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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 823
2025-2026
Representatives Thomas, D., Mathews,
T.
Cosponsors: Representatives Bird,
Click, Daniels, Deeter, Fischer, Gross, John, Kishman, Klopfenstein,
Lear, Lorenz, McClain, Ritter, Troy, Williams
To
amend sections 3.07, 3.17, 305.03, 503.241, and 3313.11 and to enact
section 3.171 of the Revised Code
to
allow an elected official who is deployed on active military duty to
retain the official's position and to attend meetings virtually.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections 3.07, 3.17, 305.03, 503.241, and 3313.11 be amended and
section 3.171 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec.
3.07.
Any
Subject
to section 3.171 of the Revised Code, any
person
holding office in this state, or in any municipal corporation,
county, or subdivision thereof, coming within the official
classification in Section 38 of Article II, Ohio Constitution, who
willfully and flagrantly exercises authority or power not authorized
by law, refuses or willfully neglects to enforce the law or to
perform any official duty imposed upon
him
the
person
by law, or is guilty of gross neglect of duty, gross immorality,
drunkenness, misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance is guilty of
misconduct in office. Upon complaint and hearing in the manner
provided for in sections 3.07 to 3.10, inclusive, of the Revised
Code, such person shall have judgment of forfeiture of said office
with all its emoluments entered thereon against
him
the
person
,
creating thereby in said office a vacancy to be filled as prescribed
by law. The proceedings provided for in such sections are in addition
to impeachment and other methods of removal authorized by law, and
such sections do not divest the governor or any other authority of
the jurisdiction given in removal proceedings.
Sec.
3.17.
Any
Except
as otherwise provided in section 3.171 of the Revised Code, any
member
of a board, commission, council, board of trustees of an institution
of higher education, or other public body of the state, except a
member of the general assembly or a judge of any court in the state,
who fails to attend at least three-fifths of the regular and special
meetings held by that board, commission, council, board of trustees,
or public body during any two-year period forfeits the member's
position on that board, commission, council, board of trustees, or
public body.
Sec.
3.171.
(A)
As used in this section:
(1)
"Active duty" means full-time duty in the armed forces of
the United States or the Ohio national guard, including full-time
training duty, annual training duty, and active state duty for
members of the national guard.
(2)
"Armed forces of the United States" has the same meaning as
in section 5907.01 of the Revised Code.
(3)
"Elected official" means a person who holds an elective
office of the state or a political subdivision.
(4)
"Public body" has the same meaning as in section 121.22 of
the Revised Code.
(B)
When an elected official is an active or reserve member of the armed
forces of the United States or the Ohio national guard and is
deployed on active duty, all of the following apply:
(1)
Notwithstanding section 121.22 of the Revised Code, the elected
official may attend any meeting of a public body of which the elected
official is a member, and may hear and vote on any matter before the
public body, through teleconference, video conference, or any other
similar synchronous electronic technology.
(2)
The elected official shall not be considered absent from a meeting of
any public body of which the elected official is a member for
purposes of any provision of law that requires a member of a public
body to attend a certain number of meetings of the public body in
order to avoid forfeiting the person's office. This division applies
regardless of whether the elected official attends any meetings
virtually as permitted under division (B)(1) of this section.
(3)
The elected official is not considered to be absent from the state or
a political subdivision for purposes of any provision of law that
specifies that an office becomes vacant when the official is absent.
(4)
The elected official is not considered to have committed nonfeasance
in office or otherwise failed to perform the duties of the office by
reason of the elected official's absence while deployed on active
duty.
Sec.
305.03.
(A)
Whenever any county officer fails to perform the duties of office for
thirty consecutive days, except in case of sickness or injury as
provided in divisions (B) and (C) of this section, the office shall
be deemed vacant. Performing the duties of office includes a county
officer appearing in person at the officer's principal office
location on at least one out of thirty consecutive days.
(B)
Whenever any county officer is absent because of sickness or injury,
the officer shall cause to be filed with the board of county
commissioners a certificate from a physician, certified
nurse-midwife, clinical nurse specialist, or certified nurse
practitioner of the officer's sickness or injury. If the certificate
is not filed with the board within ten days after the expiration of
thirty consecutive days, the office shall be deemed vacant.
(C)
Whenever a county officer files a certificate under division (B) of
this section, but continues to be absent for an additional thirty
days commencing immediately after the last day on which this
certificate may be filed under division (B) of this section, the
office shall be deemed vacant.
(D)
If at any time two county commissioners in a county are absent and
have filed a certificate under division (B) of this section, the
county coroner, in addition to performing the duties of coroner,
shall serve as county commissioner until at least one of the absent
commissioners returns to office or until the office of at least one
of the absent commissioners is deemed vacant under this section and
the vacancy is filled. If the coroner so requests, the coroner shall
be paid a per diem rate for the coroner's service as a commissioner.
