CHAPTER 4931: COMPANIES -- TELEGRAPH; TELEPHONE

Effective Date: 09-29-1999

A telegraph company may construct, own, use, and maintain telegraph lines, whether described in its original articles of incorporation or not, and whether such lines are wholly within or partly beyond the limits of this state. It may join with another company or association in conducting, leasing, owning, using, or maintaining such lines, on terms agreed upon between the directors or managers of the respective companies. Such companies may own and hold any interest in such lines, or become lessees thereof on such terms as they agree upon, but no such company and the owner of rights of way shall contract for the exclusive use of such rights of way for telegraphic purposes.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

(A) A telegraph or telephone company may do either of the following in the unincorporated area of the township:

(1) Construct telegraph or telephone lines upon and along any of the public roads and highways and across any waters within that area by the erection of the necessary fixtures, including posts, piers, or abutments for sustaining the cords or wires of those lines. Those lines shall be constructed so as not to incommode the public in the use of the roads or highways, or endanger or injuriously interrupt the navigation of the waters.

(2) Construct telegraph or telephone lines and the fixtures necessary for containing and protecting those lines beneath the surface of any of the public roads and highways and beneath any waters within that area. Those lines shall be constructed so as not to incommode the public in the use of the roads or highways, or endanger or injuriously interrupt the navigation of the waters.

(B)(1) This section does not authorize the construction of a bridge across any waters within the state.

(2) Construction under this section is subject to section 5571.16 of the Revised Code, as applicable, and any other applicable law, including, but not limited to, any law requiring approval of the legislative authority, the county engineer, or the director of transportation.

Effective Date: 10-21-2003

A telegraph company may enter upon any land held by an individual or a corporation, whether such land was acquired by purchase, appropriation, or by virtue of any provision in its charter, for the purpose of making preliminary examinations and surveys, with a view to the location and construction of telegraph lines, and may appropriate so much of such land in accordance with sections 163.01 to 163.22, inclusive, of the Revised Code, as it deems necessary for the construction and maintenance of its telegraph poles, cables, conduits, piers, abutments, wires, and other necessary fixtures, stations, and the right of way in, through, over, across, and under such lands and adjacent lands, sufficient to enable it to construct and repair its lines.

Effective Date: 01-01-1966

Effective Date: 01-01-1966

The right of a telegraph company to use lands held by a railroad company, for the permanent structures of the telegraph, is limited to land which lies within five feet of the outer limits of the right of way of the railroad, if it is practicable to erect the line within those limits. When the telegraph company seeks to appropriate lands that lie beyond those limits, its petition filed pursuant to section 163.05 of the Revised Code shall also set forth facts showing that it is impracticable to erect its line within such limits, and shall designate, by a survey map, by reference to monuments, or by other means of easy identification, the place where the company seeks to establish the line. If such petition is controverted by the railroad company in the manner provided for in division (B) of section 163.09 of the Revised Code, the court shall determine whether the erection of the line at the place designated will in any material degree interfere with the practical uses to which such railroad company is authorized to put the land. If satisfied that it will so interfere, the court shall reject the petition, or require the structure to be erected at such other place as it directs.

Effective Date: 01-01-1966

When lands sought to be appropriated for telegraph lines are held by a corporation incorporated under a law of this state, whether by purchase or by virtue of an appropriation authorized by its charter or the law of this state, the right of the telegraph company to appropriate the lands is limited to such use of them as will not, in a material degree, interfere with the practical uses to which the company which holds them is authorized to put the lands under its charter. No company shall erect poles, piers, abutments, wires, or other necessary fixtures in such close proximity to another telegraph line authorized by law to be constructed as to interfere mechanically with its practical working.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

Effective Date: 09-29-1999

Effective Date: 01-01-1966

Any company organized at any time to transact a telegraph, telephone, or communications business may construct, reconstruct, own, use, lease, operate, maintain, and improve communications systems for the transmission of voices, sounds, writings, signs, signals, pictures, visions, images, or other forms of intelligence, as public utility services, by means of wire, cable, radio, radio relay, or other facilities, methods, or media. Any such company has the powers and is subject to the restrictions prescribed in sections 4931.02 to 4931.22 of the Revised Code, for telegraph or telephone companies.

Effective Date: 09-29-1999

After the erection of a telegraph line upon lands held by a corporation, if the corporation has occasion to use the land upon which a telegraph pole, pier, abutment, or other fixture is erected, for a purpose authorized by its charter, the telegraph company shall remove the pole, pier, abutment, or fixture to a convenient place designated by the corporation, upon reasonable notice given in writing, and erect it in such new place, so as not to interfere with the practical uses to which the corporation is authorized to put the land.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

After the erection of a telegraph line on the lands of a corporation, if such corporation apprehends danger or risk of danger to its work or practical operations, in consequence of decay or defect in the mode of structure of any works of the telegraph company, it may, upon five days’ notice in writing, require such company to repair such decayed or defective works. If the danger is imminent, so as not to admit of delay, the corporation, without notice, may repair the defect, and recover the reasonable expenses of such repair, with costs of suit, before any court of competent jurisdiction.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

Every company, incorporated or unincorporated, operating a telegraph line in this state, shall receive dispatches from and for other telegraph lines, and from or for any individual. On payment of its usual charges for transmitting dispatches as established by the rules and regulations of the company, every such company shall transmit such dispatches with impartiality and good faith, or forfeit one hundred dollars for each case of neglect or refusal to do so. Such amount shall be recovered, with costs of suit, by civil action in the name and for the benefit of the person or company sending, forwarding, or desiring to send or forward the dispatch.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

When a person sending a dispatch desires to have it forwarded over the lines of other telegraph companies, whose termini are respectively within the limits of the usual delivery of such companies, to the place of final destination, and tenders to the company originally receiving the dispatch for transmission the usual charges for the dispatch to the place of final delivery, such company shall receive it and, without delaying the dispatch, pay to the succeeding line the necessary charges for the remaining distance. The succeeding line shall accept and forward the dispatch as if the sender had applied to it in person and paid the usual charges. For the omission to do so the succeeding line is liable to the same forfeiture as is provided in section 4931.14 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

