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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
S. B. No. 416
2025-2026
Senator Patton
To
amend sections 3.17 and 3313.11 and to enact section 3313.111 of the
Revised Code
regarding
school district board of education members deployed on active duty in
the United States Armed Forces or Ohio National Guard.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections 3.17 and 3313.11 be amended and section 3313.111 of the
Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec.
3.17.
Any
Except
as provided in section 3313.111 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.
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
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
,
except as provided in section 3313.111 of the Revised Code, by
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.
Sec.
3313.111.
(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.
(B)
No school district board of education member shall be considered
absent from a board meeting for the purposes of section 3.17 or
3313.11 of the Revised Code if both of the following apply:
(1)
The member is an active or reserve member of the armed forces of the
United States or the Ohio national guard and does not attend the
meeting in person because the member is deployed on active duty.
(2)
Notwithstanding section 121.22 of the Revised Code, the member
attends the meeting through teleconference, video conference, or any
other similar synchronous electronic technology.
Section
2.
That
existing sections 3.17 and 3313.11 of the Revised Code are hereby
repealed.