OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 338 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 338’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Reported by Senate Judiciary
Primary Sponsors: Reps. White and Sweeney
Effective date:
Chenwei Zhang, Attorney
Ashley F. Dean, Attorney
SUMMARY
Court child support orders for a child with a disability
▪ Clarifies that a child support order may continue beyond the age of majority for a person
with a disability.
▪ Defines “person with a disability” as a person with a mental or physical disability, whose
disability began before the person reached the age of majority, and whose disability
makes the person incapable of supporting or maintaining oneself.
▪ Allows a court to issue or modify a child support order for the care of a child who is a
person with a disability as part of a marriage termination proceeding or when issuing or
modifying a court-issued child support order, regardless of whether the child is over or
under the age of majority at the time.
▪ Allows a court to terminate a child support order for a person with a disability upon
satisfactory proof that the person is no longer mentally or physically disabled or is capable
of supporting or maintaining oneself.
▪ Updates the definition of “court child support order” to include any order for child
support issued for a child who is a person with a disability.
▪ Specifies that nothing in the Revised Code allows a child support enforcement agency
(CSEA) to issue an administrative child support order for a person over the age of 18,
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.
November 13, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
including a person with a disability, and instead allows the CSEA to file an action in court
for the support of a person with a disability.
Lebanon Municipal Court
▪ Converts the part-time judge of the Lebanon Municipal Court to a full-time judge
beginning on the effective date of the bill until December 31, 2027, when the current
part-time judge’s term expires.
Court computerization fees
▪ Specifies that an elected clerk of a county court may make a determination that additional
funds are required to computerize the office of the clerk, and retains the court’s authority
to do so when the clerk is appointed.
▪ Clarifies that an elected clerk of a municipal or county court may disburse
computerization funds subject to an appropriation by the commissioners, while in a court
with an appointed clerk, the court may issue an order to disburse the funds subject to an
appropriation by the commissioners.
▪ Specifies that in a court of common pleas where the clerk is appointed, the court may
authorize and disburse computerization funds, instead of the county executive.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Court child support orders for a child with a disability
The bill allows a court to extend an existing child support order or to issue or modify a
new child support order for a child who is a person with a disability, regardless of whether the
child has reached the age of majority. This includes the authority to issue child support orders as
part of a proceeding for divorce, dissolution, legal separation, or annulment and in all
circumstances where a court child support order may be issued or modified. In determining the
amount reasonable or necessary for child support, including the child’s medical needs, and when
issuing or modifying an order, the court must comply with existing laws on child support
calculation, the collection and disbursement of child support, enforcement, and Title IV-D cases.1
Existing law specifies that a duty of support to a child imposed under a court child support
order must continue beyond the child’s 18th birthday when the child is mentally or physically
1 R.C. 3109.20(B) and (C) and 3119.11. R.C. 3109.20 creates the authority to issue child support orders for
an adult child with a disability as part of a marriage termination proceeding. R.C. 3119.11 applies in all
circumstances where a court child support order may be issued or modified. Because the definition of
“court child support order” under R.C. 3119.01(C)(3), which includes these new orders, also includes
orders issued by a juvenile court, it is clear that R.C. 3119.11 applies to support orders not connected to
a marriage termination proceeding.
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disabled and is incapable of supporting or maintaining himself or herself.2 The bill clarifies that
this must be pursuant to an order issued or modified under the above provision. 3
Existing law, unchanged by the bill, also specifies the following as the two other
circumstances under which a duty of support imposed pursuant to a child support order must
continue for a child over 18:
▪ The child’s parents have agreed to continue support beyond the child’s 18th birthday
pursuant to a separation agreement that was incorporated into a decree of divorce or
dissolution;
▪ The child continuously attends a recognized and accredited high school on a full-time
basis on or after the child’s 18th birthday.4
Finally, the bill specifies that a court may terminate a child support order that it issues for
a child who is a person with a disability upon satisfactory proof that the person who is the subject
of the order is no longer mentally or physically disabled or is capable of supporting or maintaining
oneself.5
Definitions
The bill defines “person with a disability” as a person with a mental or physical disability,
whose disability began before the person reached the age of majority, and whose disability
makes the person incapable of supporting or maintaining oneself.6 The bill updates the definition
of “court child support order” to include a court-issued child support order for a child who is a
person with a disability.7
No issuance of administrative support order for child over 18
The bill specifies that nothing in the Revised Code allows a child support enforcement
agency (CSEA) to issue an administrative child support order for a person who has reached the
age of 18, including a person with a disability. Whenever a CSEA is prohibited from issuing an
administrative child support order, it may request the appropriate court to take action to provide
for the care and maintenance of a person with a disability.8
Recodification
The bill recodifies R.C. 3119.86 for easier readability. The table below indicates how the
section has been recodified:
2 R.C. 3119.86(A)(1)(a), as it appears in existing law.
3 R.C. 3119.86(A)(1).
4 R.C. 3119.86(A)(1)(b) to (c), as it appears in existing law; recodified in the bill as R.C. 3119.86(A)(2) to (3).
5 R.C. 3119.88(B)(1).
6 R.C. 3119.10 and 3109.20(A).
7 R.C. 3119.01(C)(3).
8 R.C. 3119.12.
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Provision Current law Bill
Continuing a support order beyond a child’s R.C. 3119.86(A)(1) and R.C. 3119.86
18th birthday (2)
Support orders after a child’s 19th birthday R.C. 3119.86(B) R.C. 3119.861
Support orders may not continue beyond an R.C. 3119.86(C) R.C. 3119.862
agreed-upon date in a separation agreement
Parent must pay support order until it R.C. 3119.86(D) R.C. 3119.863
terminates
Lebanon Municipal Court
The bill converts the part-time judge of the Lebanon Municipal Court to a full-time judge
beginning on the bill’s effective date until December 31, 2027, when the current part-time judge’s
term expires. Beginning on the bill’s effective date, the part-time judge must perform the duties
of a full-time judge and is subject to any restriction specified in law for a full-time judge of a
municipal court.9
Under Article IV, Section 6(A)(4) of the Ohio Constitution, the “terms of office of all judges
shall begin on the days fixed by law, and laws shall be enacted to prescribe the times and mode
of their election.” It is not clear whether changing a sitting judge’s term from part time to full
time in the middle of the term would be vulnerable to question as to whether the judge was
elected to that full-time term as required under the Constitution. Also, Article II, Section 20 of
the Ohio Constitution states that “[the] General Assembly, in cases not provided for in this
Constitution, shall fix the term of office and the compensation of all officers; but no change
therein shall affect the salary of any officer during his existing term, unless the office be
abolished.” Accordingly, it is not clear whether the Constitution would require that the judge be
compensated as a part-time, rather than a full-time, judge for the remainder of the judge’s term.
Court computerization fees
The bill specifies that an elected clerk of a county court may make a determination that
additional funds are required to computerize the office of the clerk, but retains the court’s
authority to do so when the clerk is appointed.10
The bill clarifies that an elected clerk of a municipal or county court may disburse
computerization funds subject to an appropriation by the commissioners, while in a court with
9 R.C. 1901.08 and Section 4.
10 R.C. 1907.261(B)(1).
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an appointed clerk, the court may issue an order to disburse the funds subject to an appropriation
by the commissioners.11
Finally, the bill specifies that in a court of common pleas where the clerk is appointed, the
court may authorize and disburse computerization funds, instead of the county executive as
under current law.12
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 11-21-23
Reported, H. Civil Justice 04-10-24
Passed House (85-4) 05-08-24
Reported, S. Judiciary --
ANHB0338RS-135/ar
11 R.C. 1901.261(B)(2) and 1907.261(B)(2).
12 R.C. 2303.201(B)(1)(b) and (3).
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As Reported by Senate Judiciary
Statutes affected: As Introduced: 3119.01, 3119.66, 3119.86, 3119.88
As Reported By House Committee: 3119.01, 3119.66, 3119.86, 3119.88
As Passed By House: 3119.01, 3119.66, 3119.86, 3119.88