When application is made to a telegraph company to send a dispatch, the officer, agent, clerk, or servant appointed by the company to receive dispatches at the station to which such application was made shall inform the applicant, and, if required by him, write upon the dispatch, that the line is not in working order, or that the dispatches on hand for transmission will occupy the time so that the dispatch offered cannot be transmitted within the time required, if the facts are so. For failing to inform, or for intentionally giving false information to the applicant as to the time within which the dispatch offered can be sent, the officer, agent, clerk, or servant, and the company by which he is employed, shall incur the forfeiture provided in section 4931.14 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

Every telegraph company, incorporated or unincorporated, operating a telegraph line in this state, shall transmit and deliver all dispatches in the order in which they are received for transmission or delivery. For failure to do so, such company is liable to a forfeiture of one hundred dollars, as provided in section 4931.14 of the Revised Code, except that arrangements may be made with the proprietors or publishers of newspapers for the transmission, for publication, of intelligence of general and public interest, out of its regular order, and dispatches by officers of the state or the United States, on public business, may have preference over all private business, when the public interest requires it. No company is required to deliver dispatches at a greater distance from the station at which they are received than is published in its regulations. If an applicant directs a dispatch to be mailed at the place of delivery, and offers to pay the necessary postage, the company shall affix the proper postage stamp, and mail the dispatch in time for the first mail that departs after it is received at the office of delivery, and for an omission to do so the company is liable to a forfeiture as provided in section 4931.14 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

No person shall knowingly transmit by a telegraph line any false communication or intelligence, with intent to injure a person or to speculate in an article of merchandise, commerce, or trade, or with intent that another may do so, or shall knowingly send or deliver a dispatch that is forged, or not authorized by the person whose name purports to be signed to it. Any person violating this section is liable to the forfeiture provided in section 4931.14 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

When two or more telegraph companies whose several lines are not parallel or in competition with each other, but which will, if united, form a continuous line for receiving and transmitting dispatches, desire to consolidate into a single corporation, they may do so in the manner and subject to the rules provided for the consolidation of railroad companies.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

Effective Date: 09-29-1999

Sections 4931.02 to 4931.22 of the Revised Code do not authorize any telegraph company to appropriate the use of the track or rolling stock of a railroad company for transporting poles, materials, or the employees of such telegraph company, or for any other purpose.

Effective Date: 09-29-1999

The stock or value invested in telegraph lines is subject to taxation like other property in this state.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

Effective Date: 09-29-1999

No person shall intentionally injure, molest, or destroy a line, post, abutment, or any material or property of a telephone or telegraph company. Prosecution under this section shall be by indictment.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

No person connected with a telegraph or messenger company, incorporated or unincorporated, operating a telegraph line or engaged in the business of receiving and delivering messages, shall willfully divulge the contents or the nature of the contents of a private communication entrusted to him for transmission or delivery, willfully refuse or neglect to transmit or deliver it, willfully delay its transmission or delivery, or willfully forge the name of the intended receiver to a receipt for such message, communication, or article of value entrusted to him by said company, with intent to injure, deceive, or defraud the sender or intended receiver thereof or such telegraph or messenger company, or to benefit himself or any other person.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

No telegraph operator of a railroad or telegraph company shall fail, on tender of the usual charge at regular commercial offices, to accept a telegram for transmission from any passenger delayed by an accident, or to send it forthwith to the person and point designated, without alteration, revision, or approval. If a violation of this section arises from obeying an order or rule of the employer of the telegraph operator, such employer shall repay to him the fine provided by division (B) of section 4931.99 of the Revised Code and costs.

Effective Date: 03-24-1993

Except as authorized pursuant to sections 2933.51 to 2933.66 of the Revised Code, no person shall willfully and maliciously cut, break, tap, or make connection with a telegraph or telephone wire or read or copy in an unauthorized manner, a telegraphic message or communication from or upon a telegraph or telephone line, wire, or cable, so cut or tapped, or make unauthorized use thereof, or willfully and maliciously prevent, obstruct, or delay the sending, conveyance, or delivery of an authorized telegraphic message or communication by or through a line, cable, or wire, under the control of a telegraph or telephone company.

Effective Date: 03-25-1987

No person connected with a telephone company, incorporated or unincorporated, operating a telephone line or engaged in the business of transmitting to, from, through, or in this state, telephone messages, in any capacity, shall willfully divulge a private telephone message or the nature of such message, or a private conversation between persons communicating over the wires of such company, or willfully delay the transmission of a telephonic message or communication, with intent to injure, deceive, or defraud the sender or receiver thereof or any other person, or any such telephone company, or to benefit himself or any other person.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

No person shall willfully refuse immediately to yield or relinquish the use of a party line to another person for the purpose of permitting such other person to report a fire or summon law enforcement agencies, ambulance service, medical, or other aid in case of emergency.

No person shall ask for or request the use of a party line on the pretext that an emergency exists, knowing that no emergency exists.

Every telephone directory distributed after June 30, 1955 to the members of the general public in this state or in any portion thereof which lists the calling numbers of telephones of any telephone exchange located in this state shall contain a notice which explains the offenses provided for in this section, such notice to be printed in type which is not smaller than any other type on the same page and to be preceded by the word “warning” printed in type with at least equal prominence as other regulations or information on the same page; provided, that the provisions of this section do not apply to those directories distributed solely for business advertising purposes, commonly known as classified directories, nor to any telephone directory distributed or for which copy has been sent to the printer or is in the process of printing or distribution to the general public prior to June 30, 1955. Any person, firm, or corporation providing telephone service which distributes or causes to be distributed in this state one or more copies of a telephone directory which is subject to the provisions of this section and which willfully omits such notice is guilty of a violation of this section.

As used in this section:

(A) “Party line” means a subscribers’ line telephone circuit, to which two or more main telephone stations are connected, each station having a distinctive ring or telephone number.

(B) “Emergency” means a situation in which property or human life is in jeopardy and in which prompt summoning of aid is essential.

Effective Date: 01-10-1961

No person shall, while communicating with any other person over a telephone, threaten to do bodily harm or use or address to such other person any words or language of a lewd, lascivious, or indecent character, nature, or connotation for the sole purpose of annoying such other person; nor shall any person telephone any other person repeatedly or cause any person to be telephoned repeatedly for the sole purpose of harassing or molesting such other person or his family.

Any use, communication, or act prohibited by this section may be deemed to have occurred or to have been committed at either the place at which the telephone call was made or was received.