That per diem rate shall be the annual salary specified by law for a
county commissioner of that county whose term of office began in the
same year as the coroner's term of office began, divided by the
number of days in the year.
While
the coroner is serving as a county commissioner, the coroner shall be
considered an acting county commissioner and shall perform the duties
of the office of county commissioner until at least one of the absent
commissioners returns to office or until the office of at least one
of the absent commissioners is deemed vacant. Before assuming the
office of acting county commissioner, the coroner shall take an oath
of office as provided in sections 3.22 and 3.23 of the Revised Code.
The coroner's service as an acting county commissioner does not
constitute the holding of an incompatible public office or employment
in violation of any statutory or common law prohibition against the
simultaneous holding of more than one public office or employment.
The
coroner shall give a new bond in the same amount and signed and
approved as provided in section 305.04 of the Revised Code. The bond
shall be conditioned for the faithful discharge of the coroner's
duties as acting county commissioner and for the payment of any loss
or damage that the county may sustain by reason of the coroner's
failure in those duties. The bond, along with the oath of office and
approval of the probate judge indorsed on it, shall be deposited and
paid for as provided for the bonds in section 305.04 of the Revised
Code.
(E)
Any vacancy declared under this section shall be filled in the manner
provided by section 305.02 of the Revised Code.
(F)
This section
shall
does
not
apply to a county officer
while in the active military service of the United States
to whom division (B) of section 3.171 of the Revised Code applies
.
Sec.
503.241.
Whenever
any township officer ceases to reside in the township, or is absent
from the township for ninety consecutive days, except in case of
sickness or injury as provided in this section, the officer's office
shall be deemed vacant and the board of township trustees shall
declare a vacancy to exist in such office.
Such
vacancy shall be filled in the manner provided by section 503.24 of
the Revised Code. Whenever any township officer is absent from the
township because of sickness or injury, the officer shall cause to be
filed with the board of township trustees a certificate from a
physician, certified nurse-midwife, clinical nurse specialist, or
certified nurse practitioner of the officer's sickness or injury. If
such certificate is not filed with the board within ten days after
the expiration of the ninety consecutive days of absence from the
township, the officer's office shall be deemed vacant and the board
of township trustees shall declare a vacancy to exist in such office.
This
section
shall
does
not
apply to a township officer
while in the active military service of the United States
to whom division (B) of section 3.171 of the Revised Code applies
.
Sec.
3313.11.
Notwithstanding
division (D) of section 3311.19 and division (D) of section 3311.52
of the Revised Code, this section does not apply to any joint
vocational or cooperative education school district.
A
Except
as otherwise provided in section 3.171 of the Revised Code, a
vacancy
in any board of education may be caused by death, nonresidence,
resignation, removal from office, failure of a person elected or
appointed to qualify within ten days after the organization of the
board or of appointment or election, removal from the district, or
absence from meetings of the board for a period of ninety days, if
such absence is caused by reasons declared insufficient by a
two-thirds vote of the remaining members of the board, which vote
must be taken and entered upon the records of the board not less than
thirty days after such absence.
If
the board members are selected by appointment pursuant to division
(B) or (F) of section 3311.71 of the Revised Code, the appointing
authority responsible for the appointment shall fill any such vacancy
by appointment of an individual to serve the remainder of the
unexpired term from a slate of at least three persons proposed by the
municipal school district nominating panel established under that
section. If the member creating the vacancy resides in a municipal
school district but not in the municipal corporation containing the
greatest portion of the district's territory, the individuals
included on such slate shall also reside in the municipal school
district but not in the municipal corporation containing the greatest
portion of the district's territory.
If
the board members are selected by election, the board shall fill any
such vacancy at its next regular or special meeting, not earlier than
ten days after such vacancy occurs. A majority vote of all the
remaining members of the board may fill any such vacancy. Immediately
after such a vote, the treasurer of the board of education shall give
written notice to the board of elections responsible for conducting
elections for that school district that a vacancy has been filled,
and the name of the person appointed to fill the vacancy. Each person
selected by the board or probate court to fill a vacancy shall hold
office for the shorter of the following periods: until the completion
of the unexpired term, or until the first day of January immediately
following the next regular board of education election taking place
more than ninety days after a person is selected by the board or
probate court to fill the vacancy. At that election, a special
election to fill the vacancy shall be held in accordance with laws
controlling regular elections for board of education members, except
that no such special election shall be held if the unexpired term
ends on or before the first day of January immediately following that
regular board of education election. The term of a person chosen at a
special election under this section shall begin on the first day of
January immediately following the election, and the person shall
serve for the remainder of the unexpired term. Whenever the need for
a special election under this section becomes known, the board of
education shall immediately give written notice of this fact to the
board of elections responsible for conducting the regular board of
education election for that school district.
The
term of a board of education member shall not be lengthened by the
member's resignation and subsequent selection by the board or probate
court under this section.
Section
2.
That
existing sections 3.07, 3.17, 305.03, 503.241, and 3313.11 of the
Revised Code are hereby repealed.