OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 503 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 503’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Reported by Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Peterson and Jones
Effective date:
Jeff Grim, Research Analyst
SUMMARY
Department of Natural Resources: wild boar and feral swine
▪ Adds certain prohibitions to the wildlife law related to wild boar and feral swine,
including prohibitions against knowingly:
 Importing, transporting, or possessing live wild boar or feral swine;
 Releasing wild boar or feral swine into the wild or expanding the range of a wild boar
or feral swine by introducing the wild boar or feral swine to a new location; and
 Purposely feeding a wild boar or feral swine.
▪ Requires a person who knows or has reason to know that wild boar or feral swine are
present on public or private property to report that fact to the Division of Wildlife.
▪ Establishes a process by which a person or the person’s agent may immediately
eradicate wild boar and feral swine on the person’s property without a hunting license if
the person or the person’s agent notifies the Division and follows Division instructions.
Department of Agriculture: feeding swine
▪ Eliminates the required annual license to feed treated garbage to swine and, instead,
prohibits feeding any garbage to swine, included treated garbage.
▪ Prohibits a person from bringing into Ohio a swine that has been fed garbage or treated
garbage.
▪ Retains the current definition of garbage, which generally includes all waste material
derived in whole or in part from the meat of any animal.
 This analysis was prepared before the report of the Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources appeared
in the Senate Journal. Note that the legislative history may be incomplete.
December 10, 2024
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▪ Revises the definition of “treated garbage,” which generally is edible garbage that has
been heated and boiled in accordance with certain specifications, to remove a reference
to individuals licensed to feed treated garbage to swine.
▪ Authorizes the Director to investigate violations of the above prohibitions and make
inquiries into any alleged violation as are necessary to secure compliance with the law
governing garbage-fed swine and orders issued under it.
▪ Allows the Director of Agriculture to assess a civil penalty against a person who violates
the bill’s prohibitions regarding garbage-fed swine.
▪ Establishes the amounts of the civil penalties as follows:
 For a first violation, up to $500;
 For each subsequent violation, up to $1,000.
Agricultural commodity handlers
▪ For purposes of the definition of “storage” in the Agricultural Commodity Handlers Law,
retains the definition, but states that it includes unapplied and hold grain tickets.
▪ Defines “grain bank” for purposes of the Agricultural Commodity Handlers Law in
addition to defining it for purposes of agricultural commodity transactions as under
current law.
▪ Includes a definition of “regular price bid” for purposes of the Agricultural Commodity
Handlers Law, but does not use the term in that law.
▪ Defines “regular price bid” as the current basis bid or cash price of an agricultural
commodity handler licensed under that law.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Department of Natural Resources: wild boar and feral swine
Current law authorizes the ODNR Division of Wildlife to regulate wild boar as a game
quadruped. Those regulations allow the hunting of wild boar year round with a hunting license.
In addition, a person may possess and sell wild boar under a noncommercial or commercial
propagating license and hunt wild boar in a game preserve. The bill modifies these regulations,
defines what constitutes a wild boar, and expands the references to wild boar to include feral
swine.
Definitional changes
The bill defines a wild boar or feral swine to mean either of the following:
▪ Members of the family Suidae, including both of the following:
 Wild pig, wild hog, feral hog, and feral pig; and
 Old world swine, razorbacks, European wild boar, and Russian wild boar, and any
hybrids or crossbreeds of those animals.
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▪ Members of the family Tayassuidae, including collared peccary and javelina, and any
hybrids or crossbreeds of members of the family Tayassuidea.1
The bill removes wild boar from the existing definition of “game quadruped,” but adds
wild boar and feral swine to the definition of “wild quadruped.” According to a representative
of the Division of Wildlife, these definitional changes do both of the following:
1. Regarding the removal of wild boar from the definition of “game quadrupeds,”
eliminates a person’s ability to hold, possess, and sell wild boar under an existing
noncommercial or commercial propagating license and reinforces the idea that wild
boar and feral swine cannot be hunted in a game preserve or in the wild (unless
otherwise authorized under the bill);2
2. Regarding the addition of wild boar and feral swine to the definition of “wild
quadrupeds,” maintains the Division of Wildlife’s authority to regulate wild boar and
feral swine in the wild.
