OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 35 Final Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 35’s Fiscal Note
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Seitz and Miranda
Effective date: Emergency: R.C. 2305.111 effective October 12, 2023; R.C. 2950.021 effective
January 11, 2024; amendments to R.C. 2305.11 reversed effective October 12, 2028
Ashley F. Dean, Attorney
SUMMARY
Elimination of limitations period for civil action based on
childhood sexual abuse
 Temporarily eliminates the 12-year period of limitation for an action for assault or
battery brought by a victim based on childhood sexual abuse, or an action brought by a
victim asserting any claim resulting from childhood sexual abuse, but only for purposes
of making claims against a bankruptcy estate of a federally chartered organization (the
Boy Scouts of America).
 Sunsets this provision effective October 12, 2028, which is five years after its effective
date, returning the law to the version in effect prior to the act’s changes.
 Names the act the Scout’s Honor Law.
SORN Law − pre-January 1, 2008, offenses
Reclassification mechanism
 Establishes a temporary mechanism by which a court holds a hearing to determine the
pre-2008 classification of a wrongly classified Tier offender for a sexually oriented
offense or child-victim oriented offense committed prior to January 1, 2008.
 Requires that upon the court’s determination that the pre-2008 classification applies to
the wrongly classified Tier offender, the court must specify the pre-2008 classification
and vacate the Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III sex offender/child-victim offender classification of
the offender.
 Requires that a wrongly classified Tier offender who is reclassified must receive credit
toward the registration and verification duties under the new pre-2008 classification for
all time that the offender has been in compliance with the registration and verification
duties as a Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III sex offender/child-victim offender.
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 Requires the proceedings under this mechanism to be initiated by filing a motion by a
wrongly classified Tier offender or the state, or by the court’s own initiative, within one
year after the reclassification provisions’ January 11, 2024, effective date.
 Requires that if proceedings are not initiated within that one-year period, the wrongly
classified Tier offender’s Tier classification thereafter must be deemed to be a valid
classification subject to enforcement under the SORN Law.
 Requires that if a wrongly classified Tier offender, in a motion or other document filed
with the court, affirmatively accepts the Tier classification assigned to the offender, the
court must issue an order recognizing that the offender affirmatively accepts the Tier
classification and is subject to the SORN Law.
Classification upon imposition of sentence
 Stipulates that if, on or after January 11, 2024, a person is convicted of a sexually
oriented or child-victim oriented offense committed prior to January 1, 2008, the court
must hold a hearing to determine the pre-2008 classification that should apply to the
offender under the SORN Law as it existed immediately prior to January 1, 2008.
 Requires that if the court determines that the offender should be classified under the
SORN Law as it existed immediately prior to January 1, 2008, the court must determine
the appropriate pre-2008 classification for the offender and set forth the pre-2008
classification for the offender.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Background − civil action based on childhood sexual abuse
Any conduct that constitutes any of the following criminal offenses, if the victim at the
time of the violation is a child under age 18, or a child with a developmental disability or
physical impairment under age 21, is “childhood sexual abuse”:1
 Rape;
 Sexual battery committed under certain circumstances in which the offender is a person
in authority over the victim;
 Gross sexual imposition or sexual imposition committed under specified circumstances
in which the offender is a person in authority over the victim.
1 R.C. 2305.111(A)(1)(a) and (b).
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Statute of limitations
Generally, a victim of childhood sexual abuse must bring an action for assault or battery,
or any claim resulting from childhood sexual abuse, within 12 years after the cause of action
accrues. The cause of action accrues upon the date the victim reaches the age of majority.2
The act makes a five-year exception to this period of limitation, specifying that, only for
purposes of making claims against a bankruptcy estate of an organization chartered under
part B of subtitle II of Title 36 of the United States Code, an action for assault or battery brought
by a victim of childhood sexual abuse based on childhood sexual abuse, or an action brought by
a victim asserting any claim resulting from childhood sexual abuse, may be brought at any time
after the cause of action accrues.3 As a result, this will allow victims of childhood sexual abuse
while in the Boy Scouts of America to be compensated in damages under the Boy Scouts’
bankruptcy settlement.
