and public employers that are entered into on or after March 31, 2005, pursuant to Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code.
(I) As used in this section, "labor organization" has the same meaning as in section 3517.01 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 3921.22. (A) A fraternal benefit society shall hold, invest, and disburse all assets for the use and benefit of the society. No member or beneficiary shall have or acquire individual rights to the assets, or be entitled to any apportionment on the surrender of any part of the assets, except as provided in the benefit contract.
(B)
A society may create, maintain, invest, disburse, and apply any
special fund or funds necessary to carry out any purpose permitted by
the laws of the society. No society shall, directly or indirectly,
pay or use, or offer, consent, or agree to pay or use, any of its
funds, money, or property for or in aid of any political party,
campaign committee, political action committee, continuing
association, political
contributing entity, or
any other political organization.
(C) A society may, pursuant to resolution of its supreme governing body, establish and operate one or more separate accounts and issue contracts on a variable basis, subject to the provisions of law regulating life insurers that establish such accounts and issue such contracts including those described in section 3911.011 of the Revised Code. To the extent the society considers it necessary in order to comply with any applicable federal or state law, or any rule issued under that law, the society may do any of the following:
(1) Adopt special procedures for the conduct of the business and affairs of a separate account;
(2) For persons having beneficial interests in the account, provide special voting and other rights, including special rights and procedures relating to investment policy, investment advisory services, selection of certified public accountants, and selection of a committee to manage the business and affairs of the account;
(3) Issue contracts on a variable basis to which divisions (B) and (D) of section 3921.19 of the Revised Code do not apply.
Sec. 4503.03. (A)(1)(a) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, the registrar of motor vehicles may designate one or more of the following persons to act as a deputy registrar in each county:
(i) The county auditor in any county;
(ii) The clerk of a court of common pleas in any county;
(iii) An individual;
(iv) A nonprofit corporation as defined in division (C) of section 1702.01 of the Revised Code.
All fees collected and retained by a clerk for conducting deputy registrar services shall be paid into the county treasury to the credit of the certificate of title administration fund created under section 325.33 of the Revised Code.
(b) As part of the selection process in awarding a deputy registrar contract, the registrar shall consider the customer service performance record of any person previously awarded a deputy registrar contract pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section.
(2) Deputy registrars shall accept applications for the annual license tax for any vehicle not taxed under section 4503.63 of the Revised Code and shall assign distinctive numbers in the same manner as the registrar. Such deputies shall be located in such locations as the registrar sees fit. Except as provided in division (A)(3) of this section, there shall be at least one deputy registrar in each county.
(3) The registrar need not appoint a deputy registrar in a county to which all of the following apply:
(a) No individual, nonprofit corporation, or, where applicable, clerk of court of common pleas participates in the competitive selection process to be designated as a deputy registrar;
(b) Neither the county auditor nor the clerk of court of common pleas agrees to be designated as a deputy registrar;
(c) No individual or nonprofit corporation agrees to be designated as a deputy registrar;
(d) No deputy registrar operating an existing deputy registrar agency in another county agrees to be designated as the deputy registrar for that county.
(4) The registrar may reestablish a deputy registrar in any county without a deputy registrar if any of the following apply:
(a) The county auditor requests to be designated as a deputy registrar;
(b) The clerk of court of common pleas requests to be designated as a deputy registrar;
(c) A deputy registrar operating an existing deputy registrar agency in another county requests to be designated as a deputy registrar for that county;
(d) A qualified individual or nonprofit corporation requests to be designated as a deputy registrar. In the event that two or more qualified individuals, nonprofit corporations, or a combination thereof, request to be designated as a deputy registrar, the registrar may make the designation through the competitive selection process.
Deputy registrar contracts are subject to the provisions of division (B) of section 125.081 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1)
The registrar shall not designate any person to act as a deputy
registrar under division (A)(1) of this section if the person or,
where applicable, the person's spouse or a member of the person's
immediate family has made, within the current calendar year or any
one of the previous three calendar years, one or more contributions
totaling in excess of one hundred dollars to any person or entity
included in division (A)(2) of section 4503.033 of the Revised Code.
As used in this division, "immediate family" has the same
meaning as in division (D) of section 102.01 of the Revised Code, and
"entity" includes any political party and any "continuing
association""political
contributing entity"
as defined in division
(C)(4) of section
3517.01 of the Revised Code or "political action committee"
as defined in division
(C)(8) of that
section that is primarily associated with that political party. For
purposes of this division, contributions to any continuing
association political
contributing entity or
any political action committee that is primarily associated with a
political party shall be aggregated with contributions to that
political party.
The contribution limitations contained in this division do not apply to any county auditor or clerk of a court of common pleas. A county auditor or clerk of a court of common pleas is not required to file the disclosure statement or pay the filing fee required under section 4503.033 of the Revised Code. The limitations of this division also do not apply to a deputy registrar who, subsequent to being awarded a deputy registrar contract, is elected to an office of a political subdivision.