Every telephone directory distributed to the general public in this state which lists the calling numbers of telephones of any telephone exchange located in this state shall contain a notice which explains the offenses provided for in this section, such notice to be printed in type which is not smaller than the general body of the other type on the same page and to be preceded by the word “warning” printed in type with at least equal prominence as the headings of other regulations or information on the same page; provided, that the provision of this section shall not apply to those directories distributed solely for business advertising purposes, commonly known as classified directories, nor to any telephone directory distributed or for which copy has been sent to the printer or is in the process of printing or distribution to the general public prior to August 14, 1959.

Any person, firm, or corporation providing telephone service which distributes or causes to be distributed in this state one or more copies of a telephone directory which is subject to the provisions of this section and which willfully omits such notice is guilty of a violation of this section.

Effective Date: 01-10-1961

Effective Date: 07-01-1996

(A) As used in this section and in sections 2317.02 and 2921.22 of the Revised Code:

(1) “Communications assistant” means a person who transliterates conversation from text to voice and from voice to text between the end users of a telecommunications relay service provided pursuant to this section or Title II of the “Communications Act of 1934,” 104 Stat. 366 (1990), 47 U.S.C. 225.

(2) “Communicative impairment” means deafness or speech impairment.

(3) “Deafness” means a hearing loss that prevents a person from being able to understand speech over the telephone.

(4) “Speech impairment” means a speech impairment that renders a person’s speech unintelligible on the telephone.

(5) “Telecommunications relay service” means telephone transmission services that provide the ability for an individual who has a communicative impairment to engage in a communication by wire or radio with a hearing individual in a manner that is functionally equivalent to the ability of an individual who does not have a communicative impairment to communicate using voice communication services by wire or radio. “Telecommunications relay service” includes services that enable two-way communication between an individual who uses a text telephone or other nonvoice terminal device and an individual who does not use such a device.

(B) Any communication made by or to a person with a communicative impairment with the assistance of a communications assistant at a telecommunications relay service is confidential and privileged and shall not be disclosed by the communications assistant in any civil case or proceeding or in any legislative or administrative proceeding, unless the person making the communication and the person to whom the communication is made each waive the privilege of confidentiality or the obligation to divulge the communication is mandated by federal law or regulation or pursuant to subpoena in a criminal proceeding.

(C) A communications assistant or a telecommunications relay service provider is not subject to criminal prosecution and is not liable in damages in any civil action on account of the act of transliterating or the content of any communication transliterated, or any injury, death, or loss to person or property allegedly arising from the act of transliterating or the content of any communication transliterated, between the end users of a telecommunications relay service, except in cases of willful or wanton misconduct.

Effective Date: 03-24-1993

As used in sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code:

(A) “9-1-1 system” means a system through which individuals can request emergency service using the telephone number 9-1-1.

(B) “Basic 9-1-1” means a 9-1-1 system in which a caller provides information on the nature of and the location of an emergency, and the personnel receiving the call must determine the appropriate emergency service provider to respond at that location.

(C) “Enhanced 9-1-1” means a 9-1-1 system capable of providing both enhanced wireline 9-1-1 and wireless enhanced 9-1-1.

(D) “Enhanced wireline 9-1-1” means a 9-1-1 system in which the wireline telephone network , in providing wireline 9-1-1, automatically routes the call to emergency service providers that serve the location from which the call is made and immediately provides to personnel answering the 9-1-1 call information on the location and the telephone number from which the call is being made.

(E) “Wireless enhanced 9-1-1” means a 9-1-1 system that, in providing wireless 9-1-1, has the capabilities of phase I and, to the extent available, phase II enhanced 9-1-1 services as described in 47 C.F.R. 20.18 (d) to (h).

(F)(1) “Wireless service” means federally licensed commercial mobile service as defined in 47 U.S.C. 332(d) and further defined as commercial mobile radio service in 47 C.F.R. 20.3, and includes service provided by any wireless, two-way communications device, including a radio-telephone communications line used in cellular telephone service or personal communications service, a network radio access line, or any functional or competitive equivalent of such a radio-telephone communications or network radio access line.

(2) Nothing in sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code applies to paging or any service that cannot be used to call 9-1-1.

(G) “Wireless service provider” means a facilities-based provider of wireless service to one or more end users in this state.

(H) “Wireless 9-1-1” means the emergency calling service provided by a 9-1-1 system pursuant to a call originating in the network of a wireless service provider.

(I) “Wireline 9-1-1” means the emergency calling service provided by a 9-1-1 system pursuant to a call originating in the network of a wireline service provider.

(J) “Wireline service provider” means a facilities-based provider of wireline service to one or more end-users in this state.

(K) “Wireline service” means basic local exchange service, as defined in section 4927.01 of the Revised Code, that is transmitted by means of interconnected wires or cables by a wireline service provider authorized by the public utilities commission.

(L) “Wireline telephone network” means the selective router and data base processing systems, trunking and data wiring cross connection points at the public safety answering point, and all other voice and data components of the 9-1-1 system.

(M) “Subdivision” means a county, municipal corporation, township, township fire district, joint fire district, township police district, joint ambulance district, or joint emergency medical services district that provides emergency service within its territory, or that contracts with another municipal corporation, township, or district or with a private entity to provide such service; and a state college or university, port authority, or park district of any kind that employs law enforcement officers that act as the primary police force on the grounds of the college or university or port authority or in the parks operated by the district.

(N) “Emergency service” means emergency law enforcement, firefighting, ambulance, rescue, and medical service.

(O) “Emergency service provider” means the state highway patrol and an emergency service department or unit of a subdivision or that provides emergency service to a subdivision under contract with the subdivision.

(P) “Public safety answering point” means a facility to which 9-1-1 system calls for a specific territory are initially routed for response and where personnel respond to specific requests for emergency service by directly dispatching the appropriate emergency service provider, relaying a message to the appropriate provider, or transferring the call to the appropriate provider.

(Q) “Customer premises equipment” means telecommunications equipment, including telephone instruments, on the premises of a public safety answering point that is used in answering and responding to 9-1-1 system calls.

(R) “Municipal corporation in the county” includes any municipal corporation that is wholly contained in the county and each municipal corporation located in more than one county that has a greater proportion of its territory in the county to which the term refers than in any other county.

(S) “Board of county commissioners” includes the legislative authority of a county established under Section 3 of Article X, Ohio Constitution, or Chapter 302. of the Revised Code.