By virtue of these definitional changes, the bill also removes wild boar from the
definition of “game.”3
Prohibitions regarding feral swine and wild boar
The bill establishes the following prohibitions regarding feral swine and wild boar:4
Prohibitions regarding feral swine and wild boar
Prohibition Mental state Criminal penalty
Transporting or possessing live wild boar or Knowingly First degree misdemeanor
feral swine
Releasing wild boar or feral swine into the Knowingly Fifth degree felony
wild or importing wild boar or feral swine
into Ohio
1 R.C. 1531.01(HHH).
2 R.C. 1533.71, not in the bill, requires any person desiring to engage in the business of raising and
selling game birds, game quadrupeds, reptiles, amphibians, or fur-bearing animals in a wholly enclosed
preserve of which the person is the owner or lessee, or to have game birds, game quadrupeds, reptiles,
amphibians, or fur-bearing animals in captivity to apply to the Division of Wildlife for a commercial
propagating license, noncommercial propagating license, or captive white-tailed deer propagation
license.
3Phone conversation with the Department of Natural Resources, April 29, 2024. R.C. 1531.01(R), (U),
and (V) and 1533.01.
4 R.C. 1533.731(B)(4), 1533.75, and 1533.99(C) and (H).
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Prohibitions regarding feral swine and wild boar
Prohibition Mental state Criminal penalty
Expanding the range of a wild boar or feral Knowingly First degree misdemeanor
swine by introducing the wild boar or feral
swine to a new location
Allowing a swine that is under the Knowingly First degree misdemeanor
ownership or possession of the person to
live in a feral state
Except as otherwise provided in the bill (see Knowingly First degree misdemeanor
“Notification and eradication,”
below), hunting, trapping, or killing a wild
boar or feral swine or assisting in the
hunting, trapping, or killing of a wild boar or
feral swine
Profiting from the releasing, hunting, Knowingly First degree misdemeanor
trapping, or killing of wild boar or feral
swine
Failing to notify the Division of Wildlife Knowingly First degree misdemeanor
within 24 hours of eradicating a wild boar or
feral swine (see “Notification and
eradication,” below)
Feeding a wild boar or feral swine Purposely First degree misdemeanor
Releasing for hunting or hunting wild boar Knowingly First degree misdemeanor
or feral swine in any wild animal hunting
preserve in Ohio
In addition to any other penalty, the court must require any person who is convicted of
or pleads guilty to a violation (other than the prohibition governing hunting preserves) to pay
the costs incurred by any state or federal agency for the investigation, control, and eradication
of wild boar or feral swine that resulted from the violation. Money paid to the Division of
Wildlife must be credited to the existing Wildlife Fund.5
Notification and eradication
Except as provided in Division of Wildlife rules, the bill requires a person who knows or
has reason to believe that a wild boar or feral swine is present on private or public property to
5 R.C. 1533.99(C) and (H).
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notify the Division within 24 hours of the person so knowing or having reason to believe of the
wild boar’s or feral swine’s presence. A person includes a property owner, tenant, or person
responsible for a property’s management.6 The bill does not impose any criminal penalties for
violating this requirement.7
Except as provided in Division rules, a person or a person’s agent who encounters wild
boar or feral swine on property owned or leased by that person may immediately eradicate the
wild boar or feral swine without a hunting license required under current law if the person or
agent does both of the following:
1. Notifies the Division as soon as practicable, but within 24 hours after the eradication or
attempted eradication of the wild boar or feral swine;
2. Follows the instructions provided by the Division, including the handling, preservation
for testing, and disposal of any wild boar or feral swine carcass.8
Department of Agriculture: Feeding swine
License to feed garbage
The bill eliminates the authorization for licensed individuals to feed treated garbage to
swine. Under current law, a person is prohibited from doing either of the following:
1. Feeding garbage to swine. “Garbage” is all waste material derived in whole or in part
from the meat of any animal, including fish and poultry, or other animal material, and
other refuse of any character that has been associated with such waste material
resulting from the handling, preparation, cooking, or consumption of food.
