OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 518 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 518’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Re-referred by House Rules and Reference
Primary Sponsor: Rep. Cross
Effective date:
Margaret E. Marcy, Attorney
SUMMARY
School bus cameras
▪ Expressly authorizes cameras, including school bus violation detection monitoring
systems, to be installed on school buses to provide an image, images, or video of a person
illegally passing a school bus.
▪ Requires the Department of Public Safety, with the advice of the Department of Education
and Workforce, to adopt rules related to the construction, design, and equipment of the
cameras.
▪ Authorizes the entities responsible for the operation of a school bus to purchase, install,
operate, and maintain the cameras on its school buses either itself or through a private
vendor.
▪ Requires those entities that use school bus violation detection monitoring systems to
enter into agreements with local law enforcement agencies to ensure that the agency
reviews the recorded images, the agency is reimbursed for its review expenses, and there
is appropriate enforcement support.
Civil enforcement
▪ Creates a civil enforcement scheme to be used when a school bus violation detection
monitoring system captures the license plate of a vehicle illegally passing a stopped school
bus, but the driver of the vehicle cannot be identified.
This analysis was prepared before the report of the House Rules and Reference Committee appeared in
the House Journal. Note that the legislative history may be incomplete.
December 3, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
▪ Authorizes a law enforcement officer to do one of the following after receiving a report
that someone has illegally passed a stopped school bus:
Issue a criminal citation if the driver of the vehicle can be identified;
Issue a civil notice of violation to the vehicle owner, if the driver cannot be identified;
or
Issue a warning to the vehicle owner if the driver cannot be identified, but the
requirements to issue a civil notice of violation are not met.
▪ Specifies that a law enforcement agency may issue a criminal citation or a civil notice of
violation, but not both, for a single instance of illegally passing a stopped school bus.
▪ Establishes the parameters for the civil enforcement scheme, including:
Requirements for what an image captured by a school bus violation detection
monitoring system must display in order for a law enforcement agency to issue a civil
penalty (e.g., the vehicle’s license plate and the time and date of the violation);
Requirements for what information a civil notice of violation must include (e.g., the
name and address of the registered owner and a copy of the recorded image);
Procedures for a law enforcement agency to follow when mailing a civil notice of
violation (e.g., the agency has 30 days to mail the notice);
Procedures that a registered owner must follow to respond, including paying,
contesting, and providing an affidavit attesting that the registered owner was not the
person who committed the violation; and
Procedures a court must follow when conducting a hearing for a contested civil notice
of violation.
▪ Specifies that the fine for the civil violation is up to $300, to be distributed to the entity
responsible for the operation of the school bus that captured the violation for school bus
safety technology initiatives.
▪ Authorizes a court to order a suspension of an offender’s motor vehicle registration and
transfer of registration privileges if the offender does not pay the civil penalty and any
court costs and fees.
School bus safety designations
▪ Designates October as “School Bus Safety Awareness Month.”
▪ Names the bill the “School Bus Safety Act.”
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DETAILED ANALYSIS
Illegally passing a stopped school bus
School bus cameras
Current law neither specifically authorizes nor prohibits the use of a camera placed on a
school bus to capture an image or video of a driver passing the bus while it is stopped and loading
or unloading passengers. However, there is a provision stating that certain traffic camera laws do
not apply to traffic cameras placed on buses for this purpose. Thus, it appears that school bus
drivers may use these cameras.1
The bill expressly authorizes the use of school bus cameras, including cameras called
school bus violation detection monitoring systems (discussed below under “Civil
enforcement”). It requires the Department of Public Safety, with the advice of the
Department of Education and Workforce, to adopt rules relating to the construction, design, and
equipment of cameras that can provide an image, images, or video for purposes of capturing a
driver who illegally passes a stopped school bus.