(2) The registrar shall not designate either of the following to act as a deputy registrar:
(a) Any elected public official other than a county auditor or, as authorized by division (A)(1) of this section, a clerk of a court of common pleas, acting in an official capacity, except that, the registrar shall continue and may renew a contract with any deputy registrar who, subsequent to being awarded a deputy registrar contract, is elected to an office of a political subdivision;
(b) Any person holding a current, valid contract to conduct motor vehicle inspections under section 3704.14 of the Revised Code.
(3) As used in division (B) of this section, "political subdivision" has the same meaning as in section 3501.01 of the Revised Code.
(C)(1) Except as provided in division (C)(2) of this section, deputy registrars are independent contractors and neither they nor their employees are employees of this state, except that nothing in this section shall affect the status of county auditors or clerks of courts of common pleas as public officials, nor the status of their employees as employees of any of the counties of this state, which are political subdivisions of this state. Each deputy registrar shall be responsible for the payment of all unemployment compensation premiums, all workers' compensation premiums, social security contributions, and any and all taxes for which the deputy registrar is legally responsible. Each deputy registrar shall comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws requiring the withholding of income taxes or other taxes from the compensation of the deputy registrar's employees. Each deputy registrar shall maintain during the entire term of the deputy registrar's contract a policy of business liability insurance satisfactory to the registrar and shall hold the department of public safety, the director of public safety, the bureau of motor vehicles, and the registrar harmless upon any and all claims for damages arising out of the operation of the deputy registrar agency.
(2) For purposes of Chapter 4141. of the Revised Code, determinations concerning the employment of deputy registrars and their employees shall be made under Chapter 4141. of the Revised Code.
(D)(1) With the approval of the director, the registrar shall adopt rules governing deputy registrars. The rules shall do all of the following:
(a) Establish requirements governing the terms of the contract between the registrar and each deputy registrar and the services to be performed;
(b) Establish requirements governing the amount of bond to be given as provided in this section;
(c) Establish requirements governing the size and location of the deputy's office;
(d) Establish requirements governing the leasing of equipment necessary to conduct the vision screenings required under section 4507.12 of the Revised Code and training in the use of the equipment;
(e) Encourage every deputy registrar to inform the public of the location of the deputy registrar's office and hours of operation by means of public service announcements;
(f) Allow any deputy registrar to advertise in regard to the operation of the deputy registrar's office, including allowing nonprofit corporations operating as a deputy registrar to advertise that a specified amount of proceeds collected by the nonprofit corporation are directed to a specified charitable organization or philanthropic cause;
(g) Specify the hours the deputy's office is to be open to the public and require as a minimum that one deputy's office in each county be open to the public for at least four hours each weekend, provided that if only one deputy's office is located within the boundary of the county seat, that office is the office that shall be open for the four-hour period each weekend;
(h) Specify that every deputy registrar, upon request, provide any person with information about the location and office hours of all deputy registrars in the county;
(i) Allow a deputy registrar contract to be awarded to a nonprofit corporation formed under the laws of this state;
(j) Establish procedures for a deputy registrar to request the authority to collect reinstatement fees under sections 4507.1612, 4507.45, 4509.101, 4509.81, 4510.10, 4510.22, 4510.72, and 4511.191 of the Revised Code and to transmit the reinstatement fees and two dollars of the service fee collected under those sections. The registrar shall ensure that at least one deputy registrar in each county has the necessary equipment and is able to accept reinstatement fees. The registrar shall deposit the service fees received from a deputy registrar under those sections into the public safety - highway purposes fund created in section 4501.06 of the Revised Code and shall use the money for deputy registrar equipment necessary in connection with accepting reinstatement fees.
(k) Establish standards for a deputy registrar, when the deputy registrar is not a county auditor or a clerk of a court of common pleas, to sell advertising rights to third party businesses to be placed in the deputy registrar's office;
(l) Allow any deputy registrar that is not a county auditor or a clerk of a court of common pleas to operate a vending machine;
(m) Establish such other requirements as the registrar and director consider necessary to provide a high level of service.
(2) The rules may allow both of the following:
(a) The registrar to award a contract to a deputy registrar to operate more than one deputy registrar's office if determined by the registrar to be practical;
(b) A nonprofit corporation formed for the purposes of providing automobile-related services to its members or the public and that provides such services from more than one location in this state to operate a deputy registrar office at any location.
(3) As a daily adjustment, the bureau of motor vehicles shall credit to a deputy registrar the amount established under section 4503.038 of the Revised Code for each damaged license plate or validation sticker the deputy registrar replaces as a service to a member of the public.
(4)(a) With the prior approval of the registrar, each deputy registrar may conduct at the location of the deputy registrar's office any business that is consistent with the functions of a deputy registrar and that is not specifically mandated or authorized by this or another chapter of the Revised Code or by implementing rules of the registrar.
(b) In accordance with guidelines the director of public safety shall establish, a deputy registrar may operate or contract for the operation of a vending machine at a deputy registrar location if products of the vending machine are consistent with the functions of a deputy registrar.
(c) A deputy registrar may enter into an agreement with the Ohio turnpike and infrastructure commission pursuant to division (A)(11) of section 5537.04 of the Revised Code for the purpose of allowing the general public to acquire from the deputy registrar the electronic toll collection devices that are used under the multi-jurisdiction electronic toll collection agreement between the Ohio turnpike and infrastructure commission and any other entities or agencies that participate in such an agreement. The approval of the registrar is not necessary if a deputy registrar engages in this activity.
