OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
S.B. 173 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for S.B. 173’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Passed by the Senate
Primary Sponsors: Sens. DeMora and Gavarone
Effective date:
S. Ben Fogle, Attorney
SUMMARY
 Includes election officials as designated public service workers for purposes of the law
that exempts those workers’ residential and familial information from being disclosed as
a public record.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Election officials as designated public service workers
The bill includes election officials as designated public service workers for purposes of
the law that exempts those workers’ residential and familial information from being disclosed
as a public record. Continuing law includes a number of other persons as designated public
service workers, such as law enforcement and other first responders, judges, prosecutors, and
certain medical and social service providers.1
The term “election official” means all of the following persons:2
 The Secretary of State;
 Employees of the Secretary of State serving the Division of Elections in the capacity of
attorney, administrative officer, administrative assistant, elections administrator, office
manager, or clerical supervisor;
 The members of a board of elections;
 The director and deputy director of a board of elections;
1 R.C. 149.43(A)(1)(p), (7), and (9).
2 R.C. 3501.01(U), not in the bill.
July 2, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
 Full-time employees of a board of elections.
Background on the designated public service worker exemption
Exempted information
Continuing law prohibits state and local public offices from disclosing any of the
following information about a designated public service worker pursuant to a public records
request:3
 The person’s actual personal residence address, unless the person is a judge or a
prosecutor, whose eligibility for election is based on the person’s place of residence. A
public office may disclose the state or political subdivision in which the person resides.
 The person’s residential or emergency telephone number;
 The person’s Social Security number, financial account information, or medical
information. (Public offices generally are prohibited from disclosing that information
about any individual.)4
 Any of the information listed above regarding the person’s spouse, former spouse, or
child, as well as the spouse, former spouse, or child’s name, employer, or work address;
 The name of any beneficiary of the person’s employment benefits;
 The identity and amount of any charitable or employment benefit deduction the
person’s employer makes from the person’s compensation, unless the amount of the
deduction is required to be disclosed under state or federal law;
 Information compiled from referral to or participation in an employee assistance
program;
 A photograph of a peace officer whose duties may include undercover or plain clothes
assignments.
Notifying public offices
In general, a public office does not know whether a person qualifies as a designated
public service worker unless the person notifies the office to redact the person’s information
from publicly available records. Continuing law includes some mechanisms for a designated
public service worker to do so.
A designated public service worker may request a state or local public office, other than
a county auditor, to redact the person’s residence address from any records the office makes
available to the public on the internet. The request must be made on a form prescribed by the
3 R.C. 149.43(A)(8).
4 R.C. 149.43; R.C. 149.45(A) and (B) and 3503.13, not in the bill; and 42 United States Code
405(c)(2)(C)(viii).
P a g e |2 S.B. 173
As Passed by the Senate
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Attorney General. For example, an eligible person may request a board of elections to redact
the person’s address from the public version of its voter registration records.5
In the case of a county auditor, an eligible person instead may request the auditor to
substitute the person’s initials for the person’s name on publicly available property tax records.
Because a county auditor’s records are based on the property itself, the address cannot be
redacted.6
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 10-17-23
Reported, S. General Government 06-26-24
Passed Senate (30-1) 06-26-24
ANSB0173PS-135/ar
5 R.C. 149.45 and 3503.13, not in the bill. See also Ohio Attorney General, Redaction Request Forms,
available at ohioattorneygeneral.gov under “Legal Community,” “Sunshine Laws.”
6 R.C. 319.28(B), not in the bill.
P a g e |3 S.B. 173
As Passed by the Senate


Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 149.43
As Reported By Senate Committee: 149.43
As Passed By Senate: 149.43