Under the bill, an entity responsible for operation of a school bus may purchase, install,
operate, and maintain the school bus cameras on its school buses either itself or through a
private vendor. If the cameras used are school bus violation detection monitoring systems, the
entity must enter into a memorandum of understanding with the appropriate local law
enforcement agency to ensure that the agency reviews the recorded images, the agency is
reimbursed for its review expenses, and there is appropriate enforcement support for issuing
civil notices of violation.2
Criminal and civil enforcement
Background
Under current law, a driver must stop for a school bus when both of the following apply:
1. The driver meets or overtakes the school bus, from either direction; and
2. The school bus is stopped to pick up or drop off a school child, a child attending a Head
Start Program, or a person attending programs offered by a community board of mental
health or a county board of developmental disabilities.3
The driver must stop at least ten feet from the bus, and may not proceed until either the
bus moves or the school bus driver signals the driver to proceed. (The bill expressly adds that a
law enforcement officer also may signal the driver to proceed.) A driver who violates this
requirement may be fined up to $500, and the court may impose a Class 7 driver’s license
1
R.C. 4511.0913, not in the bill.
2
R.C. 4511.752(B) and 4511.76.
3
R.C. 4511.75. If the highway is four or more lanes of divided traffic, however, drivers travelling in the
opposite direction of the school bus are not required to stop for the stopped bus.
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suspension (not to exceed one year) on that driver. The violation also results in a mandatory in-
person court appearance.4
Under current law, a school bus driver or any other witness to a driver illegally passing a
stopped school bus may report the license plate number, description of the vehicle, and
description of the driver to a law enforcement agency. A law enforcement agency that receives
this report must investigate the allegation to attempt to determine the driver at the time of the
alleged violation. If the agency can determine the driver, the agency has probable cause (based
on the license plate number) to issue a criminal citation to the driver. If the agency cannot
determine the driver, the agency must send a warning to the owner of the vehicle.5
Use of cameras
The bill retains the criminal enforcement scheme specified above, but creates a civil
enforcement scheme to be used when a particular camera called a “school bus violation
detection monitoring system” captures the license plate of a vehicle illegally passing a stopped
school bus, but the driver of the vehicle cannot be identified. A school bus violation detection
monitoring system is a camera system affixed to a school bus that consists of two or more camera
sensors or computers that can produce recorded images.6
Additionally the bill authorizes any school bus camera and its images or video to be used
to corroborate a report that a driver has illegally passed a stopped school bus in an attempt to
identify that driver in order to issue a criminal citation.7
Law enforcement action
Under the bill, when an unidentified driver illegally passes a school bus, the school bus
driver, a witness to the violation, the entity responsible for operation of the school bus, or a
contracted private vendor may supply or corroborate a report to the local law enforcement
agency regarding the violation.8 The person supplying the report may include an image, images,
or video from a school bus camera (including a school bus violation detection monitoring system)
installed on the school bus to corroborate the report that a person illegally passed the school
bus.9
When a law enforcement agency receives the report, the agency may (rather than must,
as under current law) conduct an investigation to attempt to determine the license plate number,
4
R.C. 4511.75(A) and (F) and 4510.02(A)(7), not in the bill.
5
R.C. 4511.751, changed to 4511.752 in the bill.
6
R.C. 4511.751(J).
7
R.C. 4511.752(B).
8
A “law enforcement agency” under the bill is a sheriff, deputy sheriff, marshal, deputy marshal, school
resource officer, police officer of a police department of any municipal corporation, police constable of
any township, or police officer of a township or joint police district who is employed on a permanent,
full-time basis by a law enforcement agency. R.C. 4511.751(C).
9
See Footnote 10.