(T) “Final plan” means a final plan adopted under division (B) of section 4931.44 of the Revised Code and, except as otherwise expressly provided, an amended final plan adopted under section 4931.45 of the Revised Code.

(U) “Subdivision served by a public safety answering point” means a subdivision that provides emergency service for any part of its territory that is located within the territory of a public safety answering point whether the subdivision provides the emergency service with its own employees or pursuant to a contract.

(V) A township’s population includes only population of the unincorporated portion of the township.

(W) “Telephone company” means a company engaged in the business of providing local exchange telephone service by making available or furnishing access and a dial tone to persons within a local calling area for use in originating and receiving voice grade communications over a switched network operated by the provider of the service within the area and gaining access to other telecommunications services. “Telephone company” includes a wireline service provider and a wireless service provider unless otherwise expressly specified. For purposes of sections 4931.52 and 4931.53 of the Revised Code, “telephone company” means a wireline service provider.

Effective Date: 09-21-2000; 05-06-2005

(A)(1) A countywide 9-1-1 system shall include all of the territory of the townships and municipal corporations in the county and any portion of such a municipal corporation that extends into an adjacent county.

(2) The system shall exclude any territory served by a wireline service provider that is not capable of reasonably meeting the technical and economic requirements of providing the wireline telephone network portion of the countywide system for that territory. The system shall exclude from enhanced 9-1-1 any territory served by a wireline service provider that is not capable of reasonably meeting the technical and economic requirements of providing the wireline telephone network portion of enhanced 9-1-1 for that territory. If a 9-1-1 planning committee and a wireline service provider do not agree on whether the provider is so capable, the committee shall notify the public utilities commission, and the commission shall determine whether the wireline service provider is so capable. The committee shall ascertain whether such disagreement exists before making its implementation proposal under division (A) of section 4931.43 of the Revised Code. The commission’s determination shall be in the form of an order. No final plan shall require a wireline service provider to provide the wireline telephone network portion of a 9-1-1 system that the commission has determined the provider is not reasonably capable of providing.

(B) A countywide 9-1-1 system may be a basic or enhanced 9-1-1 system, or a combination of the two, and shall be for the purpose of providing both wireline 9-1-1 and wireless 9-1-1.

(C) Every emergency service provider that provides emergency service within the territory of a countywide 9-1-1 system shall participate in the countywide system.

(D)(1) Each public safety answering point shall be operated by a subdivision and shall be operated constantly.

(2) A subdivision that operates a public safety answering point shall pay all of the costs associated with establishing, equipping, furnishing, operating, and maintaining that facility and shall allocate those costs among itself and the subdivisions served by the answering point based on the allocation formula in a final plan. The wireline service provider or other entity that provides or maintains the customer premises equipment shall bill the operating subdivision for the cost of providing such equipment, or its maintenance. A wireless service provider and a subdivision operating a public safety answering point may enter into a service agreement for providing wireless enhanced 9-1-1 pursuant to a final plan adopted under sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code.

(E) Except to the extent provided in a final plan that provides for funding of a 9-1-1 system in part through charges imposed under section 4931.51 of the Revised Code, each subdivision served by a public safety answering point shall pay the subdivision that operates the answering point the amount computed in accordance with the allocation formula set forth in the final plan.

(F) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the purchase or other acquisition, installation, and maintenance of the telephone network for a 9-1-1 system and the purchase or other acquisition, installation, and maintenance of customer premises equipment at a public safety answering point made in compliance with a final plan or an agreement under section 4931.48 of the Revised Code, including customer premises equipment used to provide wireless enhanced 9-1-1, are not subject to any requirement of competitive bidding.

(G) Each emergency service provider participating in a countywide 9-1-1 system shall maintain a telephone number in addition to 9-1-1.

(H) Whenever a final plan provides for the implementation of basic 9-1-1, the planning committee shall so notify the public utilities commission, which shall determine whether the wireline service providers serving the territory covered by the plan are capable of reasonably meeting the technical and economic requirements of providing the wireline telephone network portion of an enhanced 9-1-1 system. The determination shall be made solely for purposes of division (C)(2) of section 4931.47 of the Revised Code.

(I) If the public safety answering point personnel reasonably determine that a 9-1-1 call is not an emergency, the personnel shall provide the caller with the telephone number of an appropriate subdivision agency as applicable.

(J) A final plan adopted under sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code, or an agreement under section 4931.48 of the Revised Code, may provide that, by further agreement included in the plan or agreement, the state highway patrol or one or more public safety answering points of another 9-1-1 system is the public safety answering point or points for the provision of wireline or wireless 9-1-1 for all or part of the territory of the 9-1-1 system established under the plan or agreement. In that event, the subdivision for which the wireline or wireless 9-1-1 is provided as named in the agreement shall be deemed the subdivision operating the public safety answering point or points for purposes of sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code, except that, for the purpose of division (D)(2) of this section, that subdivision shall pay only so much of the costs of establishing, equipping, furnishing, operating, or maintaining any such public safety answering point as are specified in the agreement with the patrol or other system.

(K) A final plan for the provision of wireless enhanced 9-1-1 shall provide that any wireless 9-1-1 calls routed to a state highway patrol-operated public safety answering point by default, due to a wireless service provider so routing all such calls of its subscribers without prior permission, are instead to be routed as provided under the plan. Upon the implementation of countywide wireless enhanced 9-1-1 pursuant to a final plan, the state highway patrol shall cease any functioning as a public safety answering point providing wireless 9-1-1 within the territory covered by the countywide 9-1-1 system so established, unless the patrol functions as a public safety answering point providing wireless enhanced 9-1-1 pursuant to an agreement included in the plan as authorized under division (J) of this section.

Effective Date: 08-12-1991; 05-06-2005

(A) A board of county commissioners or the legislative authority of any municipal corporation in the county that contains at least thirty per cent of the county’s population may adopt a resolution to convene a 9-1-1 planning committee, which shall serve without compensation and shall consist of three voting members as follows:

(1) The president or other presiding officer of the board of county commissioners, who shall serve as chairman of the committee;

(2) The chief executive officer of the most populous municipal corporation in the county;

(3) From the more populous of the following, either the chief executive officer of the second most populous municipal corporation in the county or a member of the board of township trustees of the most populous township in the county as selected by majority vote of the board of trustees.