(5) As used in this section and in section 4507.01 of the Revised Code, "nonprofit corporation" has the same meaning as in section 1702.01 of the Revised Code.
(E)(1) Unless otherwise terminated and except for interim contracts lasting not longer than one year, contracts with deputy registrars shall be entered into through a competitive selection process and shall be limited in duration as follows:
(a) For contracts entered into between July 1, 1996 and June 29, 2014, for a period of not less than two years, but not more than three years;
(b) For contracts entered into on or after June 29, 2014, for a period of five years, unless the registrar determines that a shorter contract term is appropriate for a particular deputy registrar.
(2) All contracts with deputy registrars shall expire on the last Saturday of June in the year of their expiration. Prior to the expiration of any deputy registrar contract, the registrar, with the approval of the director, may award a one-year contract extension to any deputy registrar who has provided exemplary service based upon objective performance evaluations.
(3)(a) The auditor of state may examine the accounts, reports, systems, and other data of each deputy registrar at least every two years. The registrar, with the approval of the director, shall immediately remove a deputy who violates any provision of the Revised Code related to the duties as a deputy, any rule adopted by the registrar, or a term of the deputy's contract with the registrar. The registrar also may remove a deputy who, in the opinion of the registrar, has engaged in any conduct that is either unbecoming to one representing this state or is inconsistent with the efficient operation of the deputy's office.
(b) If the registrar, with the approval of the director, determines that there is good cause to believe that a deputy registrar or a person proposing for a deputy registrar contract has engaged in any conduct that would require the denial or termination of the deputy registrar contract, the registrar may require the production of books, records, and papers as the registrar determines are necessary, and may take the depositions of witnesses residing within or outside the state in the same manner as is prescribed by law for the taking of depositions in civil actions in the court of common pleas, and for that purpose the registrar may issue a subpoena for any witness or a subpoena duces tecum to compel the production of any books, records, or papers, directed to the sheriff of the county where the witness resides or is found. Such a subpoena shall be served and returned in the same manner as a subpoena in a criminal case is served and returned. The fees of the sheriff shall be the same as that allowed in the court of common pleas in criminal cases. Witnesses shall be paid the fees and mileage provided for under section 119.094 of the Revised Code. The fees and mileage shall be paid from the fund in the state treasury for the use of the agency in the same manner as other expenses of the agency are paid.
In any case of disobedience or neglect of any subpoena served on any person or the refusal of any witness to testify to any matter regarding which the witness lawfully may be interrogated, the court of common pleas of any county where the disobedience, neglect, or refusal occurs or any judge of that court, on application by the registrar, shall compel obedience by attachment proceedings for contempt, as in the case of disobedience of the requirements of a subpoena issued from that court, or a refusal to testify in that court.
(4) Nothing in division (E) of this section shall be construed to require a hearing of any nature prior to the termination of any deputy registrar contract by the registrar, with the approval of the director, for cause.
(F) Except as provided in section 2743.03 of the Revised Code, no court, other than the court of common pleas of Franklin county, has jurisdiction of any action against the department of public safety, the director, the bureau, or the registrar to restrain the exercise of any power or authority, or to entertain any action for declaratory judgment, in the selection and appointment of, or contracting with, deputy registrars. Neither the department, the director, the bureau, nor the registrar is liable in any action at law for damages sustained by any person because of any acts of the department, the director, the bureau, or the registrar, or of any employee of the department or bureau, in the performance of official duties in the selection and appointment of, and contracting with, deputy registrars.
(G) The registrar shall assign to each deputy registrar a series of numbers sufficient to supply the demand at all times in the area the deputy registrar serves, and the registrar shall keep a record in the registrar's office of the numbers within the series assigned. Except as otherwise provided in section 3.061 of the Revised Code, each deputy shall be required to give bond in the amount of at least twenty-five thousand dollars, or in such higher amount as the registrar determines necessary, based on a uniform schedule of bond amounts established by the registrar and determined by the volume of registrations handled by the deputy. The form of the bond shall be prescribed by the registrar. The bonds required of deputy registrars, in the discretion of the registrar, may be individual or schedule bonds or may be included in any blanket bond coverage carried by the department.
(H) Each deputy registrar shall keep a file of each application received by the deputy and shall register that motor vehicle with the name and address of its owner.
(I) Upon request, a deputy registrar shall make the physical inspection of a motor vehicle and issue the physical inspection certificate required in section 4505.061 of the Revised Code.
(J) Each deputy registrar shall file a report semiannually with the registrar of motor vehicles listing the number of applicants for licenses the deputy has served, the number of voter registration applications the deputy has completed and transmitted to the board of elections, and the number of voter registration applications declined.
Section 2. That existing sections 3517.01, 3517.08, 3517.10, 3517.102, 3517.105, 3517.106, 3517.107, 3517.13, 3599.03, 3921.22, and 4503.03 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Section 3. This act shall be known as the Ohio Anti-Corruption Act.