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the color/make/model of the vehicle, the date/time/location of the alleged violation, and the
identity of the driver at the time of the alleged violation. The bill authorizes the agency to use
any sufficiently clear images and video provided by a school bus violation detection system to
verify that information.10
After the investigation, the law enforcement agency may take one of three courses of
action:
1. Issue a criminal citation if the driver of the vehicle can be identified (as under current
law);
2. Issue a notice of violation for a civil penalty of up to $300 to the registered vehicle owner,
if the violation is corroborated by a school bus violation detection monitoring system and
the driver cannot be identified (under the bill’s new civil penalty scheme); or
3. Issue a warning to the registered vehicle owner, if neither of the above apply (similar to
current law).11
A law enforcement agency may send a criminal citation or a civil notice of violation, but
not both, for a single instance of illegally passing a stopped school bus.12 Additionally, the Ohio
State Highway Patrol may only issue criminal citations or warnings and may not use the civil
penalty scheme established by the bill.13
Civil notice of violation
In order to issue a civil notice of violation (as opposed to a warning) for passing a stopped
school bus, a school bus violation detection monitoring system must capture all of the following:
1. The violation (illegally passing the stopped school bus);
2. The date and time of the violation;
3. The electronic red light visual signals or stop warning sign to demonstrate that the signals
and sign were actuated; and
4. The letters, numbers, and state name on the license plate of the vehicle involved.14
Within 30 days of the violation, the law enforcement agency may send a civil notice of
violation charging the registered owner with the violation. The agency must send the notice by
10
R.C. 4511.752(B) and (C). The bill authorizes law enforcement to utilize a school bus violation detection
system to verify the license plate number, the color/make/model of the vehicle, the date/time/location
of the alleged violation, and the identity of the driver at the time of the alleged violation. However, R.C.
4511.752(B) specifies that a violation for passing a stopped school bus may be verified by any school bus
camera. Thus, these two provisions are not consistent with each other.
11
R.C. 4511.752(D) and (E).
12
R.C. 4511.752(F).
13
R.C. 4511.752(H).
14
R.C. 4511.753(A).
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regular mail in a clearly marked envelope with information concerning the citing law enforcement
agency on the envelope.
The agency then must file, without unnecessary delay, a certified copy of the notice of
violation with the local municipal or county court with jurisdiction over the civil action. The
certified copy, including any images or video captured by the school bus violation detection
monitoring system, is prima facie evidence of the facts contained therein, and is admissible in a
civil action or proceeding related to the issued notice of violation.15
Any notice of violation for illegally passing a school bus must contain the following
information:
1. The name and address of the registered owner;
2. The letters and numbers from the license plate;
3. A statement that the person is charged with illegally passing a stopped school bus;
4. A statement that a school bus violation detection monitoring system recorded the
violation;
5. The date and time of the violation;
6. A copy of the recorded images;
7. The amount of the civil penalty imposed (up to $300), the date when it is to be paid, and
the address of the municipal court or county court with jurisdiction where the payment
is to be sent;
8. A signed statement by a local law enforcement officer indicating that, based on an
inspection of the recorded images, the vehicle was involved in the violation (this
statement may be signed electronically);
9. Information on how to proceed after receiving the notice of violation; and
10. A warning that failure to exercise one of the available options is an admission of liability
and waives the opportunity to contest the violation.16
Recipient action
After receiving a notice of violation, the registered owner may take any of the following
actions within 30 days:
1. Pay the civil penalty;
2. In conjunction with the person who was driving the vehicle at the time of the violation,
send an affidavit to the municipal court or county court with jurisdiction identifying the
driver of the vehicle (with contact details);
15
R.C. 4511.753.
16
R.C. 4511.754.
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3. Send an affidavit to the municipal court or county court with jurisdiction that the vehicle
was stolen at the time of the violation (with the police report);
4. If the owner is a motor vehicle dealer or motor vehicle renting dealer, notify the municipal
court or county court with jurisdiction of the name and address of the lessee or renter at
the time of the violation (on a form created by or used by the court);17
5. If the owner is a commercial motor vehicle and the notice of violation is issued to the
corporate entity, send an affidavit to the municipal court or county court with jurisdiction
of the name and address of the employee driver at the time of the violation; or
6. Contest the notice of violation and request a court hearing to review it.18
If an affidavit indicates that another person was driving the vehicle at the time of the
violation, the court may notify the law enforcement agency, and if notified, the agency must send
a notice of violation to t