Make changes to the telemarketing law

As Passed by the Senate

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
S. B. No. 224

2025-2026

Senator Gavarone

Cosponsors: Senators Manning,
Blackshear, Cirino, Craig, DeMora, Hicks-Hudson, Ingram, Johnson,
O'Brien, Patton, Reineke, Reynolds, Roegner, Romanchuk, Timken,
Weinstein

To
amend section 109.87 of the Revised Code
to
make changes to the telemarketing law.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1.
That
section 109.87 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec.
109.87.
(A)(1)
Unless otherwise defined in this section, the terms that are used in
this section have the same meanings as in the applicable federal act
or rule.

(2)
As used in this section:

(a)
"Federal act or rule" means the "Telemarketing and
Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act," 108 Stat. 1545 to
1551, 15 U.S.C. 6101 to 6108, the "Telephone Consumer Protection
Act of 1991," 105 Stat. 2395, 47 U.S.C. 227, any amendment or
reenactment of either of those acts, any rule adopted or issued
pursuant to either of those acts, or any amendment of that rule.

(b)

"Voice
service provider" means any entity originating, carrying, or
terminating voice calls through time-division multiplexing, voice
over internet protocol, including interconnected or one-way voice
over internet protocol, or commercial mobile radio service.

(c)

"Voice
service" means any service that is interconnected with the
public switched telephone network, directly or as an intermediary,
and that furnishes voice communications to an end user using
resources from the North American numbering plan or any successor to
the North American numbering plan adopted by the federal
communications commission under the Communications Act of 1934, 47
U.S.C. 251(e)(1), and includes both of the following:

(i)
A transmission from a telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other
device to a telephone facsimile machine.

(ii)
Without limitation, any service that enables real-time, two-way voice
communications, including any service that requires internet
protocol-compatible customer premises equipment out-bound calling,
whether or not the service is one-way or two-way voice over internet
protocol.

(d)(i)
"Text message" means a message consisting of text, images,
sounds, or other information that is transmitted to or from a device
that is identified as the receiving or transmitting device by means
of a ten-digit telephone number or N-1-1 service code and includes a
short message service and a multimedia message service.

(ii)
"Text message" does not include a real-time, two-way voice
or video communication or a message sent over an internet
protocol-enabled messaging service to another user of the same
messaging service, except a message described in division
(A)(2)(d)(i) of this section.

(e)
"Text messaging service" means a service that enables the
transmission or receipt of a text message, including a service
provided as part of or in connection with a voice service.

(B)(1)
No person, entity, merchant, seller, or telemarketer shall engage in
any act or practice in violation of any provision of a federal act or
rule.

(2)(a)
No person shall provide substantial assistance or support to any
person, entity, merchant, seller, or telemarketer when that person
knows or consciously avoids knowing that the other person, entity,
merchant, seller, or telemarketer is engaged in any act or practice
that violates any provision of a federal act or rule.

(b)
For purposes of division (B)(2)(a) of this section, "substantial
assistance or support" does not include the provision of a voice
service to a third party by a
voice
service provider if one or more
person
that is any
of
the following

is true
:

(i)

The
voice service provider is not designated as a non-cooperative

Operating
as an incumbent local exchange
carrier

by the consortium registered with the federal communications
commission pursuant to 47 C.F.R. 64.1203
,
as defined in section 4927.01 of the Revised Code
.

(ii)

The
network of the voice service provider does not originate the voice
service or text messaging service
Operating
as a telephone company or wireless service provider that is certified
or registered, as applicable, with the public utilities commission
pursuant to section 4927.05 of the Revised Code
.

(iii)

The
network of the voice service provider is not the first domestic
provider handling the voice service or text messaging service that
originates outside of the United States
Operating
as an eligible telecommunications carrier designated by rule by the
public utilities commission pursuant to section 4927.04 of the
Revised Code
.

(iv)
An issuer of a class of securities registered under section 12 of the
"Securities Exchange Act of 1934," 15 U.S.C. 78l, including
any subsidiary entity in which the issuer owns, either directly or
indirectly through one or more intermediaries, more than seventy-five
per cent of the ownership, voting, or similar interests then
outstanding.

