OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION Office of Research Legislative Budget www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office H.B. 305* Bill Analysis 135th General Assembly Click here for H.B. 305’s Fiscal Note Version: As Reported by Senate Judiciary Primary Sponsors: Reps. Stewart and Brown Effective date: Ashley F. Dean, Attorney and LSC staff SUMMARY Filing of pleadings and documents Common pleas court ▪ Requires the clerk of a common pleas court to determine whether the filing of pleadings or documents in electronic format may be accomplished by electronic mail or through the use of an online platform. ▪ Prohibits the clerk from doing the following: Requiring that any fee for such filing be paid before the filing, unless the clerk has provided for an electronic payment system for such filing. Requiring a fee for such filing that is greater than the applicable fee for the filing of pleadings or documents in paper format. ▪ Provides that its provisions do not apply to a probate court or juvenile court. Municipal court and county court ▪ Provides that, beginning not later than 270 days after the bill’s effective date, pleadings or documents may be filed with the clerk of a municipal court or the clerk of a county court either in paper format or in electronic format. ▪ Stipulates that documents created by such clerk in the exercise of the clerk’s duties may be created in an electronic format. * This analysis was prepared before the report of the Senate Judiciary Committee appeared in the Senate Journal. Note that the legislative history may be incomplete. May 22, 2024 Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office ▪ Requires the clerk of a municipal court or county court to determine whether the filing of pleadings or documents in electronic format may be accomplished by electronic mail or through the use of an online platform. ▪ Prohibits such clerk from doing the following: Requiring that any fee for such filing be paid before the filing, unless the clerk has provided for an electronic payment system for such filing. Requiring a fee for such filing that is greater than the applicable fee for the filing of pleadings or documents in paper format. Clerks of court authorization ▪ Removes the requirement that funds for the computerization of municipal, county, and common pleas court clerks must be authorized and disbursed by the court, and instead permits the clerk to do so if the clerk has been elected. ▪ Retains the requirement described in the prior dot point for appointed court clerks. Municipal and county court additional fee increase ▪ Permits municipal and county courts to increase the maximum amount of their additional fees from $10 to $20 to cover the computerization of the clerk’s office. Final appealable order ▪ Classifies an order that restrains or restricts enforcement of a state statute or regulation as a final appealable order. Conciliation for custody disputes between unmarried parents ▪ Allows a court to order unmarried parents who are in a custody dispute to undergo conciliation with a magistrate. ▪ Requires a magistrate to resolve disputes through conciliation procedures and, upon resolution, to issue an order regarding the allocation of parental rights and responsibilities, parenting time, or companionship or visitation. ▪ Specifies that conciliation procedures may include the use of family counselors and service agencies, community health services, physicians, licensed psychologist, and clergy. Ashtabula County County Court ▪ Replaces the two part-time judgeships of the Ashtabula County County Court with one full- time judge and provides that those part-time judgeships cease to exist on January 1, 2031. ▪ Provides that the part-time judge of the Ashtabula County County Court to be elected in 2028, must be elected for a two-year term commencing on January 1, 2029, and ending on December 31, 2030, and that one full-time judge must be elected in 2030, for a six-year term to commence on January 1, 2031. P a g e |2 H.B. 305 As Reported by Senate Judiciary Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office Conneaut Municipal Court ▪ Beginning January 1, 2025, expands the territorial jurisdiction of the Conneaut Municipal Court to include the municipal corporation of North Kingsville, and within Kingsville, Monroe, and Sheffield townships, in Ashtabula County. ▪ Requires that all cases arising in the municipal corporation of North Kingsville in Ashtabula County and in Kingsville, Monroe, and Sheffield townships in Ashtabula County that are pending in the Eastern County Court in Ashtabula County on January 1, 2025, be adjudicated by the Ashtabula County County Court. ▪ Requires that all cases arising in the municipal corporation of North Kingsville in Ashtabula County and in Kingsville, Monroe, and Sheffield townships in Ashtabula County on or after January 1, 2025, be brought before the Conneaut Municipal Court. Legal aid society funds ▪ Prohibits financial assistance received by legal aid societies from being used for the provision of legal services in any criminal case or proceeding or in the provision of legal assistance in any fee generating case. 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. Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission ▪ Requires the Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission to re-establish a standing juvenile committee. ▪ Re-establishes requirements for the Commission to review and develop a juvenile justice policy for the state, as well as assisting policymakers with legislation related to juvenile justice issues. Political subdivision communications ▪ Subjects chartered counties and municipal corporations to the requirements of an existing law that prohibits a political subdivision from using public funds to finance certain communications or from paying its staff for time spent on certain political activities. Political subdivision soldiers’ memorial ▪ Expands the authority of a board of trustees of a political subdivision soldiers’ memorial. Indigent Defense Support Fund: funding restoration ▪ Restores a provision from prior law that allocated increased amounts of the reinstatement fee associated with failure to maintain proof of financial responsibility to the Indigent Defense Support Fund. P a g e |3 H.B. 305 As Reported by Senate Judiciary Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office Documentary service charges ▪ Increases the maximum documentary service charge that may be imposed as part of the sale or lease of a motor vehicle. ▪ Requires the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to annually determine an updated maximum charge based on the cumulative percentage change to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since July 2006. ▪ Requires the Registrar to publish the updated maximum charge on a website maintained by the Department of Public Safety. ▪ Retains a provision in current law that limits the amount of the charge to 10% of the sale or lease price. Third-party driver’s exam administrators ▪ Clarifies who may be a third-party administrator for the standard motor vehicle skills test, which includes a clerk of the court of common pleas. ▪ Requires any fees collected by a clerk of the court of common pleas serving as a third-party administrator to be deposited into the existing Certificate of Title Administration Fund. ▪ Requires fees that have been so collected by clerks serving as third-party administrators between April 12, 2021, and the bill’s effective date to be deposited into that fund. Public depositories ▪ Modifies the law governing public depositories. Cemeteries ▪ Modifies the laws governing the repair or replacement of a mausoleum or columbarium. ▪ Allows the disinterment of the cremated