OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 431 Bill Analysis
133rd General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 431’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Abrams and Carfagna
Effective Date:
Sarah A. Maki, Attorney
SUMMARY
 Requires the Attorney General to establish and maintain the Sexual Exploitation
Database.
 Requires the Clerk of Courts to send a prostitution offender’s conviction record to the
Attorney General.
 Requires the Attorney General to enter a prostitution offender’s conviction record into
the Database if the person was convicted of or pleaded guilty to a prostitution offense
on or after the effective date of the bill.
 Requires the Attorney General to remove a prostitution offender’s conviction record
from the Database if five years have elapsed since the prostitution offender’s most
recent conviction of or plea of guilty to a prostitution offense.
 Allows the Attorney General to remove a prostitution offender’s conviction record from
the Database if the prostitution offender’s conviction of or plea of guilty to a
prostitution offense has been overturned, expunged, or sealed.
 Requires the Attorney General to adopt rules and prescribe forms for the establishment
and operation of the Database.
 Creates GRF line item 055436, Sexual Exploitation Database, in the Attorney General’s
operating budget, with an appropriation of $170,000 in FY 2020 and $20,000 in FY 2021.
January 22, 2020
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Sexual Exploitation Database
The bill requires the Attorney General to establish and maintain the Sexual Exploitation
Database.1
Submitting conviction records for the Database
The bill requires the Clerk of Courts to send a prostitution offender’s conviction record
to the Attorney General if the person is convicted of or pleads guilty to a prostitution offense
on or after the effective date of the bill.2
Entering conviction records into the Database
The bill requires the Attorney General to ensure that a prostitution offender’s conviction
record is entered into the Sexual Exploitation Database if the prostitution offender was
convicted of or pleaded guilty to the prostitution offense on or after the effective date of the
bill.3
Removing conviction records from the Database
The bill requires the Attorney General to ensure that a prostitution offender’s conviction
record is removed from the Sexual Exploitation Database in accordance with the following: 4
 Automatic removal: If five years have elapsed since the prostitution offender’s most
recent conviction of or plea of guilty to a prostitution offense, the Attorney General
must automatically remove the prostitution offender from the Sexual Exploitation
Database. The prostitution offender does not need to submit an application to be
automatically removed from the Sexual Exploitation Database.
 Removal by application: If the prostitution offender’s conviction of or plea of guilty to a
prostitution offense is overturned, expunged, or sealed prior to the automatic removal
from the Sexual Exploitation Database, the prostitution offender may submit an
application to have that conviction record removed from the Sexual Exploitation
Database. If the Attorney General approves the prostitution offender’s application to
have that conviction record removed from the Sexual Exploitation Database, the
Attorney General must remove that conviction record from the Sexual Exploitation
Database.
1 R.C. 109.96(B).
2 R.C. 109.96(C).
3 R.C. 109.96(D).
4 R.C. 109.96(E).
P a g e |2 H.B. 431
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Establishing rules and prescribing forms for the Database
The bill requires the Attorney General to adopt rules and prescribe forms for the
establishment and operation of the Sexual Exploitation Database. The rules and forms must
include procedures for a prostitution offender to submit an application to be removed from the
Sexual Exploitation Database and for the Attorney General to approve or deny a prostitution
offender’s application to be removed from the Sexual Exploitation Database.5
Definitions
The bill defines the following terms:
 “Conviction record” means a record containing all of the following:6
 The prostitution offender’s full legal name;
 The prostitution offender’s last known address;
 A color photograph of the prostitution offender;
 The offense that the prostitution offender was convicted of or pleaded guilty to
committing;
 The date the offense was committed;
 The county and municipality or township where the offense was committed.
 “Prostitution offender” means a person who was convicted of or pleaded guilty to a
prostitution offense.7
 “Prostitution offense” means a violation of either of the following:8
 A promoting prostitution offense;
 A soliciting offense if the offender offered to give the other person anything of value
in exchange for engaging in sexual activity for hire.
 “Sexual activity for hire” means an implicit or explicit agreement to provide sexual
activity in exchange for anything of value paid to the person engaging in such sexual
activity, to any person trafficking that person, or to any person associated with either
such person.9
5 R.C. 109.96(F).
6 R.C. 109.96(A)(1).
7 R.C. 109.96(A)(2).
8 R.C. 109.96(A)(3), by reference to R.C. 2907.22 and 2907.24, not in the bill.
9 R.C. 109.96(A)(4), by reference to R.C. 2907.24(E)(2), not in the bill.
P a g e |3 H.B. 431
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Appropriation
The bill creates GRF line item 055436, Sexual Exploitation Database, in the Attorney
General’s operating budget, with an appropriation of $170,000 in FY 2020 and $20,000 in
FY 2021.10
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 11-26-19
H0431-I-133/ks
10 Sections 2 and 3.
P a g e |4 H.B. 431
As Introduced