(3)
The attorney general, in any proceedings under this section, shall
recognize any exemptions recognized by the federal communications
commission under the "Telephone Consumer Protection Act of
1991," 105 Stat. 2395, 47 U.S.C. 227, any amendment or
reenactment of that act, any rule adopted or issued pursuant to that
act, or any amendment of that rule.

(C)(1)
If the attorney general, as a result of complaints or the attorney
general's own inquiries, has reason to believe that a person has
engaged, is engaging, or is preparing to engage in a violation of
this section or any provision of a federal act or rule, the attorney
general may investigate the alleged violation. For purposes of an
investigation under division (C)(1) of this section, the attorney
general may administer oaths, subpoena witnesses, adduce evidence,
and require the production of any relevant matter.

(2)
If the matter to be produced under division (C)(1) of this section is
located outside this state, the attorney general may designate any
representative, including any official of the state in which the
matter is located, to inspect the matter on the behalf of the
attorney general. The person subpoenaed may make the matter available
to the attorney general at a convenient location within the state or
pay the reasonable and necessary expenses for the attorney general or
the attorney general's representative to examine the matter at the
place where it is located, provided that those expenses shall not be
charged to a party that subsequently is not found to have engaged in
a violation of this section or any provision of a federal act or
rule.

(3)
A person subpoenaed under division (C)(1) of this section may file a
motion to extend the day on which the subpoena is to be returned or
to modify or quash the subpoena, for good cause shown, in the court
of common pleas of Franklin county or of the county in this state in
which the person resides or in which the person's principal place of
business is located. The person may file the motion not later than
twenty days after the service of the subpoena.

(4)
A person subpoenaed under division (C)(1) of this section shall
comply with the terms of the subpoena unless the parties agree to
modify the terms of the subpoena or unless the court has modified or
quashed the subpoena, extended the day on which the subpoena is to be
returned, or issued any other order with respect to the subpoena
prior to the day on which the subpoena is to be returned. If a person
fails without lawful excuse to testify or to produce relevant matter
pursuant to a subpoena, the attorney general may apply to the court
of common pleas of the county in which the person subpoenaed resides
or in which the person's principal place of business is located for
an order that compels compliance with the subpoena.

(5)
If an individual subpoenaed under division (C)(1) of this section
refuses to testify or to produce relevant matter pursuant to the
subpoena on the ground that the testimony or matter may incriminate
the individual, the attorney general may request the court to order
the individual to provide the testimony or matter. With the exception
of a prosecution for perjury or a civil action for damages under
division (D)(1) of this section, an individual who complies with a
court order to provide testimony or matter, after asserting a
privilege against self-incrimination to which the individual is
entitled by law, shall not be subjected to a criminal proceeding or a
civil penalty or forfeiture on the basis of the testimony or matter
required to be disclosed or testimony or matter discovered through
that testimony or matter required to be disclosed.

(6)
In conducting an investigation under this section, the attorney
general shall not publicly disclose the identity of persons,
entities, merchants, sellers, or telemarketers investigated or the
facts developed in the investigation unless this information has
become a matter of public record in enforcement proceedings or if
those being investigated have consented in writing to public
disclosure.

(7)
In conducting an investigation under this section, the attorney
general shall cooperate with state and local officials of other
states and officials of the federal government in the administration
of comparable laws and regulations.

(8)
The attorney general may do either of the following:

(a)
During an investigation under division (C) of this section, afford
the person who is the subject of the investigation, in a manner
considered appropriate to that person, an opportunity to cease and
desist from any suspected violation of this section or any provision
of a federal act or rule. The attorney general may suspend the
investigation during the period that the attorney general permits the
person to cease and desist from that suspected violation. The
suspension of the investigation or the affording of an opportunity to
cease and desist shall not prejudice or prohibit any further
investigation by the attorney general under division (C) of this
section.