remains of a decedent who died of a contagious or infectious disease, without a permit issued by the local board of health. Judicial release and transitional control ▪ Reiterates that amendments to the judicial release and transitional control processes made in S.B. 288 of the 134th General Assembly apply only to prisoners serving prison terms on or after April 4, 2023, the effective date of that act. Campaign finance Campaign spending by foreign nationals ▪ Prohibits a foreign national from knowingly making a contribution or expenditure to support or oppose a state or local ballot issue, either directly or through another entity, and retains the current prohibition against a foreign national making a contribution or expenditure regarding a candidate. P a g e |4 H.B. 305 As Reported by Senate Judiciary Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office ▪ Prohibits a foreign national from soliciting another person to make a contribution or expenditure. ▪ Expands the list of entities that are prohibited from soliciting or accepting a contribution or expenditure from a foreign national to include a continuing association. ▪ Prohibits any person from knowingly aiding or facilitating a violation of the prohibitions described above regarding foreign nationals. ▪ Adds the term “knowingly” to each prohibition regarding foreign national campaign spending. ▪ Prohibits a lawful permanent U.S. resident, also known as a green card holder, from making contributions or expenditures regarding ballot issues or candidates. ▪ Requires all political entities to certify on their campaign finance filings, under penalty of election falsification, that they have not knowingly accepted, and will not knowingly accept, any campaign contributions that are prohibited under the Campaign Finance Law. Expenditures from alternate sources of funds ▪ Clarifies that the term “expenditure” means the disbursement or use of a contribution or other funds for the purpose of influencing the results of an election. Independent expenditures regarding ballot issues ▪ Clarifies that the term “independent expenditure” includes an expenditure to advocate support of or opposition to an identified ballot issue or to achieve the successful circulation of an initiative or referendum petition, regardless of whether the issue has yet been certified to appear on the ballot. Ballot issue committees ▪ Specifies that if the committee in charge of a statewide initiative or referendum petition receives a contribution or makes an expenditure for the purpose of achieving the successful circulation of the petition, the committee is considered a political action committee (PAC) for that purpose and must file periodic disclosures in the same manner as any other PAC. Enforcement of the Campaign Finance Law ▪ Requires, when the Ohio Elections Commission (OEC) refers a violation of the Campaign Finance Law for prosecution, that the Attorney General prosecute most cases that currently would go to the Franklin County Prosecutor. ▪ Provides a procedure for choosing a different prosecutor if the appropriate prosecutor is a victim or witness or otherwise involved in the case. ▪ Retains the existing penalty for violating the law regarding contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals, but requires a violator to return the contribution to the foreign national, in addition to paying a fine. P a g e |5 H.B. 305 As Reported by Senate Judiciary Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office ▪ Requires the OEC, if it finds a violation of that law, to either (1) impose the maximum fine and, if applicable, order the violator to return the funds, or (2) refer the matter for prosecution. ▪ Allows the Attorney General, if the OEC refers a violation of that law to a county prosecutor, to assume responsibility for prosecuting the case upon the request of the county prosecutor or upon the Attorney General’s own initiative, unless the Attorney General has a conflict of interest. TABLE OF CONTENTS Filing of pleadings and documents ................................................................................................. 7 Court of common pleas ............................................................................................................... 7 Filing in paper or electronic format ........................................................................................ 7 Official record ......................................................................................................................... 8 Filing of pleadings or documents in electronic format .......................................................... 8 Municipal court and county court ............................................................................................... 8 Filing in paper or electronic format ........................................................................................ 8 Filing of pleadings or documents in electronic format .......................................................... 9 Official record ......................................................................................................................... 9 Clerks of court authorization .......................................................................................................... 9 Municipal and county court additional fee increase ...................................................................... 9 Final appealable order .................................................................................................................... 9 Conciliation for custody disputes between unmarried parents ................................................... 10 Ashtabula County County Court ................................................................................................... 10 Conneaut Municipal Court ............................................................................................................ 11 Legal aid society funds .................................................................................................................. 11 Reimbursement deadline.............................................................................................................. 12 Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission ......................................................................................... 12 Standing juvenile committee .................................................................................................... 12 Commission responsibilities regarding juvenile justice ............................................................ 13 Political subdivision communications ........................................................................................... 14 Political subdivision soldiers’ memorial........................................................................................ 15 Indigent Defense Support Fund: funding restoration .................................................................. 15 Documentary service charges ....................................................................................................... 16 Third-party driver’s exam administrators ..................................................................................... 16 Public depositories ........................................................................................................................ 17 Cemeteries .................................................................................................................................... 18 Repairing or replacing a mausoleum or columbarium.............................................................. 18 P a g e |6 H.B. 305 As Reported by Senate Judiciary Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office