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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
S. B. No. 360
2025-2026
Senator Schaffer
To
amend section 2307.60 of the Revised Code
to
allow victims of theft or fraud during a declared state of emergency
to recover treble damages from the offender.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
section 2307.60 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec.
2307.60.
(A)(1)
Anyone
Except
as provided in division (A)(2) of this section, anyone
injured
in person or property by a criminal act has, and may recover full
damages in, a civil action unless specifically excepted by law, may
recover the costs of maintaining the civil action and attorney's fees
if authorized by any provision of the Rules of Civil Procedure or
another section of the Revised Code or under the common law of this
state, and may recover punitive or exemplary damages if authorized by
section 2315.21 or another section of the Revised Code.
(2)
Anyone injured in person or property by a criminal act involving
theft or fraud during the stated period and within the location of an
emergency declared by the president, the governor, or by the chief
elected official of a political subdivision has, and may recover
treble damages in, a civil action unless specifically excepted by
law, may recover the costs of maintaining the civil action and
attorney's fees if authorized by any provision of the Rules of Civil
Procedure or another section of the Revised Code or under the common
law of this state, and may recover punitive or exemplary damages if
authorized by section 2315.21 or another section of the Revised Code.
(3)
A final judgment of a trial court that has not been reversed on
appeal or otherwise set aside, nullified, or vacated, entered after a
trial or upon a plea of guilty, but not upon a plea of no contest or
the equivalent plea from another jurisdiction, that adjudges an
offender guilty of an offense of violence punishable by death or
imprisonment in excess of one year, when entered as evidence in any
subsequent civil proceeding based on the criminal act, shall preclude
the offender from denying in the subsequent civil proceeding any fact
essential to sustaining that judgment, unless the offender can
demonstrate that extraordinary circumstances prevented the offender
from having a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue in the
criminal proceeding or other extraordinary circumstances justify
affording the offender an opportunity to relitigate the issue. The
offender may introduce evidence of the offender's pending appeal of
the final judgment of the trial court, if applicable, and the court
may consider that evidence in determining the liability of the
offender.
(B)(1)
As used in division (B) of this section:
(a)
"Tort action" means a civil action for damages for injury,
death, or loss to person or property other than a civil action for
damages for a breach of contract or another agreement between
persons. "Tort action" includes, but is not limited to, a
product liability claim, as defined in section 2307.71 of the Revised
Code, and an asbestos claim, as defined in section 2307.91 of the
Revised Code, an action for wrongful death under Chapter 2125. of the
Revised Code, and an action based on derivative claims for relief.
(b)
"Residence" has the same meaning as in section 2901.05 of
the Revised Code.
(2)
Recovery on a claim for relief in a tort action is barred to any
person or the person's legal representative if any of the following
apply:
(a)
The person has been convicted of or has pleaded guilty to a felony,
or to a misdemeanor that is an offense of violence, arising out of
criminal conduct that was a proximate cause of the injury or loss for
which relief is claimed in the tort action.
(b)
The person engaged in conduct that, if prosecuted, would constitute a
felony, a misdemeanor that is an offense of violence, an attempt to
commit a felony, or an attempt to commit a misdemeanor that is an
offense of violence and that conduct was a proximate cause of the
injury or loss for which relief is claimed in the tort action,
regardless of whether the person has been convicted of or pleaded
guilty to or has been charged with committing the felony, the
misdemeanor, or the attempt to commit the felony or misdemeanor.
(c)
The person suffered the injury or loss for which relief is claimed in
the tort action as a proximate result of the victim of conduct that,
if prosecuted, would constitute a felony, a misdemeanor that is an
offense of violence, an attempt to commit a felony, or an attempt to
commit a misdemeanor that is an offense of violence acting against
the person in self-defense, defense of another, or defense of the
victim's residence, regardless of whether the person has been
convicted of or pleaded guilty to or has been charged with committing
the felony, the misdemeanor, or the attempt to commit the felony or
misdemeanor. Division (B)(2)(c) of this section does not apply if the
person who suffered the injury or loss, at the time of the victim's
act of self-defense, defense of another, or defense of residence, was
an innocent bystander who had no connection with the underlying
conduct that prompted the victim's exercise of self-defense, defense
of another, or defense of residence.
(3)
Recovery against a victim of conduct that, if prosecuted, would
constitute a felony, a misdemeanor that is an offense of violence, an
attempt to commit a felony, or an attempt to commit a misdemeanor
that is an offense of violence, on a claim for relief in a tort
action is barred to any person or the person's legal representative
if conduct the person engaged in against that victim was a proximate
cause of the injury or loss for which relief is claimed in the tort
action and that conduct, if prosecuted, would constitute a felony, a
misdemeanor that is an offense of violence, an attempt to commit a
felony, or an attempt to commit a misdemeanor that is an offense of
violence, regardless of whether the person has been convicted of or
pleaded guilty to or has been charged with committing the felony, the
misdemeanor, or the attempt to commit the felony or misdemeanor.
(4)
Divisions (B)(1) to (3) of this section do not apply to civil claims
based upon alleged intentionally tortious conduct, alleged violations
of the United States Constitution, or alleged violations of statutes
of the United States pertaining to civil rights. For purposes of
division (B)(4) of this section, a person's act of self-defense,
defense of another, or defense of the person's residence does not
constitute intentionally tortious conduct.
Section
2.
That
existing section 2307.60 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.