(b)
Terminate an investigation under division (C) of this section upon
acceptance of a written assurance of voluntary compliance from a
person who is suspected of a violation of this section or any
provision of a federal act or rule. The acceptance of an assurance
under division (C)(8)(b) of this section may be conditioned upon an
undertaking to reimburse or to take other appropriate corrective
action with respect to identifiable telephone service subscribers who
are damaged by an alleged violation of this section or any provision
of a federal act or rule. An assurance of compliance given by a
person under division (C)(8)(b) of this section is not evidence of a
violation of this section or any provision of a federal act or rule.
The attorney general, at any time, may reopen an investigation
terminated by the acceptance of an assurance of voluntary compliance,
if the attorney general believes that further proceedings are in the
public interest. Evidence of a violation of an assurance of voluntary
compliance is prima-facie evidence of an act or practice in violation
of this section or the applicable provision of a federal act or rule
if the evidence is presented after the violation in a civil action
brought under division (D)(1) of this section. An assurance of
voluntary compliance may be filed with the court and if approved by
the court, entered as a consent judgment in the action.

(9)
The procedures that are available to the attorney general under
division (C) of this section are cumulative and concurrent, and the
exercise of one procedure by the attorney general does not preclude
or require the exercise of any other procedure.

(D)(1)
If, by the attorney general's own inquiries or as a result of
complaints or an investigation conducted under division (C) of this
section, the attorney general has reasonable cause to believe that a
person has engaged or is engaging in a violation of any provision of
this section or of a federal act or rule, the attorney general,
subject to division (D)(3) or (4) of this section, may bring in the
appropriate court of common pleas of this state or in the appropriate
district court of the United States, but not in both courts, a civil
action against the alleged violator for injunctive relief, damages,
and civil penalties pursuant to the federal act or rule, on behalf of
the residents of this state who have been subjected to acts or
practices in violation of this section. The attorney general may
bring the action under this section or under the applicable federal
act or rule, but the attorney general shall not plead a violation of
both this section and the applicable federal act or rule in the
action.

(2)
On the motion of the attorney general or on its own motion, a court
may impose a civil penalty of five hundred dollars for each violation
of the provision of this section or of the federal act or rule that
is the subject of the action. If the court finds the defendant
willfully or knowingly committed the violation, the court may impose
a civil penalty of one thousand five hundred dollars for each
violation of the provision of this section or of the federal act or
rules that is the subject of the action. An award of damages or civil
penalties may be recovered under this section or under the applicable
federal act or rule, but an award of damages or civil penalties shall
not be recovered under both this section and the applicable federal
act or rule.

(3)
If a civil action has been instituted by or on behalf of the federal
trade commission or the federal communications commission for a
violation of any provision of an applicable federal act or rule, the
attorney general, during the pendency of that action, shall not
institute any civil action under division (D)(1) of this section
against any defendant that is named in the complaint in the civil
action that has been instituted by or on behalf of the federal trade
commission or the federal communications commission, whichever is
applicable, for any violation that is alleged in that complaint.

(4)
If a civil action that has been instituted by or on behalf of the
federal trade commission or the federal communications commission for
a violation of any provision of an applicable federal act or rule
affecting the residents of this state is litigated to its conclusion
and the federal trade commission or the federal communications
commission recovers an award of damages or civil penalties or obtains
any relief under the applicable federal act or rule, the attorney
general shall not institute any civil action under division (D)(1) of
this section for any violation within the same time period that is
alleged in the civil action that was instituted as described in
division (D)(4) of this section and in which the federal trade
commission or federal communications commission has recovered the
damages or civil penalties or obtained the relief.

(5)
No action may be brought by the attorney general under this section
for damages or a civil penalty more than five years after the
occurrence of the violation.

(E)
Any civil action that the attorney general brings in a federal court
under division (D)(1) of this section shall comply with the
applicable provisions of the federal act or rule the violation of
which is the subject of the action.

(F)
The attorney general shall deposit any civil penalties that are
imposed under division (D)(2) of this section to the credit of the
telemarketing fraud enforcement fund created under section 4719.17 of
the Revised Code, to be used to pay the costs of the office of the
attorney general in investigating any violation of, and in enforcing,
any federal act or rule or this section or for any other purpose as
set forth under section 4719.17 of the Revised Code.

(G)
A violation of division (B)(1) or (2) of this section that involves a
consumer transaction as defined in section 1345.01 of the Revised
Code shall be considered an unfair or deceptive act or practice in
violation of section 1345.02 of the Revised Code. All powers and
remedies available to the attorney general to enforce sections
1345.01 to 1345.13 of the Revised Code are available to the attorney
general to enforce this section.

Section
2.
That
existing section 109.87 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.