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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 146
2025-2026
Representative Lorenz
Cosponsors: Representatives Williams,
Dean
A
BILL
To
amend section 2301.27 of the Revised Code
to
change the civil service status of certain positions in a county
probation department from classified to unclassified.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
section 2301.27 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec.
2301.27.
(A)(1)(a)
The court of common pleas may establish a county department of
probation. The establishment of the department shall be entered upon
the journal of the court, and the clerk of the court of common pleas
shall certify a copy of the journal entry establishing the department
to each elective officer and board of the county. The department
shall consist of a chief probation officer and the number of other
probation officers and employees, clerks, and stenographers that is
fixed from time to time by the court. The court shall appoint those
individuals, fix their salaries, and supervise their work.
(b)
When appointing a chief probation officer, the court shall do all of
the following:
(i)
Publicly advertise the position on the court's web site, including,
but not limited to, the job description, qualifications for the
position, and the application requirements;
(ii)
Conduct a competitive hiring process that adheres to state and
federal equal employment opportunity laws;
(iii)
Review applicants who meet the posted qualifications and comply with
the application requirements.
(c)
The court shall not appoint as a probation officer any person who
does not possess the training, experience, and other qualifications
prescribed by the adult parole authority created by section 5149.02
of the Revised Code or the department of youth services, as
applicable. Probation officers have all the powers of regular police
officers and shall perform any duties that are designated by the
judge or judges of the court. All positions within the department of
probation,
except
including
positions
held by probation officers in the juvenile division of a court of
common pleas, shall be in the
classified
unclassified
service
of the civil service of the county.
(2)
If two or more counties desire to jointly establish a probation
department for those counties, the judges of the courts of common
pleas of those counties may establish a probation department for
those counties. If a probation department is established pursuant to
division (A)(2) of this section to serve more than one county, the
judges of the courts of common pleas that established the department
shall designate the county treasurer of one of the counties served by
the department as the treasurer to whom probation fees paid under
section 2951.021 of the Revised Code are to be appropriated and
transferred under division (A)(2) of section 321.44 of the Revised
Code for deposit into the multicounty probation services fund
established under division (B) of section 321.44 of the Revised Code.
The
cost of the administration and operation of a probation department
established for two or more counties shall be prorated to the
respective counties on the basis of population.
(3)
Probation officers shall receive, in addition to their respective
salaries, their necessary and reasonable travel and other expenses
incurred in the performance of their duties. Their salaries and
expenses shall be paid monthly from the county treasury in the manner
provided for the payment of the compensation of other appointees of
the court.
(4)
Adult probation officers shall be trained in accordance with a set of
minimum standards that are established by the adult parole authority
of the department of rehabilitation and correction. Probation
officers in the juvenile division of a court of common pleas shall be
trained in accordance with a set of minimum standards that are
established by the department of youth services.
(B)(1)(a)
In lieu of establishing a county department of probation under
division (A) of this section and in lieu of entering into an
agreement with the adult parole authority as described in division
(B) of section 2301.32 of the Revised Code, the court of common pleas
may request the board of county commissioners to contract with, and
upon that request the board may contract with, any nonprofit, public
or private agency, association, or organization for the provision of
probation services and supervisory services for persons placed under
community control sanctions. The contract shall specify that each
individual providing the probation services and supervisory services
shall possess the training, experience, and other qualifications
prescribed by the adult parole authority or the department of youth
services, as applicable. The individuals who provide the probation
services and supervisory services shall not be included in the
classified or unclassified civil service of the county.
(b)
A court of common pleas that has established a county probation
department or has entered into an agreement with the adult parole
authority as described in division (A) or (B) of section 2301.32 of
the Revised Code may request the board of county commissioners to
contract with, and upon that request the board may contract with, any
nonprofit, public or private agency, association, or organization for
the provision of probation services and supervisory services,
including the preparation of presentence investigation reports to
supplement the probation services and supervisory services provided
by the county probation department or adult parole authority, as
applicable. The contract shall specify that each individual providing
the probation services and supervisory services shall possess the
training, experience, and other qualifications prescribed by the
adult parole authority. The individuals who provide the probation
services and supervisory services shall not be included in the
classified or unclassified civil service of the county. A nonprofit,
public or private agency, association, or organization providing
probation services or supervisory services under this division is
hereby designated a criminal justice agency in the provision of those
services, and as such is authorized by this state to apply for access
to the computerized databases administered by the national crime
information center or the law enforcement automated data system in
Ohio and to other computerized databases administered for the purpose
of making criminal justice information accessible to state criminal
justice agencies.
(2)(a)
In lieu of establishing a county department of probation under
division (A) of this section and in lieu of entering into an
agreement with the adult parole authority as described in division
(B) of section 2301.32 of the Revised Code, the courts of common
pleas of two or more adjoining counties jointly may request the
boards of county commissioners of those counties to contract with,
and upon that request the boards of county commissioners of two or
more adjoining counties jointly may contract with, any nonprofit,
public or private agency, association, or organization for the
provision of probation services and supervisory services for persons
placed under community control sanctions for those counties. The
contract shall specify that each individual providing the probation
services and supervisory services shall possess the training,
experience, and other qualifications prescribed by the adult parole
authority or the department of youth services, as applicable. The
individuals who provide the probation services and supervisory
services shall not be included in the classified or unclassified
civil service of any of those counties.
(b)
The courts of common pleas of two or more adjoining counties that
have jointly established a probation department for those counties or
have entered into an agreement with the adult parole authority as
described in division (A) or (B) of section 2301.32 of the Revised
Code may jointly request the board of county commissioners of each
county to contract with, and upon that request the board may contract
with, any nonprofit, public or private agency, association, or
organization for the provision of probation services and supervisory
services, including the preparation of presentence investigation
reports to supplement the probation services and supervisory services
provided by the probation department or adult parole authority, as
applicable. The contract shall specify that each individual providing
the probation services and supervisory services shall possess the
training, experience, and other qualifications prescribed by the
adult parole authority. The individuals who provide the probation
services and supervisory services shall not be included in the
classified or unclassified civil service of the county. A nonprofit,
public or private agency, association, or organization providing
probation services or supervisory services under this division is
hereby designated a criminal justice agency in the provision of those
services, and as such is authorized by this state to apply for access
to the computerized databases administered by the national crime
information center or the law enforcement automated data system in
Ohio and to other computerized databases administered for the purpose
of making criminal justice information accessible to state criminal
justice agencies.
(C)
The chief probation officer may grant permission to a probation
officer to carry firearms when required in the discharge of official
duties if the probation officer has successfully completed a basic
firearm training program that is approved by the executive director
of the Ohio peace officer training commission. A probation officer
who has been granted permission to carry a firearm in the discharge
of official duties, annually shall successfully complete a firearms
requalification program in accordance with section 109.801 of the
Revised Code.
(D)
As used in this section and sections 2301.28 to 2301.32 of the
Revised Code, "community control sanction" has the same
meaning as in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.
Section
2.
That
existing section 2301.27 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.
Section
3.
Section
2301.27 of the Revised Code is presented in this act as a composite
of the section as amended by both H.B. 487 and S.B. 337 of the 129
General Assembly. The General Assembly, applying the principle stated
in division (B) of section 1.52 of the Revised Code that amendments
are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation,
finds that the composite is the resulting version of the section in
effect prior to the effective date of the section as presented in
this act.