In counties with a population of one hundred seventy-five thousand or more, the planning committee shall consist of two additional voting members as follows: a member of a board of township trustees selected by the majority of boards of township trustees in the county pursuant to resolutions they adopt, and the chief executive officer of a municipal corporation in the county selected by the majority of the legislative authorities of municipal corporations in the county pursuant to resolutions they adopt.

When determining population under this division, population residing outside the county shall be excluded.

(B) Within thirty days after the adoption of a resolution to convene the committee under division (A) of this section, the committee shall convene for the sole purpose of developing a final plan for implementing a countywide 9-1-1 system. The county shall provide the committee with any clerical, legal, and other staff assistance necessary to develop the final plan and shall pay for copying, mailing, and any other such expenses incurred by the committee in developing the final plan and in meeting the requirements imposed by sections 4931.42 to 4931.44 of the Revised Code.

(C) The 9-1-1 planning committee shall appoint a 9-1-1 technical advisory committee to assist it in planning the countywide 9-1-1 system. The advisory committee shall include at least one fire chief and one police chief serving in the county, the county sheriff, a representative of the state highway patrol selected by the patrol, one representative of each telephone company in each case selected by the telephone company represented, the director/coordinator of emergency management appointed under section 5502.26, 5502.27, or 5502.271 of the Revised Code, as appropriate, and a member of a board of township trustees of a township in the county selected by a majority of boards of township trustees in the county pursuant to resolutions they adopt.

Effective Date: 10-29-1995

(A) The 9-1-1 planning committee shall prepare a proposal on the implementation of a countywide 9-1-1 system and shall hold a public meeting on the proposal to explain the system to and receive comments from public officials. At least thirty but not more than sixty days before the meeting, the committee shall send a copy of the implementation proposal and written notice of the meeting:

(1) By certified mail, to the board of county commissioners, the legislative authority of each municipal corporation in the county, and to the board of trustees of each township in the county; and

(2) To the board of trustees, directors, or park commissioners of each subdivision that will be served by a public safety answering point under the plan.

(B) The proposal and the final plan adopted by the committee shall specify:

(1) Which telephone companies serving customers in the county and, as authorized in division (A)(1) of section 4931.41 of the Revised Code, in an adjacent county will participate in the 9-1-1 system;

(2) The location and number of public safety answering points; how they will be connected to a company’s telephone network; from what geographic territory each will receive 9-1-1 calls; whether basic or enhanced 9-1-1 service will be provided within such territory; what subdivisions will be served by the answering point; and whether an answering point will respond to calls by directly dispatching an emergency service provider, by relaying a message to the appropriate provider, or by transferring the call to the appropriate provider;

(3) Which subdivision will establish, equip, furnish, operate, and maintain a particular public safety answering point;

(4) A projection of the initial cost of establishing, equipping, and furnishing and of the annual cost of the first five years of operating and maintaining each public safety answering point;

(5) Whether the cost of establishing, equipping, furnishing, operating, or maintaining each public safety answering point should be funded through charges imposed under section 4931.51 of the Revised Code or will be allocated among the subdivisions served by the answering point and, if any such cost is to be allocated, the formula for so allocating it;

(6) How each emergency service provider will respond to a misdirected call.

(C) Following the meeting required by this section, the 9-1-1 planning committee may modify the implementation proposal and, no later than nine months after the resolution authorized by section 4931.42 of the Revised Code is adopted, may adopt, by majority vote, a final plan for implementing a countywide 9-1-1 system. If a planning committee and wireline service provider do not agree on whether the wireline service provider is capable of providing the wireline telephone network as described under division (A) of section 4931.41 of the Revised Code and the planning committee refers that question to the public utilities commission, the commission may extend the nine-month deadline established by this division to twelve months. Immediately on completion of the plan, the committee shall send a copy of the final plan:

(1) By certified mail to the board of county commissioners of the county, to the legislative authority of each municipal corporation in the county, and to the board of township trustees of each township in the county; and

(2) To the board of trustees, directors, or park commissioners of each subdivision that will be served by a public safety answering point under the plan.

(D) If the committee has not adopted a final plan on or before the deadline in division (C) of this section, the committee shall cease to exist. A new 9-1-1 planning committee may be convened in the manner established in section 4931.42 of the Revised Code to develop an implementation proposal and final plan in accordance with the requirements of sections 4931.42 to 4931.44 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 08-12-1991; 05-06-2005

(A) Within sixty days after receipt of the final plan pursuant to division (C) of section 4931.43 of the Revised Code, the board of county commissioners of the county and the legislative authority of each municipal corporation in the county and of each township whose territory is proposed to be included in a countywide 9-1-1 system shall act by resolution to approve or disapprove the plan, except that, with respect to a final plan that provides for funding of the 9-1-1 system in part through charges imposed under section 4931.51 of the Revised Code, the board of county commissioners shall not act by resolution to approve or disapprove the plan until after a resolution adopted under section 4931.51 of the Revised Code has become effective as provided in division (D) of that section. A municipal corporation or township whose territory is proposed to be included in the system includes any municipal corporation or township in which a part of its territory is excluded pursuant to division (A)(2) of section 4931.41 of the Revised Code. Each such authority immediately shall notify the board of county commissioners in writing of its approval or disapproval of the final plan. Failure by a board or legislative authority to notify the board of county commissioners of approval or disapproval within such sixty-day period shall be deemed disapproval by the board or authority.

(B) As used in this division, “county’s population” excludes the population of any municipal corporation or township that, under the plan, is completely excluded from 9-1-1 service in the county’s final plan. A countywide plan is effective if all of the following entities approve the plan in accordance with this section:

(1) The board of county commissioners;

(2) The legislative authority of a municipal corporation that contains at least thirty per cent of the county’s population, if any;

(3) The legislative authorities of municipal corporations and townships that contain at least sixty per cent of the county’s population or, if the plan has been approved by a municipal corporation that contains at least sixty per cent of the county’s population, by the legislative authorities of municipal corporations and townships that contain at least seventy-five per cent of the county’s population.

