OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 379 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 379’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Lorenz and Carruthers
Effective date:
Jeff Grim, Research Analyst
SUMMARY
 Requires a road service crew member who discovers a deceased dog or cat when
performing duties on a public road or public right-of-way to use a microchip scanning
device on the animal prior to its disposal.
 Establishes requirements and procedures for the notification of the dog or cat’s owner
after a successful scan.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Scanning of deceased dogs or cats on roads
The bill requires a road service crew member who discovers a deceased dog or cat when
performing duties on a public road or public right-of-way, including road construction,
maintenance, and repair, to use a microchip scanning device on the animal prior to its disposal.
A road service employer must provide microchip scanners to its road service crew members for
that purpose.1
A road service employer is a person or public body that is responsible for employing
road service crew members to perform road construction, maintenance, or repair. A road
service crew member is an individual who is employed by a road service employer to perform
road construction, maintenance, or repair.2
1 R.C. 5535.17(B)(1).
2 R.C. 5535.17(A). A public body is the state or a county, township, municipal corporation, or any other
body corporate and politic that is responsible for government activities in a geographic area smaller
than that of the state.
January 22, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
If, after scanning, a road service crew member determines the contact information for
the deceased dog or cat, the crew member must communicate that information to the crew
member’s road service employer. If the road service employer is a private entity, it must notify
the public body with jurisdiction over the road or highway on which the deceased dog or cat
was discovered and then deliver the deceased animal to the public body. If the road service
employer is a public body or if the public body takes possession of the dog or cat from a private
entity, the public body must make a reasonable effort to contact any person identified in the
contact information.
After contacting the identified person, the public body must hold the deceased dog or
cat in a sanitary manner for 24 hours to provide the identified person with an opportunity to
retrieve the deceased animal (see COMMENT). If the identified person does not retrieve the
deceased dog or cat within the 24-hour period, the public body may dispose of the deceased
animal. If the public body is not able to contact any person identified by a microchip scan after
a reasonable effort, the public body may dispose of the deceased dog or cat.3
COMMENT
If challenged, a court may examine the bill’s application to municipal corporations and
charter counties. The Home Rule Amendment to the Ohio Constitution, allows municipal
corporations and charter counties to exercise all powers of local self-government and to adopt
and enforce local police, sanitary, and other similar regulations that are not in conflict with
general laws.4 A law is a general law only if all of the following apply:
 It is part of a statewide and comprehensive legislative enactment;
 It applies to all parts of the state alike and operates uniformly throughout the state;
 It sets forth police, sanitary, or similar regulations, rather than purports only to grant or
limit legislative power of a municipal corporation to set forth police, sanitary, or similar
regulations; and
 It prescribes a rule of conduct upon citizens generally.5
3 R.C. 5535.17(B)(2) and (3).
4 Ohio Constitution, Article XVIII, Section 3 and Article X, Section 3.
5 Canton v. State, 95 Ohio St.3d 149 (2002).
P a g e |2 H.B. 379
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 01-16-24
ANHB0379IN-135/ts
P a g e |3 H.B. 379
As Introduced