(131st General Assembly)
(Amended Substitute House Bill Number 164)
AN ACT
To amend sections 2953.36 and 2953.51 of the Revised Code to allow a person who is convicted of an offense that may not be sealed to apply to have the conviction sealed if, before the person makes that application, the offense is changed so that it may be sealed and to specify that investigation reports the Inspector General maintains are not official records sealable under the Not Guilty/Dismissed Charges/No Bill Record Sealing Law.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
Section 1. That sections 2953.36 and 2953.51 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec.
2953.36. Sections
(A)
Except as otherwise provided in division
(B) of this section, sections
2953.31 to 2953.35 of the Revised Code do
not apply to any of the following:
(A)
(1)
Convictions when the offender is subject to
a mandatory prison term;
(B)
(2)
Convictions under section 2907.02, 2907.03,
2907.04, 2907.05, 2907.06, 2907.321, 2907.322, or 2907.323, former
section 2907.12, or Chapter 4507., 4510., 4511., or 4549. of the
Revised Code, or a conviction for a violation of a municipal
ordinance that is substantially similar to any section contained in
any of those chapters, except as otherwise provided in section
2953.61 of the Revised Code;
(C)
(3)
Convictions of an offense of violence when
the offense is a misdemeanor of the first degree or a felony and when
the offense is not a violation of section 2917.03 of the Revised Code
and is not a violation of section 2903.13, 2917.01, or 2917.31 of the
Revised Code that is a misdemeanor of the first degree;
(D)
(4)
Convictions on or after October 10, 2007,
under section 2907.07 of the Revised Code or a conviction on or after
October 10, 2007, for a violation of a municipal ordinance that is
substantially similar to that section;
(E)
(5)
Convictions on or after October 10, 2007,
under section 2907.08, 2907.09, 2907.21, 2907.22, 2907.23, 2907.31,
2907.311, 2907.32, or 2907.33 of the Revised Code when the victim of
the offense was under eighteen years of age;
(F)
(6)
Convictions of an offense in circumstances
in which the victim of the offense was under eighteen years of age
when the offense is a misdemeanor of the first degree or a felony,
except for convictions under section 2919.21 of the Revised Code;
(G)
(7)
Convictions of a felony of the first or
second degree;
(H)
(8)
Bail forfeitures in a traffic case as
defined in Traffic Rule 2.
(B) Sections 2953.31 to 2953.35 of the Revised Code apply to a conviction listed in this section if, on the date of the conviction, those sections did not apply to the conviction, but after the date of the conviction, the penalty for or classification of the offense was changed so that those sections apply to the conviction.
Sec. 2953.51. As used in sections 2953.51 to 2953.56 of the Revised Code:
(A) "No bill" means a report by the foreperson or deputy foreperson of a grand jury that an indictment is not found by the grand jury against a person who has been held to answer before the grand jury for the commission of an offense.
(B) "Prosecutor" has the same meaning as in section 2953.31 of the Revised Code.
(C) "Court" means the court in which a case is pending at the time a finding of not guilty in the case or a dismissal of the complaint, indictment, or information in the case is entered on the minutes or journal of the court, or the court to which the foreperson or deputy foreperson of a grand jury reports, pursuant to section 2939.23 of the Revised Code, that the grand jury has returned a no bill.
(D)
"Official records" means all records that are possessed by
any public office or agency that relate to a criminal case,
including, but not limited to: the notation to the case in the
criminal docket; all subpoenas issued in the case; all papers and
documents filed by the defendant or the prosecutor in the case; all
records of all testimony and evidence presented in all proceedings in
the case; all court files, papers, documents, folders, entries,
affidavits, or writs that pertain to the case; all computer,
microfilm, microfiche, or microdot records, indices, or references to
the case; all index references to the case; all fingerprints and
photographs; all DNA specimens, DNA records, and DNA profiles; all
records and investigative reports pertaining to the case that are
possessed by any law enforcement officer or agency, except that any
records or reports that are the specific investigatory work product
of a law enforcement officer or agency are not and shall not be
considered to be official records when they are in the possession of
that officer or agency; and all investigative records and reports
other than those possessed by a law enforcement officer or agency
pertaining to the case. "Official records" does not include
records
any of the following:
(1) Records or reports maintained pursuant to section 2151.421 of the Revised Code by a public children services agency or the department of job and family services;
(2) Any report of an investigation maintained by the inspector general pursuant to section 121.42 of the Revised Code, to the extent that the report contains information that pertains to an individual who was convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense discovered in or related to the investigation and whose conviction or guilty plea was not overturned on appeal.
(E) "DNA database," "DNA record," "DNA specimen," and "law enforcement agency" have the same meanings as in section 109.573 of the Revised Code.
(F) "Fingerprints filed for record" has the same meaning as in section 2953.31 of the Revised Code.
Section 2. That existing sections 2953.36 and 2953.51 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
Speaker ___________________ of the House of Representatives.
President ___________________ of the Senate.
Passed ________________________, 20____
Approved ________________________, 20____
Governor.
The section numbering of law of a general and permanent nature is complete and in conformity with the Revised Code.
Director, Legislative Service Commission.
Filed in the office of the Secretary of State at Columbus, Ohio, on the ____ day of ___________, A. D. 20____.
Secretary of State.
File No. _________ Effective Date ___________________