OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 459 Bill Analysis
134th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 459’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Cutrona and LaRe
Effective Date:
Sarah A. Maki, Attorney
SUMMARY
 Enacts restrictions in the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Law (SORN Law)
that bar offenders convicted of a sexually oriented offense when the victim was under
age 18, or a child-victim oriented offense, from serving in an employer, employee,
contractor, or volunteer position that affords extensive contact with minor children if:
 The offender is either a Tier II or a Tier III Sex Offender/Child-Victim Offender with
respect to the offense; or
 The offense was committed prior to January 1, 2008, and under the version of the
SORN Law in effect prior to that date, the offender was adjudicated or classified a
sexual predator, child-victim predator, habitual sex offender, or habitual child-victim
offender with respect to the offense.
 Provides that if an offender violates any restriction described above, a prosecutor may
bring an action for an injunction for the violation or, if the offender previously had been
subjected to an injunction for a violation of such a restriction, that the violation is a
criminal offense.
 Expands the information that an offender who registers a place of employment address
under the SORN Law and who is in either category described in the first dot point must
provide in the registration form with respect to the employer, to require that the form
must include in addition to the currently required information:
 A detailed description of the offender’s position and duties in the employment; and
 Either a signed statement by the offender’s employer or supervisor confirming that
the description the offender provided is accurate or a sworn statement by the
offender that the employer or supervisor, upon the offender’s request, refused to
provide the offender with such a signed statement.
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 Specifies that if an offender who registers a place of employment address under the
SORN Law is in either category described in the first dot point:
 If the offender changes the place of employment, the offender’s required
registration under that law of the new place of employment address must include
the information specified in the preceding dot point in addition to the currently
required information.
 If the offender is verifying the address under that law, the offender’s required
verification must provide a detailed description of the offender’s position and duties
in addition to the currently required information.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Background
Ohio’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Law1 (SORN Law) imposes certain
duties and restrictions on offenders convicted of a “sexually oriented offense” or “child-victim
oriented offense” (defined terms2) and on children adjudicated delinquent for committing a
comparable act who are age 14 to 17 and to whom the juvenile court judge applies the law.3
Each offender convicted of such an offense is automatically classified a Tier I, Tier II, or
Tier III Sex Offender/Child-Victim Offender (hereafter a Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III Offender),
depending on the offense and the offender’s criminal history.4 Each sexually oriented offense
or child-victim oriented offense is within one of the Tiers. Delinquent children to whom the law
applies are not automatically classified into any of the Tiers; rather the juvenile court judge who
applies the law to the child determines the child’s Tier.5 The Tier III classification applies to
offenders convicted of what are considered to be the “most serious” sexually oriented offenses
or child-victim offenses, the Tier I classification applies to offenders convicted of what are
considered to be the “least serious” such offenses, and the Tier II classification applies to
offenders convicted of such offenses considered to be in between the most serious and least
serious such offenses. Each Tier has somewhat different responsibilities under the SORN Law
and a different duration of being subject to the law.
Prior to January 1, 2008, offenders were not classified into Tiers. Rather, the court
sentencing an offender determined based on specified criteria if the offender was a sexual
predator, a child-victim predator, a habitual sex offender, or a habitual child-victim offender.6
1 R.C. Chapter 2950.
2 R.C. 2950.01(A) and (C).
3 R.C. 2152.82 and 2152.83, not in the bill.
4 R.C. 2950.01(E), (F), and (G).
5 R.C. 2152.82, 2152.83, and 2152.831, not in the bill.
6 Pre-January 1, 2008, R.C. Chapter 2950.
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Restrictions on certain offenders serving in a position affording
extensive contact with children
The bill enacts restrictions that bar certain offenders convicted of a sexually oriented
offense or child-victim-oriented offense from serving in a specified type of position that affords
extensive contact with minor children and sanctions for violations of the restrictions.
Restrictions – in general
Restrictions
The bill prohibits a person who is in a “restricted offender category” (see
“Definitions,” below – note that the term includes only convicted criminal offenders and
does not include children adjudicated delinquent) from doing either of the following, regardless
of whether the person committed the person’s sexually oriented offense or child-victim
oriented offense prior to, on, or after the bill’s effective date:7
1. On or after the bill’s effective date, commencing service in a position as an employer,
employee, or independent contractor, or in a position as a volunteer with any person,
group, or organization, in a “capacity affording extensive contact with minor children”
(see “Definitions,” below);
2. If the person was in the position prior to the bill’s effective date, at any time after the
expiration of 90 days after that effective date, serving in a position as an employer,
employee, or independent contractor, or in a position as a volunteer with any person,
group, or organization, in a “capacity affording extensive contact with minor children.”
Application regarding offense committed before bill’s effective date
The bill states that the application of the restrictions described above to a person who
committed the person’s sexually oriented offense or child-victim oriented offense prior to the
bill’s effective date is procedural and remedial, pertains to conduct of the person occurring on
or after that date, and does not impose punishment on the person for the sexually oriented
offense or child-victim oriented offense.8
Report to prosecuting authority
Under the bill, if a law enforcement agency, based on a report made to the agency by
any person or based on its own investigation, finds that a person to whom either restriction
described above applies is violating the restriction, the agency must report that finding to the
