OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
S.B. 98 Final Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for S.B. 98’s Fiscal Note
Primary Sponsor: Sen. Rulli
Effective date: October 24, 2024
Effective date:
Abby McMahon, Attorney UPDATED VERSION*
SUMMARY
Fraudulent business filings
▪ Prohibits filings under the Commercial Transactions Law or the Corporations and
Partnerships Law that include the name or address of another person without their
consent or that are submitted by a person that lacks authority to make the filing (i.e.,
”fraudulent filings”).
▪ Authorizes any person who believes the person has been impacted by a fraudulent filing
to file a complaint with the Secretary of State (SOS).
▪ Requires the SOS to review each complaint and allows the SOS to forward any likely
violations to a county prosecutor for criminal investigation.
▪ Requires the SOS, upon determining that a complaint indicates a likely violation and
meets the act's content-related requirements, to send a notice and demand to the alleged
fraudulent filer.
▪ Requires a person that receives a notice and demand to respond to the allegations within
21 days.
▪ Requires the SOS to cancel or invalidate filings that are determined to be fraudulent or
unauthorized.
▪ Allows aggrieved parties to appeal the SOS’s determinations or actions under the
Administrative Procedure Act.
* This version updates the effective date.
August 6, 2024
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Statutory agents
▪ Requires a statutory agent appointment to include the address of the agent’s primary
residence or usual place of business in Ohio.
▪ Specifies that a post office box does not qualify as a valid address for a statutory agent.
Limitation on reinstating business entities
▪ Limits the period in which corporations, associations, and limited liability companies can
be reinstated to two years from the date on which the entity was abolished.
Solicitations related to public records
▪ Requires a person, who is not a government entity, that solicits a filing or copy retrieval
fee for a public record to include certain disclosures with the solicitation.
Property tax exemptions and abatements
▪ Extends an exemption available to political subdivisions and charitable and educational
institutions that use or lease property exclusively for charitable, educational, or public
purposes to religious institutions and for the purpose of public worship.
▪ Modifies an exemption for a convention center owned by the largest city in a county with
a population of between 235,000 and 300,000, i.e., the City of Mason in Warren County.
▪ Provides a temporary period for a county, metropolitan park district, municipality, or
community improvement corporation to apply for an exemption from property taxation
and abatement of unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest on certain property.
Fire investigator firearms training
▪ Permits fire investigators to attend approved peace officer training schools to receive
firearms training that would qualify them to carry firearms while on duty.
▪ Requires the Attorney General to adopt rules governing the training.
▪ Permits fire investigators to carry firearms on duty if both of the following apply:
 They are authorized to do so by their superiors;
 They either (1) have received a certificate from the Ohio Peace Officer Training
Commission certifying satisfactory completion of basic training, or (2) before or during
employment as a fire investigator, and before October 24, 2024 (the act’s effective
date), successfully completed another firearms training program approved by the
Commission.
▪ Protects a fire investigator who is authorized to carry firearms from potential civil or
criminal liability for any conduct that occurs while carrying firearms to the same extent as
law enforcement.
▪ Adds fire investigators to persons required to complete a firearms requalification
program.
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▪ Provides that a fire investigator who is qualified to carry firearms while on duty has the
same right to carry a concealed handgun in Ohio as a person who was issued a concealed
handgun license.
Reimbursement deadline
▪ Creates a one-year deadline for counties to submit reimbursement requests to the state
for the per diem compensation paid to acting/assigned county or municipal court judges.
Motor vehicle inspections
▪ Adds a clerk of a court of common pleas to the entities that, under certain circumstances,
are authorized to conduct a physical inspection of a motor vehicle, off-highway
motorcycle, or all-purpose vehicle when the owner applies for an Ohio certificate of title.
▪ Authorizes the clerk to collect a $5 service fee for the physical inspection.
Numbering of state ballot issues
▪ Requires that, beginning with the general election on November 5, 2024, a state issue
appearing at the top of the ballot must be designated as Issue 1 and any state issue placed
below that must be consecutively numbered.
▪ Requires that, for elections after November 5, 2024, a state issue appearing at the top of
the ballot must be designated by the next number after the number of the last state issue,
instead of starting over at Issue 1.
▪ Requires that the numbers reset to state issue 1 after state Issue 500 appears on the
ballot.
