As Introduced
135th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 564
2023-2024
Representatives Lear, Plummer
Cosponsors: Representatives Gross, Wiggam, Click, Willis
A BILL
To amend sections 9.63, 4507.08, and 5747.502 and 1
to enact sections 9.631, 9.632, and 2905.321 of 2
the Revised Code to modify the law regarding 3
individuals who are unlawfully present in the 4
United States, to require state and local 5
authorities to cooperate with the federal 6
government in the enforcement of immigration 7
laws, and to sanction those who fail to do so. 8
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 9.63, 4507.08, and 5747.502 be 9
amended and sections 9.631, 9.632, and 2905.321 of the Revised 10
Code be enacted to read as follows: 11
Sec. 9.63. (A) Notwithstanding any law, ordinance, or 12
collective bargaining contract to the contrary, no state or 13
local employee shall unreasonably fail to comply with any lawful 14
request for assistance made by any federal authorities carrying 15
out the provisions of the USA Patriot Act, any federal 16
immigration or terrorism investigation, or any executive order 17
of the president of the United States pertaining to homeland 18
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As Introduced
security, to the extent that the request is consistent with the 19
doctrine of federalism. 20
(B) No municipal corporation shall enact an ordinance, 21
policy, directive, rule, or resolution that would materially 22
hinder or prevent local employees from complying with the USA 23
Patriot Act or any executive order of the president of the 24
United States pertaining to homeland security or from 25
cooperating with state or federal immigration services and 26
terrorism investigations. 27
(C)(1) Any municipal corporation that enacts any 28
ordinance, policy, directive, rule, or resolution that division 29
(B) of this section prohibits is ineligible to receive any 30
homeland security funding available from the state. 31
(2) Whenever the director of public safety determines that 32
a municipal corporation has enacted any ordinance, policy, 33
directive, rule, or resolution that division (B) of this section 34
prohibits, the director shall certify that the municipal 35
corporation is ineligible to receive any homeland security 36
funding from the state and shall notify the general assembly of 37
that ineligibility. That municipal corporation shall remain 38
ineligible to receive any homeland security funding from the 39
state until the director certifies that the ordinance, policy, 40
directive, rule, or resolution has been repealed. 41
(D)(1) If a state or local employee states disagreement 42
with, or a critical opinion of, the USA Patriot Act, any federal 43
immigration or terrorism policy, or any executive order of the 44
president of the United States pertaining to homeland security, 45
the statement of disagreement with or critical opinion of the 46
act or order is not sufficient to qualify for purposes of this 47
section as unreasonable noncompliance with a request for 48
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assistance of the type division (A) of this section describes. 49
(2) Any municipal corporation's ordinance, policy, 50
directive, rule, or resolution that states disagreement with, or 51
a critical opinion of, any state or federal immigration or 52
terrorism policy, the USA Patriot Act, or any executive order of 53
the president of the United States pertaining to homeland 54
security is not sufficient to qualify as a "material hindrance 55
or prevention" of local employees from cooperating with federal 56
immigration services and terrorism investigations or from 57
complying with the USA Patriot Act or any executive order of the 58
president of the United States pertaining to homeland security 59
for purposes of divisions (B), (C), and (D) of this section. 60
(E) As used in this section, "USA Patriot Act" means the 61
"Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate 62
Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA Patriot 63
Act) Act of 2001," Pub. L. No. 107-056, 115 Stat. 272, as 64
amended. 65
Sec. 9.631. (A) As used in this section and section 9.632 66
of the Revised Code: 67
(1) "Genetic testing" has the same meaning as in section 68
3111.09 of the Revised Code. 69
(2) "Law enforcement agency" means a municipal or township 70
police department, the office of a sheriff, the state highway 71
patrol, or any other state or local governmental body that 72
enforces criminal laws and that has employees who have a 73
statutory power of arrest. 74
(3) "Minor" means an unemancipated person under eighteen 75
years of age. 76
(4) "Political subdivision" means a county, township, 77
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municipal corporation, or any other body corporate and politic 78
that is responsible for government activities in a geographic 79
area smaller than that of the state. 80
(5) "State or local governmental entity" means any agency, 81
board, bureau, commission, council, department, division, 82
office, or other organized body established by the state or a 83
political subdivision for the exercise of any function of the 84
state or a political subdivision. 85
(6) "State or local public benefit" has the same meaning 86
as in division (c) of section 411 of the "Personal 87
Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996," 88
8 U.S.C. 1621(c). 89
(B) A law enforcement agency shall do all of the 90
following: 91
(1) Participate in any available program operated by the 92
United States department of homeland security or its successor 93
department that allows the law enforcement agency to submit to 94
federal authorities information about an arrestee in order to 95
enable those authorities to determine whether the arrestee is 96
unlawfully present in the United States; 97
(2) Immediately report the identity of any arrestee whom a 98
peace officer has reasonable cause to believe is unlawfully 99
present in the United States to the appropriate office of the 100
United States immigration and customs enforcement agency or its 101
successor agency; 102
(3) Detain a person who is unlawfully present in the 103
United States, upon receiving a lawful federal request or order 104
to do so, until the person is transferred into federal custody; 105
(4) Otherwise cooperate and comply with federal officials 106
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in the enforcement of federal immigration law; 107
(5) Provide information to the superintendent of the state 108
highway patrol for inclusion in the database described in 109
division (C) of this section, as directed by the superintendent. 110