(C) After a countywide plan approved in accordance with this section is adopted, all of the telephone companies and subdivisions included in the plan are subject to the specific requirements of the plan and to sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 09-21-2000; 05-06-2005

(A) An amended final plan is required for any of the following purposes:

(1) Expanding the territory included in the countywide 9-1-1 system;

(2) Upgrading any part or all of a system from basic to enhanced wireline 9-1-1;

(3) Adjusting the territory served by a public safety answering point;

(4) Represcribing the funding of public safety answering points as between the alternatives set forth in division (B)(5) of section 4931.43 of the Revised Code;

(5) Providing for wireless enhanced 9-1-1;

(6) Adding a telephone company as a participant in a countywide 9-1-1 system after the implementation of wireline 9-1-1 or wireless enhanced 9-1-1;

(7) Providing that the state highway patrol or one or more public safety answering points of another 9-1-1 system function as a public safety answering point or points for the provision of wireline or wireless 9-1-1 for all or part of the territory of the system established under the final plan, as contemplated under division (J) of section 4931.41 of the Revised Code;

(8) Making any other necessary adjustments to the plan.

(B) Except as otherwise provided in division (C) of this section, a final plan shall be amended in the manner provided for adopting a final plan under sections 4931.42 to 4931.44 of the Revised Code, including convening a 9-1-1 planning committee and developing a proposed amended plan prior to adopting an amended final plan.

(C)(1) To amend a final plan for the purpose described in division (A)(6) of this section , an entity that wishes to be added as a participant in a 9-1-1 system shall file a written letter of that intent with the board of county commissioners of the county that approved the final plan . The final plan is deemed amended upon the filing of that letter. The entity that files the letter shall send written notice of that filing to all subdivisions and telephone companies participating in the system.

(2) An amendment to a final plan for a purpose set forth in division (A)(1), (3), (5), or (8) of this section may be made by an addendum approved by a majority of the 9-1-1 planning committee. The board of county commissioners shall call a meeting of the 9-1-1 planning committee for the purpose of considering an addendum pursuant to this division.

(3) Adoption of any resolution under section 4931.51 of the Revised Code pursuant to a final plan that both has been adopted and provides for funding through charges imposed under that section is not an amendment of a final plan for the purpose of this division.

(D) When a final plan is amended for a purpose described in division (A)(1), (2), or (6) of this section, sections 4931.47 and 5733.55 of the Revised Code apply with respect to the receipt of the nonrecurring and recurring rates and charges for the wireline telephone network portion of the 9-1-1 system.

Effective Date: 12-31-2004; 05-06-2005; 04-14-2006

(A) Within three years from the date an initial final plan becomes effective under division (B) of section 4931.44 of the Revised Code, the wireline service providers designated in the plan shall have installed the wireline telephone network portion of the 9-1-1 system according to the terms, conditions, requirements, and specifications set forth in that plan.

(B)(1) Upon installation of a countywide 9-1-1 system, the board of county commissioners may direct the county engineer to erect and maintain at the county boundaries on county roads and state and interstate highways, signs indicating the availability of a countywide 9-1-1 system. Any sign erected by a county under this section shall be erected in accordance with and meet the specifications established under division (B)(2) of this section. All expenses incurred in erecting and maintaining the signs shall be paid by the county.

(2) The director of transportation shall develop design specifications for signs giving notice of the availability of a countywide 9-1-1 system. The director also shall establish standards for the erection of the signs and, in accordance with federal law and regulations and recognized engineering practices, specify those locations where the signs shall not be erected.

Effective Date: 09-14-1992; 05-06-2005

(A) In accordance with Chapters 4901., 4903., 4905., 4909., and 4931. of the Revised Code, the public utilities commission shall determine the just, reasonable, and compensatory rates, tolls, classifications, charges, or rentals to be observed and charged for the wireline telephone network portion of a basic or enhanced 9-1-1 system, and each telephone company that is a wireline service provider participating in the system shall be subject to such chapters, to the extent they apply, as to the service provided by its portion of the wireline telephone network for the system as described in the final plan or to be installed pursuant to agreements under section 4931.48 of the Revised Code, and as to the rates, tolls, classifications, charges, or rentals to be observed and charged for that service.

(B) Only the customers of a participating telephone company described in division (A) of this section that are served within the area covered by a 9-1-1 system shall pay the recurring rates for the maintenance and operation of the company’s portion of the wireline telephone network of the system. Such rates shall be computed by dividing the total monthly recurring rates set forth in the company’s schedule as filed in accordance with section 4905.30 of the Revised Code, by the total number of residential and business customer access lines, or their equivalent, within the area served. Each residential and business customer within the area served shall pay the recurring rates based on the number of its residential and business customer access lines or their equivalent. No company shall include such amount on any customer’s bill until the company has completed its portion of the wireline telephone network in accordance with the terms, conditions, requirements, and specifications of the final plan or an agreement made under section 4931.48 of the Revised Code.

(C)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (C)(2) of this section, a participating telephone company described in division (A) of this section may receive through the credit authorized by section 5733.55 of the Revised Code the total nonrecurring charges for its portion of the wireline telephone network of the system and the total nonrecurring charges for any updating or modernization of that wireline telephone network in accordance with the terms, conditions, requirements, and specifications of the final plan or pursuant to agreements under section 4931.48 of the Revised Code, as such charges are set forth in the schedule filed by the telephone company in accordance with section 4905.30 of the Revised Code. However, that portion, updating, or modernization shall not be for or include the provision of wireless 9-1-1. As applicable, the receipt of permissible charges shall occur only upon the completion of the installation of the network or the completion of the updating or modernization.

(2) The credit shall not be allowed under division (C)(1) of this section for the upgrading of a system from basic to enhanced wireline 9-1-1 if both of the following apply:

(a) The telephone company received the credit for the wireline telephone network portion of the basic 9-1-1 system now proposed to be upgraded.

(b) At the time the final plan or agreement pursuant to section 4931.48 of the Revised Code calling for the basic 9-1-1 system was agreed to, the telephone company was capable of reasonably meeting the technical and economic requirements of providing the wireline telephone network portion of an enhanced 9-1-1 system within the territory proposed to be upgraded, as determined by the public utilities commission under division (A) or (H) of section 4931.41 or division (C) of section 4931.48 of the Revised Code.

(3) If the credit is not allowed under division (C)(2) of this section, the total nonrecurring charges for the wireline telephone network used in providing 9-1-1 service, as set forth in the schedule filed by a telephone company in accordance with section 4905.30 of the Revised Code, on completion of the installation of the network in accordance with the terms, conditions, requirements, and specifications of the final plan or pursuant to section 4931.48 of the Revised Code, shall be paid by the municipal corporations and townships with any territory in the area in which such upgrade from basic to enhanced 9-1-1 is made.