Sunset
The act sunsets these provisions five years after they take effect, so that on October 12,
2028, R.C. 2305.111 will return to the version in effect prior to the act’s changes.4
Act’s name
The act is named the Scout’s Honor Law.5
Sex Offender Registration and Notification (SORN) Law
Background
In 1996, Ohio adopted its version of the federal Megan’s Law to comply with that law to
provide the public with notice and information about convicted sex offenders and child-victim
offenders in the community. The Ohio law (known as the SORN Law) was amended several
times after 1996. The most substantial changes were enacted in S.B. 10 of the 127th General
Assembly, effective January 1, 2008, to implement the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection
and Safety Act of 2006. S.B. 10 enacted the classification of sex offenders into three tiers based
on the offense of conviction and repealed the previous seven-category classification that Ohio
had used.6
Under the SORN Law, “sex offender” means a person who is convicted of, pleads guilty
to, has been convicted of, has pleaded guilty to, or is or has been adjudicated a delinquent child
2 R.C. 2305.111(C)(1) and (3).
3 R.C. 2305.111(C)(2).
4 Sections 3, 4, and 5.
5 Section 6.
6 See Ohio Attorney General’s Guide to Ohio’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Laws “SORN”
(PDF), 2018, which is available via a keyword search for “SORN” on the Attorney General’s website,
ohioattorneygeneral.gov.
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for committing any “sexually oriented offense,” defined to mean specified sex offenses or
offenses committed with a sexual motivation. “Child-victim offender” means a person who is
convicted of, pleads guilty to, has been convicted of, has pleaded guilty to, or is or has been
adjudicated a delinquent child for committing any “child-victim oriented offense,” defined to
mean specified offenses (such as kidnapping, abduction, unlawful restraint, criminal child
enticement) committed by a person, regardless of the person’s age, generally when the victim
is under age 18.7
The convicted sex offender or child-victim offender is classified into one of three tiers:
Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III sex offender/child-victim offender.8 The offender’s tier classification is
determined by the severity of the offender’s convicted offense. Each tier has different
registration and verification requirements.
Pre-January 1, 2008 offenses
Reclassification mechanism
The act establishes a temporary mechanism by which the court, upon request of the
state or a “wrongly classified Tier offender” (see below) or on the court’s own initiative, must
hold a hearing to determine the “pre-2008 classification” (see below) that should apply to the
offender under the provisions of the SORN Law as it existed immediately prior to January 1,
2008. The request must be made before the wrongly classified Tier offender completes any
registration and verification duties under the SORN Law that are associated with the sexually
oriented or child-victim oriented offense that is the basis of the offender being a wrongly
classified Tier offender, and within one year from January 11, 2024. This mechanism applies to
a wrongly classified Tier offender who is completing registration and verification duties for the
first time or one who has completed those duties one or more times previously and
subsequently is completing them again in accordance with the SORN Law.9
If proceedings are not initiated within that one-year period, the offender’s Tier
classification thereafter must be deemed to be a valid classification subject to enforcement
under the SORN Law.10
The act defines the following terms:
Wrongly classified Tier offender means a sex offender or child-victim offender who has
been classified by a court as a Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III sex offender/child-victim offender under
the SORN Law based on a sexually oriented or child-victim oriented offense committed prior to
January 1, 2008, and whose Tier classification based on that offense is invalid under the 2011