“prosecuting authority” (see “Definitions,” below).9
7 R.C. 2950.035(A)(1).
8 R.C. 2950.035(A)(4).
9 R.C. 2950.035(B)(1).
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Remedy for violation – injunction
A violation of either restriction described above that is not also a violation of the
provision described below in “Restriction – after injunction obtained based on
prior violation” is subject to injunctive relief.10 Under the bill’s injunctive relief provisions, a
“prosecuting authority,” upon receipt of a report described above, has a cause of action for
injunctive relief against the person and may bring an action to obtain the injunctive relief. The
plaintiff is not required to prove irreparable harm in order to obtain the relief.11
Restriction – after injunction obtained based on prior violation
Restriction
The bill prohibits a person from violating either restriction described above in
paragraphs (1) and (2) under “Restrictions – in general” at any time after an injunction
has been obtained against the person, as described above, based on a prior violation of either
such restriction (hereafter, this prohibition is referred to as the “repeat violator restriction”).12
Report to prosecuting authority
Under the bill, if a law enforcement agency, based on a report made to the agency by
any person or based on its own investigation, finds that a person to whom the repeat violator
restriction applies is violating the restriction, the agency must report that finding to the
“prosecuting authority.”13
Remedy for violation
A violation of the repeat violator restriction is a criminal offense and is subject to the
penalties specified below.14 Under the bill, a “prosecuting authority,” upon receipt of a report
described above, may proceed with a criminal prosecution for the violation.15
The penalties for a violation of the repeat violator restriction are:16
1. Except as otherwise provided in (2) and (3), below, the violation is a first degree
misdemeanor;
2. If the offender once previously has been convicted of a violation of that restriction, the
violation is a third degree felony;
10 R.C. 2950.035(A)(3).
11 R.C. 2950.035(B)(2).
12 R.C. 2950.035(A)(2).
13 R.C. 2950.035(B)(1).
14 R.C. 2950.035(A)(3).
15 R.C. 2950.035(B)(2).
16 R.C. 2950.99(D).
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3. If the offender two or more times previously has been convicted of a violation of that
restriction, the violation is a first degree felony.
SORN Law registration, change of address, and address
verification duties – changes for offenders in a restricted
offender category
The duties that the SORN Law currently imposes on offenders and delinquent children
who are subject to the law must be satisfied within specified periods of time and have criminal
penalties that apply if they are not timely satisfied. The duties apply to both offenders and
children, except as specified to the contrary (references below to a sheriff generally include a
designee of a sheriff).17
Registration duties
Duties
An offender or delinquent child who is subject to the SORN Law currently has the
following address registration duties: 18 (1) if confined under a sentence or disposition for the
offense, registering personally, immediately after sentencing or disposition, with the sheriff of
the county in which the offense was committed, (2) if not confined under a sentence or
disposition for the offense, or if confined for it and released, registering personally with the
sheriff of the county in which the offender or child resides, (3) for offenders only, registering
personally with the sheriff of the county in which the offender attends a school or institution of
higher education (hereafter, collectively referred to as a “school”) or is employed for a specified
period of time, (4) for offenders only, registering with specified officials in any state other than
Ohio if the offender attends a school, or is employed for a specified period of time, in the other
state, and (5) if the conviction or adjudication was in a state or jurisdiction other than Ohio and
the offender or child enters Ohio to reside, attend a school, or be employed, registering in the
manner described in (2) to (4), above, for offenders and in (2), above, for children.
Form
The registration form used under the duties described above must include the
offender’s or delinquent child’s name, aliases used, Social Security number, date of birth, and
other specified information.19 The bill expands the information that must be included on the
form, with respect to an offender who is employed, as follows:20
1. Currently, an offender or delinquent child registering under a duty described above in
(2) to (5) under “Duties” must include in the form the offender’s or child’s current
residence address, the name and address of the offender’s or child’s employer at the
17 R.C. 2950.04(A) and (G), 2950.041(A) and (G), 2950.05, 2950.06, and 2950.99.
18 R.C. 2950.04(A) and 2950.041(A).
19 R.C. 2950.04(C) and 2950.041(C).
20 R.C. 2950.04(C)(4) and (5) and 2950.041(C)(4) and (5).
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time of registration or definite future employer and any other employment information,
and the name and address of the offender’s (but not the child’s) school attended at the
time of registration or definitely to be attended in the future;
2. Currently, an offender (but not a child) registering under a duty described above in
(2) to (5) under “Duties,” as a result of attending a school in Ohio or being employed in
Ohio for the specified period of time, must include in the form the name and current
address of the school or place of employment, and any other employment information;
3. The bill expands the information that an offender, in the circumstances described in
both (1) and (2) above, must provide in the form with respect to an employer to also
require that, if the offender is in a “restricted offender category” (see “Definitions,”
below), the form also must include: (a) a detailed description of the offender’s position
and duties in the employment, and (b) either a signed statement by the offender’s
employer or the offender’s supervisor with that employer confirming that the
description provided by the offender is accurate or a sworn statement by the offender
that the employer or supervisor, upon the offender’s request, refused to provide the
offender with such a signed statement.
Provision to BCII
Currently, after an offender or delinquent child registers with a sheriff under a duty
described above, the sheriff must forward the registration form and other material to the
Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCII) under specified procedures. If an
offender registers a school or place of employment address, the sheriff also must notify the law
enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the premises of the school or place of employment
of the offender’s name and that the offender has registered that address as a place at which
the offender attends school or is employed. BCII must include the information and materials
forwarded to it in the State Registry of Sex offenders and Child-Victim Offenders established
and maintained under the SORN Law.
The bill expands the information that the sheriff must provide to BCII to also require the
sheriff to provide the description and the signed or sworn statement regarding employment,
described above in (3) under “Form,” if they were included with the registration. As with
other information and materials provided to it, BCII must include this description or statement
in the State Registry.21
Change of address duties
Under existing law, an offender or delinquent child who is subject to the SORN Law and
who registers an address as described above in “Registration duties” must notify the
21 R.C. 2950.04(D) and 2950.041(D).
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sheriff with whom the offender or child registered of any change in the registered address, and
must register the new address with the appropriate sheriff.22
An offender’s notice of a change of school or place of employment address to the sheriff