(D) If customer premises equipment for a public safety answering point is supplied by a telephone company that is required to file a schedule under section 4905.30 of the Revised Code pertaining to customer premises equipment, the recurring and nonrecurring rates and charges for the installation and maintenance of the equipment specified in the schedule shall apply.

Effective Date: 12-31-2004; 05-06-2005

(A) If a final plan is disapproved under division (B) of section 4931.44 of the Revised Code, by resolution, the legislative authority of a municipal corporation or township that contains at least thirty per cent of the county’s population may establish within its boundaries, or the legislative authorities of a group of municipal corporations or townships each of which is contiguous with at least one other such municipal corporation or township in the group, together containing at least thirty per cent of the county’s population, may jointly establish within their boundaries a 9-1-1 system. For that purpose, the municipal corporation or township may enter into an agreement, and the contiguous municipal corporations or townships may jointly enter into an agreement with one or more telephone companies.

(B) If no resolution has been adopted to convene a 9-1-1 planning committee under section 4931.42 of the Revised Code, by resolution, the legislative authority of any municipal corporation in the county may establish within its boundaries, or the legislative authorities of a group of municipal corporations and townships each of which is contiguous to at least one of the other such municipal corporations or townships in the group may jointly establish within their boundaries, a 9-1-1 system. For that purpose, the municipal corporation, or contiguous municipal corporations and townships, may enter into an agreement with one or more telephone companies.

(C) Whenever a telephone company that is a wireline service provider and one or more municipal corporations and townships enter into an agreement under division (A) or (B) of this section to provide for the wireline telephone network portion of a basic 9-1-1 system, the telephone company shall so notify the public utilities commission, which shall determine whether the telephone company is capable of reasonably meeting the technical and economic requirements of providing the wireline telephone network for an enhanced system within the territory served by the company and covered by the agreement. The determination shall be made solely for the purposes of division (C)(2) of section 4931.47 of the Revised Code.

(D) Within three years from the date of entering into an initial agreement described under division (C) of this section, the telephone company shall have installed the wireline telephone network portion of the 9-1-1 system according to the terms, conditions, requirements, and specifications set forth in the agreement.

(E) A telephone company that is a wireline service provider shall recover the cost of installing the wireline telephone network system pursuant to agreements made under this section as provided in sections 4931.47 and 5733.55 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 12-31-2004; 05-06-2005

(A)(1) The state, the state highway patrol, or a subdivision participating in a 9-1-1 system established under sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code and any officer, agent, employee, or independent contractor of the state, the state highway patrol, or such a participating subdivision is not liable in damages in a civil action for injuries, death, or loss to persons or property arising from any act or omission, except willful or wanton misconduct, in connection with developing, adopting, or approving any final plan or any agreement made under section 4931.48 of the Revised Code or otherwise bringing into operation the 9-1-1 system pursuant to sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code.

(2) The Ohio 9-1-1 council, the wireless 9-1-1 advisory board, and any member of that council or board are not liable in damages in a civil action for injuries, death, or loss to persons or property arising from any act or omission, except willful or wanton misconduct, in connection with the development or operation of a 9-1-1 system established under sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code.

(B) Except as otherwise provided in section 4765.49 of the Revised Code, an individual who gives emergency instructions through a 9-1-1 system established under sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code, and the principals for whom the person acts, including both employers and independent contractors, public and private, and an individual who follows emergency instructions and the principals for whom that person acts, including both employers and independent contractors, public and private, are not liable in damages in a civil action for injuries, death, or loss to persons or property arising from the issuance or following of emergency instructions, except where the issuance or following of the instructions constitutes willful or wanton misconduct.

(C) Except for willful or wanton misconduct, a telephone company, and any other installer, maintainer, or provider, through the sale or otherwise, of customer premises equipment, and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, and suppliers are not liable in damages in a civil action for injuries, death, or loss to persons or property incurred by any person resulting from any of the following:

(1) Such an entity’s or its officers’, directors’, employees’, agents’, or suppliers’ participation in or acts or omissions in connection with participating in or developing, maintaining, or operating a 9-1-1 system, whether that system is established pursuant to sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code or otherwise in accordance with schedules regarding 9-1-1 systems filed with the public utilities commission pursuant to section 4905.30 of the Revised Code by a telephone company that is a wireline service provider;

(2) Such an entity’s or its officers’, directors’, employees’, agents’, or suppliers’ provision of assistance to a public utility, municipal utility, or state or local government as authorized by divisions (F)(4) and (5) of this section.

(D) No person shall knowingly use the telephone number of a 9-1-1 system established under sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code to report an emergency if the person knows that no emergency exists.

(E) No person shall knowingly use a 9-1-1 system for a purpose other than obtaining emergency service.

(F) No person shall disclose or use any information concerning telephone numbers, addresses, or names obtained from the data base that serves the public safety answering point of a 9-1-1 system established under sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code, except for any of the following purposes or under any of the following circumstances:

(1) For the purpose of the 9-1-1 system;

(2) For the purpose of responding to an emergency call to an emergency service provider;

(3) In the circumstance of the inadvertent disclosure of such information due solely to technology of the wireline telephone network portion of the 9-1-1 system not allowing access to the data base to be restricted to 9-1-1 specific answering lines at a public safety answering point;

(4) In the circumstance of access to a data base being given by a telephone company that is a wireline service provider to a public utility or municipal utility in handling customer calls in times of public emergency or service outages. The charge, terms, and conditions for the disclosure or use of such information for the purpose of such access to a data base shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the public utilities commission.

(5) In the circumstance of access to a data base given by a telephone company that is a wireline service provider to a state and local government in warning of a public emergency, as determined by the public utilities commission. The charge, terms, and conditions for the disclosure or use of that information for the purpose of access to a data base is subject to the jurisdiction of the public utilities commission.

Effective Date: 09-21-2000; 05-06-2005; 04-14-2006

(A) The attorney general, upon request of the public utilities commission or on the attorney general’s own initiative, shall begin proceedings against a telephone company that is a wireline service provider to enforce compliance with sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code or with the terms, conditions, requirements, or specifications of a final plan or of an agreement under section 4931.48 of the Revised Code as to wireline or wireless 9-1-1.

