OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 622 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 622’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsor: Rep. Cutrona
Effective date:
Nicholas A. Keller, Attorney
Andrew Little, Attorney
SUMMARY
Requires public libraries to prohibit patrons under 18 from borrowing or viewing
materials that are harmful to juveniles.
Withholds Public Library Fund (PLF) moneys from libraries that fail to comply with the
bill’s requirements.
Redistributes withheld amounts to other libraries and subdivisions within the same
county that are allocated PLF money.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Concealing matter harmful to juveniles in public libraries
The bill requires each board of public library trustees to adopt a policy that requires
each library under its control to (1) prohibit patrons under 18 from borrowing or viewing
materials that are harmful to juveniles unless the library has received parental consent with
respect to an item to be viewed or borrowed by the patron and (2) conceal materials harmful to
juveniles from view so that they are not open to view by juveniles as part of the invited general
public.1
A library may comply with the bill’s requirement with respect to matter harmful to
juveniles by placing the material behind blinder racks or similar devices that cover at least the
lower two-thirds of the material, by wrapping the material, by placing the material behind a
1 R.C. 3375.68(B).
June 24, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
circulation counter, or by otherwise covering the material or locating it so that the portion that
is harmful to juveniles is not open to the view of juveniles.2
Material that is “harmful to juveniles”
Material is considered “harmful to juveniles” under the bill if the material represents
nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or sado-masochistic abuse in any form to which all of
the following apply: 3
The material or performance, when considered as a whole, appeals to the prurient
interest of juveniles in sex;
The material or performance is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult
community as a whole with respect to what is suitable for juveniles;
The material or performance, when considered as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic,
political, and scientific value for juveniles.
For purposes of the definition:
“Juvenile” means an unmarried person under the age of 18.4
“Material” means any book, magazine, newspaper, pamphlet, poster, print, picture,
figure, image, description, motion picture film, phonographic record, or tape, or other tangible
thing capable of arousing interest through sight, sound, or touch and includes an image or text
appearing on a computer monitor, television screen, liquid crystal display, or similar display
device or an image or text recorded on a computer hard disk, computer floppy disk, compact
disk, magnetic tape, or similar data storage device.5
“Nudity” means the showing, representation, or depiction of human male or female
genitals, pubic area, or buttocks with less than a full, opaque covering, or of a female breast
with less than a full, opaque covering of any portion thereof below the top of the nipple, or of
covered male genitals in a discernibly turgid state.6
“Performance” means any motion picture, preview, trailer, play, show, skit, dance, or
other exhibition performed before an audience.7
“Sado-masochistic abuse” means flagellation or torture by or upon a person or the
condition of being fettered, bound, or otherwise physically restrained.8
2 R.C. 3375.68(C).
3 R.C. 3375.68(A), by reference to R.C. 2907.01(E), not in the bill.
4 R.C. 2907.01(I), not in the bill.
5 R.C. 2907.01(J), not in the bill.
6 R.C. 2907.01(H), not in the bill.
7 R.C. 2907.01(K), not in the bill.
8 R.C. 2907.01(P), not in the bill.
P a g e |2 H.B. 622
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
“Sexual conduct” means vaginal intercourse between a male and female; anal
intercourse, fellatio, and cunnilingus between persons regardless of sex; and, without privilege
to do so, the insertion, however slight, of any part of the body or any instrument, apparatus, or
other object into the vaginal or anal opening of another. Penetration, however slight, is
sufficient to complete vaginal or anal intercourse.9
“Sexual excitement” means the condition of human male or female genitals when in a
state of sexual stimulation or arousal.10
Public Library Fund redistribution
The bill allows an Ohio resident who believes a library is not complying with the bill’s
requirements regarding material harmful to juveniles to file a complaint with the State Library
Board. If the Board, following an investigation, determines that the library is not complying with
those requirements, the Board must submit a report with that determination to the county
treasurer of any county from which the library receives Public Library Fund (PLF) distributions.11
Under continuing law, every month 1.7% of the total tax revenue credited to the GRF in
the previous month is credited to the PLF. Money in the PLF is then distributed to counties,
based on population and subject to guaranteed shares and statutory minimums, and further
distributed by county budget commissions to local libraries in the county. (County budget
commissions are comprised of the county auditor, treasurer, and prosecuting attorney.) The
amount each library receives is determined based on the needs of the library or upon an
alternative distribution formula adopted by the county. For historic reasons, some PLF funds
may also be directed to township park districts, the county, and municipal corporations.12
Once a county treasurer receives a report of a library’s noncompliance from the State
Library Board, the treasurer must cease PLF payments to that library. The treasurer must
distribute withheld funds to the other libraries or subdivisions to which the county allocates PLF
funds. Each receiving library or subdivision is allocated a portion of the withheld amount based
on that library or subdivision’s proportion of county PLF allocations, excluding the penalized
library.13
The intra-county PLF redistribution continues until the month after the State Library
Board notifies the county treasurer that the penalized library has become compliant with the
bill’s requirement. The bill allows such libraries to request reevaluation for compliance, and if
the Board determines the library is in compliance, it must promptly issue an addendum to its
initial report stating that determination and deliver it to the applicable county treasurer.14
9 R.C. 2907.01(A), not in the bill.
10 R.C. 2907.01(G), not in the bill.
11 R.C. 3375.68(D)(1).
12 R.C. 131.51, 5705.32, 5705.321, and 5747.47, not in the bill.
13 R.C. 5747.48.
14 R.C. 3375.68(D)(2) and 5747.48(B).
P a g e |3 H.B. 622
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 06-03-24
ANHB0622IN-135/ar
P a g e |4 H.B. 622
As Introduced
Statutes affected: As Introduced: 5747.48