As Passed by the Senate

136th General Assembly

Regular Session Am. S. B. No. 223

2025-2026

To amend section 1546.04 of the Revised Code to require the ODNR Chief of the Division of Parks and Watercraft to establish a discount program for veterans and service members for park services and rentals.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That section 1546.04 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 1546.04. (A) Except as provided in this section, the chief of the division of parks and watercraft, with the approval of the director of natural resources, shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that are necessary for the proper management of state parks, bodies of water, and the lands adjacent to them under its jurisdiction and control, including rules:

(1) Governing opening and closing times and dates of state parks;

(2) Establishing fees and charges for use of facilities in state parks;

(3) Governing camps, camping, and fees for camps and camping;

(4) Governing the application for and rental of, rental fees for, and the use of cottages;

(5) Relating to public use of state park lands, and governing the operation of motor vehicles, including speeds and parking on those lands;

(6) Governing all advertising within state parks and requirements for the operation of places selling tangible personal property and food service sales on lands and waters under the control of the division. The rules shall establish uniform requirements for those operations and sales.

(7) Providing uniform standards relating to the size, type, location, construction, and maintenance of structures and devices used for fishing or moorage of watercraft, rowboats, sailboats, and powercraft over waters under the control of the division and establishing reasonable fees for the construction of, and annual use permits for, those structures and devices;

(8) Governing state beaches, swimming, inflatable devices, and fees for them;

(9) Governing the removal and disposition of any watercraft, rowboat, sailboat, or powercraft left unattended for more than seven days on any lands or waters under the control of the division;

(10) Governing the establishment and collection of check collection charges for checks that are returned to the division or dishonored for any reason;

(11) Governing natural resources officers in all parks and bodies of water and lands adjacent to those bodies under the supervision and control of the division as are necessary to the proper management of such parks and bodies of water.

~~(B)~~(B)(1) The chief shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing a discount program for all persons who are issued a golden buckeye card under section 173.06 of the Revised Code. The discount program shall provide a discount for all park services and rentals, but shall not provide a discount for the purchase of merchandise.

(2) The chief also shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing a discount program for all veterans and service members who present, in a manner determined by the chief, a valid form of documentation. The discount program shall provide a twenty-five per cent discount for all park services and rentals but shall not provide a discount for the purchase of merchandise.

(3) As used in division (B)(2) of this section:

(a) "Veteran" and "service member" have the same meanings as in section 5903.01 of the Revised Code.

(b) "Valid form of documentation" means any of the following:

(i) An Ohio veterans identification card issued under section 317.241 of the Revised Code;

(ii) A United States department of defense authorized common access card;

(iii) A United States department of defense uniformed services identification and privilege card DD form 1173;

(iv) A United States department of defense issued next generation USID card;

(v) A military annual pass or military lifetime pass version of the national parks and federal recreational lands pass;

(vi) A veteran health identification card issued by the United States department of veterans affairs.

(C) The chief, with the approval of the director of natural resources, may adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that establish all of the following:

(1) Requirements governing the administration of state parks;

(2) Requirements considered necessary by the chief to supplement the identification, operation, titling, use, registration, and numbering of watercraft or vessels as provided in Chapters 1547. and 1548. of the Revised Code;

(3) Requirements governing the navigation of vessels on waters in this state, including rules regarding steering and sailing, the conduct of vessels in sight of one another or in restricted visibility, lights and shapes of lights used on vessels, and sound and light signals. As the chief considers necessary, the chief shall ensure that those rules are consistent with and equivalent to the regulations and interpretive rulings governing inland waters adopted or issued under the "Inland Navigational Rules Act of 1980," 94 Stat. 3415, 33 U.S.C. 151, 1604, 1605, 1608, 2001 to 2008, and 2071 to 2073.

(4) Requirements and procedures governing vessel safety inspection checkpoints, including procedures that comply with statutory and constitutional provisions governing searches and seizures by law enforcement officers;

(5) Fees and charges for all of the following:

(a) Boating skill development classes and other educational classes;

(b) Law enforcement services provided at special events when the services are in addition to normal enforcement duties;

(D) The chief shall not adopt rules under this section establishing fees or charges for parking a motor vehicle in a state park or for admission to a state park.

Section 2. That existing section 1546.04 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.