(C)(1) The superintendent of the state highway patrol 111
shall create, operate, and maintain a statewide database of 112
criminal activity involving persons who are unlawfully present 113
in the United States and shall identify and allocate money for 114
that purpose from the appropriate funds available to the state 115
highway patrol. The superintendent may contract with state or 116
private entities, including private software and technology 117
providers, for the creation, operation, and maintenance of the 118
database. 119
(2) The database shall include information concerning each 120
known instance in this state in which a person who is unlawfully 121
present in the United States is charged with or convicted of a 122
crime and each known alleged violation of federal immigration 123
law occurring in this state, including each alleged instance of 124
unauthorized employment. 125
(3) The superintendent shall prepare quarterly reports 126
containing the information collected in the database during the 127
applicable quarter and shall submit each report to the general 128
assembly and make it available to the public on the state 129
highway patrol's web site. 130
(D)(1) Each state or local governmental entity 131
administering a state or local public benefit shall comply with 132
section 411 of the "Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity 133
Reconciliation Act of 1996," 8 U.S.C. 1621. Except as otherwise 134
provided in this division, whenever a person who is not a United 135
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States citizen or national applies to a state or local 136
governmental entity for a state or local public benefit, the 137
state or local governmental entity shall verify whether the 138
person is ineligible for the benefit under that section using 139
the systematic alien verification for entitlements (SAVE) 140
program, or its successor program, operated by the United States 141
department of homeland security or its successor agency. This 142
division does not apply when a person applies for a state or 143
local public benefit described in division (b) of that section 144
or for a state or local public benefit for which the Revised 145
Code affirmatively provides eligibility for persons described in 146
division (a) of that section. 147
(2) No state or local governmental entity shall use public 148
funds, or award a grant or other payment of public funds to any 149
person, to provide legal representation to an individual in any 150
civil immigration proceeding. 151
(E)(1) Whenever a person claiming to be a minor's parent 152
or legal guardian applies to a state or local governmental 153
entity on the minor's behalf for any state or local public 154
benefit, for the purpose of school enrollment, or otherwise for 155
the purpose of doing business with the state or local 156
governmental entity, if the state or local governmental entity 157
cannot establish that the minor is lawfully present in the 158
United States, the state or local governmental entity shall 159
require the person to prove the person's relationship with the 160
minor in accordance with division (E)(3) of this section. If the 161
person does not prove the person's relationship with the minor, 162
the state or local governmental entity shall notify a law 163
enforcement agency with the appropriate jurisdiction, and the 164
law enforcement agency shall investigate whether the minor is a 165
victim of a crime. 166
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(2) Whenever a person interacts with a law enforcement 167
agency and claims to be a minor's parent or legal guardian, if 168
the law enforcement agency cannot establish that the minor is 169
lawfully present in the United States, the law enforcement 170
agency shall require the person to prove the person's 171
relationship with the minor in accordance with division (E)(3) 172
of this section. If the person does not prove the person's 173
relationship with the minor, the law enforcement agency shall 174
investigate whether the minor is a victim of a crime. 175
(3) For purposes of divisions (E)(1) and (2) of this 176
section, a person proves the person's relationship with a minor 177
if the person does one of the following: 178
(a) Presents a certified copy of a legal document that 179
establishes that the person is the minor's parent or legal 180
guardian. If the document is not in English, the document shall 181
be accompanied by a certified translation of the document. 182
(b) Undergoes genetic testing, at the person's expense, to 183
establish that the person is the minor's biological parent. The 184
state or local governmental entity or the law enforcement agency 185
shall refer the person to the child support enforcement agency 186
of the applicable county. The child support enforcement agency 187
shall order the testing to be conducted by a qualified examiner 188
that is authorized to conduct genetic testing by the department 189
of job and family services under section 3111.09 of the Revised 190
Code. 191
(c) Presents the results of genetic testing previously 192
conducted in accordance with division (E)(3)(b) of this section 193
to establish that the person is the minor's biological parent. 194
(4) No person shall knowingly make a false claim to be a 195
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minor's parent or legal guardian under division (E)(1) or (2) of 196
this section. Whoever violates this division is guilty of a 197
felony of the fifth degree. 198
(F) No state or local governmental entity shall adopt an 199
ordinance, policy, directive, rule, or resolution that prohibits 200
or otherwise restricts a public official or employee from doing 201
any of the following: 202
(1) Complying with the requirements of division (B), (D), 203
or (E) of this section; 204
(2) Inquiring about a person's name, birthdate, place of 205
birth, or citizenship or immigration status in the course of 206
investigating or prosecuting a violation of any law or 207
ordinance; 208
(3) Maintaining information about a person's citizenship 209
or immigration status; 210
(4) Sending information to, or requesting or receiving 211
information from, a federal, state, or local government agency 212
or employee concerning a person's citizenship or immigration 213
status or for the purpose of determining a person's citizenship 214
or immigration status; 215
(5) Complying with any request by a federal agency engaged 216
in the enforcement of federal immigration law for information, 217
access, or assistance, regardless of whether the federal agency 218
has obtained a warrant to compel the state or