7 R.C. 2950.01(A), (B), (C), and (D), not in the bill.
8 R.C. 2950.01(E), (F), and (G), not in the bill.
9 R.C. 2950.021(B)(1) and (B)(7).
10 R.C. 2950.021(B)(7).
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decision of the Ohio Supreme Court in State v. Williams, 129 Ohio St.3d 344, 2011-Ohio-3374.11
In State v. Williams, the Ohio Supreme Court held that the Tier classification scheme under
S.B. 10 of the 127th General Assembly was intended to apply retroactively, and that the various
provisions were punitive to offenders who committed sex offenses prior to that act’s
enactment. The Court found that this retroactive application was invalid under Article II,
Section 28 of the Ohio Constitution (prohibits General Assembly from passing retroactive
laws).12
Pre-2008 classification means one of the categories in which sex offenders and child-
victim offenders were included under the SORN Law as it existed immediately prior to
January 1, 2008, and that determined how and for how long the duties under that law applied
to the offenders, including habitual sex offenders, sexual predators, habitual child-victim
offenders, child-victim predators, sex offenders who were convicted of or pleaded guilty to an
aggravated sexually oriented offense, and any other sex offenders or child-victim offenders
who were subject to duties, responsibilities, and restrictions under that law. 13
Notice of hearing
The court must give to both the state and the wrongly classified Tier offender at least
30 days’ notice of the hearing’s date, time, and location. The offender has the right to be
represented by counsel and, if indigent, the right to have appointed counsel.14
Hearing
The hearing must be governed by, and held in accordance with, the SORN Law as it
existed immediately prior to January 1, 2008, including either:15
 Regarding sexually oriented offenders, R.C. 2950.09 as it existed immediately prior to
that date (classification and court determination of a sexually oriented offender as a
sexual predator, habitual sex offender, sex offender who was convicted of or pleaded
guilty to an aggravated sexually oriented offense, or other classification); or
 Regarding child-victim offenders, R.C. 2950.091 as it existed immediately prior to that
date (classification as a child-victim predator or habitual child-victim offender).
Court’s determination
If, at the conclusion of the hearing, the court determines that the wrongly classified Tier
offender should be classified under the SORN Law as it existed immediately prior to January 1,
2008, the court must: (1) determine the appropriate pre-2008 classification for the offender,
11 R.C. 2950.021(A)(1).
12 Id.
13 R.C. 2950.021(A)(2).
14 R.C. 2950.021(B)(2).
15 R.C. 2950.021(B)(3).
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(2) make any other necessary findings under those provisions, and (3) file an entry that does the
following:16
 Sets forth the pre-2008 classification that the court determined for the offender and
other relevant information;
 Specifies that the pre-2008 classification that the court determined for the offender is
subject to enforcement under the SORN Law as it existed immediately prior to
January 1, 2008; and
 Vacates the prior classification of the offender as a Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III sex
offender/child-victim offender.
Credit for registration duties as Tier offender
Any wrongly classified Tier offender who is reclassified under the act’s mechanism must
receive credit toward the registration and verification duties under the new pre-2008
classification for all time that the offender has been in compliance with the registration and
verification duties as a Tier I, Tier II, or Tier III sex offender/child-victim offender.17
No limit on direct appeal of Tier classification
Under the act, the new mechanism does not limit the state or a wrongly classified Tier
offender from challenging on direct appeal a classification of the offender as a Tier I, Tier II, or
Tier III sex offender/child-victim offender.18
Acceptance of Tier classification
Under the act, no hearing as described above under “Hearing,” may be held with
respect to a wrongly classified Tier offender if the offender, in writing in a motion or in another
document filed with the court, affirmatively accepts the Tier classification assigned to the
offender. Upon that acceptance, the court must issue an order recognizing that the wrongly
classified Tier offender affirmatively accepts the Tier classification and is subject to the SORN
Law.19
Classification upon imposition of sentence
The act stipulates that if, on or after January 11, 2024, a person is convicted of or pleads
guilty to a sexually oriented or child-victim oriented offense committed prior to January 1,
2008, the court imposing sentence must hold a hearing to determine the pre-2008 classification
that should apply to the offender under the SORN Law as it existed immediately prior to
16 R.C. 2950.021(B)(4).
17 R.C. 2950.021(B)(5).
18 R.C. 2950.021(B)(6).
19 R.C. 2950.021(B)(8).
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January 1, 2008. The provisions described above in “Hearing” apply with respect to that
hearing.20
If, at the conclusion of the hearing, the court determines that the offender should be
classified under the provisions of the SORN Law as it existed immediately prior to January 1,
2008, the court must determine the appropriate pre-2008 classification for the offender and file
an entry that (1) sets forth the pre-2008 classification that the court determined for the
offender, and (2) specifies that the pre-2008 classification that the court determined for the
offender is subject to enforcement under the SORN Law as it existed immediately prior to
January 1, 2008.21
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 02-15-23
Reported, H. Civil Justice 03-16-23
Passed House (95-0) 03-29-23
Reported, S. Judiciary 09-27-23
Passed Senate (31-0) 09-27-23
House concurred in Senate amendments (88-0) 10-11-23
23-ANHB0035EN-135/ks
20 R.C. 2950.021(C).
21 Id.
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