Equestrian event facilities
▪ Exempts an equestrian event facility from recreational vehicle park and camp operation
license requirements under specified circumstances.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Fraudulent business filings ............................................................................................................. 4
Prohibitions ................................................................................................................................. 4
Complaints................................................................................................................................... 5
Review and evaluation ................................................................................................................ 5
Commencement of investigation ................................................................................................ 6
Content of notice and demand, and the response ..................................................................... 6
Concession by lack of response................................................................................................... 7
Resolving fraudulent filings ......................................................................................................... 7
Notice of outcome....................................................................................................................... 7
Statutory agents.............................................................................................................................. 8
Limitation on reinstating certain business entities ........................................................................ 8
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Solicitations related to public records ............................................................................................ 8
Property tax exemption for religious institutions .......................................................................... 9
Convention center property tax exemption ................................................................................. 10
Temporary property tax abatements ........................................................................................... 10
Fire investigator firearms training ................................................................................................ 11
Rules .......................................................................................................................................... 11
Fire investigators requirements for carrying firearms .............................................................. 11
Fire investigators firearms training courses .............................................................................. 12
Firearms requalification and license to carry firearms ............................................................. 12
Definitions ................................................................................................................................. 13
Reimbursement deadline.............................................................................................................. 13
Motor vehicle inspections............................................................................................................. 13
Numbering of state ballot issues .................................................................................................. 14
Equestrian event facilities ............................................................................................................. 14
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Fraudulent business filings
Prohibitions
The act prohibits all of the following:
▪ Including the name of another person on a document filed with the Secretary of State
(SOS) under the Commercial Transactions Law or the Corporations and Partnerships Law
without that person’s consent, if the named person is included in the filing as:
 A statutory agent;
 The individual causing the document to be delivered for filing;
 The person incorporating, forming, registering, or organizing an entity or name
registration;
 Any other person required to be identified in the document.
▪ Including an address in a document filed with the SOS under the Commercial Transactions
Law or the Corporations and Partnerships Law without the consent of either the owner
or occupant of that address;
▪ Delivering a document to the SOS required by the Commercial Transactions Law or the
Corporations and Partnerships Law concerning another person, without the necessary
consent or authority to do so.1
1 R.C. 111.243(A).
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Complaints
The act allows a person named in, or affected by a potential fraudulent filing to submit a
complaint to the SOS. The complaint must be on a form prescribed by the SOS, and must include
at least the following information:
▪ A description of the alleged violation;
▪ The name and contact information of the person making the complaint;
▪ The name and contact information of any third party authorized to submit the complaint
on behalf of the person that is named in, or affected by, the fraudulent filing;
▪ The document identification number assigned by the SOS to each alleged fraudulent
filing;
▪ If known, an identification number assigned by the SOS for each person associated with
the complaint and the filing;
▪ Information, if known, identifying each person involved in the filing, including names,
street addresses, telephone numbers, websites, and email addresses;
▪ Information, if known, identifying the nature of any business or personal relationship
between the person making the complaint and each person involved in the filing;
▪ A statement by the person making the complaint, under penalty of perjury, that the
person believes in good faith that the facts stated in the complaint are true;
▪ Any additional information that the person making the complaint believes may assist the
investigation.2
Review and evaluation
The SOS must review all complaints received under the act and evaluate whether the
complaint indicates a fraudulent filing and satisfies the content-related requirements described
above. If so, the SOS must investigate and also may refer the complaint to the prosecuting
attorney of the county where the person alleged to have made the fraudulent filing resides, or is
believed to reside based on the best available information, for any potential criminal
investigation.
If the SOS determines that the information provided in a fraudulent filing complaint does
not indicate a fraudulently filed document, or does not satisfy the relevant complaint
requirements, the SOS must notify the person that submitted the complaint and explain any
deficiencies.
The SOS also may ask a person who submits a complaint to submit additional information
concerning the alleged violation or the person’s failure to submit the required complaint
information. Regardless of the outcome, the SOS must notify the person who submitted a
2 R.C. 111.243(B).
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complaint of the outcome of the SOS’s review of the complaint. If the SOS rejects a complaint for
failure meet the relevant complaint requirements, the complaint may be resubmitted.3
Commencement of investigation
After determining that a complaint indicates a fraudulent filing and meets the act's
content-related requirements, the SOS must send a notice and demand to the person that is the
subject of the complaint. The SOS must send the notice and demand by mail, email, and
telephone, if the person’s address, email address, or telephone number is known by, or readily
available to, the SOS. The SOS also may provide written or verbal notice and demand to any other
person that the SOS determines, through investigation, is a means by which to reach the person
who is the subject of the complaint.4
Content of notice and demand, and the response
The SOS’s notice and demand must describe the allegations in the complaint and demand
that the person respond within 21 days after the notice and demand was mailed. The response
must include all of the following information:
▪ The name and contact information of the person responding to the notice and demand;
▪ If the responding person is an agent of the person that is the subject of the complaint,
any supporting documents that establish the agent’s authority to act on the person’s
behalf;
▪ The name of the entity at issue in the complaint;
▪ Information, if known, identifying each person involved in the alleged violation, including
names, street addresses, telephone numbers, websites, and email addresses;
▪ Information identifying the nature of any business or personal relationship between the
person that submitted the complaint and each person involved in the alleged violation,
excepting any privileged communications or information;
▪ A statement that affirms or denies having knowledge of or information about the alleged
violation;
▪ Any material evidence that is reasonably attainable to the person responding to the
notice and demand of written consent to use the name or address in the filing at issue in
the complaint.5
3 R.C. 111.243(C) through (F) and (L).
4 R.C. 111.243(G)(1) and (2).
5 R.C. 111.243(G)(3) and (H).
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Concession by lack of response
If the SOS does not receive a response within 21 days after mailing a notice and demand,
the person that is the subject of the complaint is deemed to have conceded to the allegations.6
Resolving fraudulent filings
Upon a prima facie showing that an entity was created without authorization or for