2. Feeding on the person’s premises, or permitting the feeding of, treated garbage to
swine without an annual license issued by the Department of Agriculture. “Treated
garbage” is any edible garbage for consumption by swine that has been heated at
boiling point while being agitated, except in steam cooking equipment, to ensure that
the garbage is heated throughout for 30 minutes under the supervision of a license
holder.
The bill instead prohibits a person from feeding on the person’s premises, or permitting
the feeding of, all garbage, whether treated or not, to swine. Consequently, the bill eliminates
the required annual license to feed treated garbage to swine, the $100 annual license fee, and
the following:
1. Requirements and procedures regarding the handling of equipment, conveyances, and
premises used to feed treated garbage to swine;
6 R.C. 1533.751(A).
7 R.C. 1533.99(F).
8 R.C. 1533.751(A) and (B).
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2. Requirements regarding the maintenance of records for the disposal of treated and
untreated garbage by a license holder;
3. Rulemaking authority for the Director of Agriculture;
4. Enforcement provisions, including criminal penalties for violating the garbage-fed swine
law; and
5. A requirement that money collected from license fees be credited to the existing Animal
and Consumer Protection Laboratory Fund.
The bill also prohibits a person from bringing into Ohio a swine that has been fed
garbage or treated garbage. The bill does not establish any criminal penalties for violating the
above prohibitions, but establishes civil penalties for such violations (see “Civil penalties,”
below).9
Investigative authority
The bill authorizes the Director, upon receipt of a complaint or on the Director’s own
initiative, to investigate violations of the above prohibitions and make inquiries into any alleged
violation as are necessary to secure compliance with the law governing garbage-fed swine and
orders issued under it.
With the consent of the owner of a premises, lessee of a premises, or the owner,
keeper, or harborer of a swine that is kept or harbored on a premises, the Director or the
Director’s authorized representative may enter at all reasonable times on any premises where
swine are kept or harbored for the purpose of determining compliance with the bill. If the
Director or the Director’s authorized representative is denied access to the premises and
suspects that the provisions relating to garbage-fed swine are not being complied with, the
Director may apply for a search warrant authorizing access from a court of competent
jurisdiction. The court must issue the search warrant if there is probable cause. Probable cause
may be based on hearsay, provided that there is substantial basis for believing the source is
credible and there is factual basis for the information.
Upon entering a premises, the Director or the Director’s authorized representative must
observe biosecurity measures in order to prevent spreading disease and infecting livestock. 10
Civil penalties
The bill allows the Director of Agriculture to assess a civil penalty against a person that
violates the bill’s prohibitions regarding garbage-fed swine. The Director may assess a civil
penalty only if the Director affords the person an opportunity for an adjudication hearing under
the Administrative Procedure Act. The person may waive the right to an adjudication hearing.
9R.C. 901.43, 942.01, 942.02; 942.03 to 942.07, repealed; 942.10 to 942.12, repealed; 942.99, repealed;
and 4745.01; and Section 4.
10 R.C. 942.03 (reenacted).
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If a person waives an adjudication hearing or if, after an adjudication hearing, the
Director determines that a violation has occurred or is occurring, the Director may issue an
order requiring compliance and assess a civil penalty. The order and assessment of the civil
penalty may be appealed in accordance with Administrative Procedure Act’s appeals provisions.
The Director may assess a civil penalty for a violation of the bill’s prohibitions regarding
garbage-fed swine in the following amounts:
1. For a first violation, up to $500;
2. For each subsequent violation, up to $1,000.
Money collected from civil penalties must be credited to the Animal and Consumer
Protection Fund.11 The bill renames the Captive Deer Fund as the Animal and Consumer
Protection Fund and makes conforming changes, and requires the Director to use money in the
fund to administer the law governing garbage-fed swine.12
Agricultural commodity handlers
The bill makes the following changes to defined terms in the Agricultural Commodity
Handlers Law:
1. For purposes of the definition of “storage,” retains the definition, but states that it
includes unapplied and hold grain tickets. Continuing law defines “storage” as the
deposit of an agricultural commodity into a warehouse either for the account of the
licensed agricultural commodity handler operating the warehouse or for the account of