(B) The attorney general, upon the attorney general’s own initiative, or any prosecutor, upon the prosecutor’s initiative, shall begin proceedings against a subdivision as to wireline or wireless 9-1-1 to enforce compliance with sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code or with the terms, conditions, requirements, or specifications of a final plan or of an agreement under section 4931.48 of the Revised Code as to wireline or wireless 9-1-1.

Effective Date: 09-21-2000; 05-06-2005

(A)(1) For the purpose of paying the costs of establishing, equipping, and furnishing one or more public safety answering points as part of a countywide 9-1-1 system effective under division (B) of section 4931.44 of the Revised Code and paying the expense of administering and enforcing this section, the board of county commissioners of a county, in accordance with this section, may fix and impose, on each lot or parcel of real property in the county that is owned by a person, municipal corporation, township, or other political subdivision and is improved, or is in the process of being improved, reasonable charges to be paid by each such owner. The charges shall be sufficient to pay only the estimated allowed costs and shall be equal in amount for all such lots or parcels.

(2) For the purpose of paying the costs of operating and maintaining the answering points and paying the expense of administering and enforcing this section, the board, in accordance with this section, may fix and impose reasonable charges to be paid by each owner, as provided in division (A)(1) of this section, that shall be sufficient to pay only the estimated allowed costs and shall be equal in amount for all such lots or parcels. The board may fix and impose charges under this division pursuant to a resolution adopted for the purposes of both divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section or pursuant to a resolution adopted solely for the purpose of division (A)(2) of this section, and charges imposed under division (A)(2) of this section may be separately imposed or combined with charges imposed under division (A)(1) of this section.

(B) Any board adopting a resolution under this section pursuant to a final plan initiating the establishment of a 9-1-1 system or pursuant to an amendment to a final plan shall adopt the resolution within sixty days after the board receives the final plan for the 9-1-1 system pursuant to division (C) of section 4931.43 of the Revised Code. The board by resolution may change any charge imposed under this section whenever the board considers it advisable. Any resolution adopted under this section shall declare whether securities will be issued under Chapter 133. of the Revised Code in anticipation of the collection of unpaid special assessments levied under this section.

(C) The board shall adopt a resolution under this section at a public meeting held in accordance with section 121.22 of the Revised Code. Additionally, the board, before adopting any such resolution, shall hold at least two public hearings on the proposed charges. Prior to the first hearing, the board shall publish notice of the hearings once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. The notice shall include a listing of the charges proposed in the resolution and the date, time, and location of each of the hearings. The board shall hear any person who wishes to testify on the charges or the resolution.

(D) No resolution adopted under this section shall be effective sooner than thirty days following its adoption nor shall any such resolution be adopted as an emergency measure. The resolution is subject to a referendum in accordance with sections 305.31 to 305.41 of the Revised Code unless, in the resolution, the board of county commissioners directs the board of elections of the county to submit the question of imposing the charges to the electors of the county at the next primary or general election in the county occurring not less than seventy-five days after the resolution is certified to the board. No resolution shall go into effect unless approved by a majority of those voting upon it in any election allowed under this division.

(E) To collect charges imposed under division (A) of this section, the board of county commissioners shall certify them to the county auditor of the county who then shall place them upon the real property duplicate against the properties to be assessed, as provided in division (A) of this section. Each assessment shall bear interest at the same rate that securities issued in anticipation of the collection of the assessments bear, is a lien on the property assessed from the date placed upon the real property duplicate by the auditor, and shall be collected in the same manner as other taxes.

(F) All money collected by or on behalf of a county under this section shall be paid to the county treasurer of the county and kept in a separate and distinct fund to the credit of the county. The fund shall be used to pay the costs allowed in division (A) of this section and specified in the resolution adopted under that division. In no case shall any surplus so collected be expended for other than the use and benefit of the county.

Effective Date: 08-12-1991

(A) This section applies only to a county that meets both of the following conditions:

(1) A final plan for a countywide 9-1-1 system either has not been approved in the county under section 4931.44 of the Revised Code or has been approved but has not been put into operation because of a lack of funding;

(2) The board of county commissioners, at least once, has submitted to the electors of the county the question of raising funds for a 9-1-1 system under section 4931.51, 5705.19, or 5739.026 of the Revised Code, and a majority of the electors has disapproved the question each time it was submitted.

(B) A board of county commissioners may adopt a resolution imposing a monthly charge on telephone access lines to pay for the equipment costs of establishing and maintaining no more than three public safety answering points of a countywide 9-1-1 system, which public safety answering points shall be only twenty-four-hour dispatching points already existing in the county. The resolution shall state the amount of the charge, which shall not exceed fifty cents per month, and the month the charge will first be imposed, which shall be no earlier than four months after the special election held pursuant to this section. Each residential and business telephone company customer within the area served by the 9-1-1 system shall pay the monthly charge for each of its residential or business customer access lines or their equivalent.

Before adopting a resolution under this division, the board of county commissioners shall hold at least two public hearings on the proposed charge. Before the first hearing, the board shall publish notice of the hearings once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. The notice shall state the amount of the proposed charge, an explanation of the necessity for the charge, and the date, time, and location of each of the hearings.

(C) A resolution adopted under division (B) of this section shall direct the board of elections to submit the question of imposing the charge to the electors of the county at a special election on the day of the next primary or general election in the county. The board of county commissioners shall certify a copy of the resolution to the board of elections not less than seventy-five days before the day of the special election. No resolution adopted under division (B) of this section shall take effect unless approved by a majority of the electors voting upon the resolution at an election held pursuant to this section.

In any year, the board of county commissioners may impose a lesser charge than the amount originally approved by the electors. The board may change the amount of the charge no more than once a year. The board may not impose a charge greater than the amount approved by the electors without first holding an election on the question of the greater charge.

(D) Money raised from a monthly charge on telephone access lines under this section shall be deposited into a special fund created in the county treasury by the board of county commissioners pursuant to section 5705.12 of the Revised Code, to be used only for the necessary equipment costs of establishing and maintaining no more than three public safety answering points of a countywide 9-1-1 system pursuant to a resolution adopted under division (B) of this section. In complying with this division, any county may seek the assistance of the public utilities commission with regard to operating and maintaining a 9-1-1 system.

(E) Pursuant to the voter approval required by division (C) of this section, the final plan for a countywide 9-1-1 system that will be funded through a monthly charge imposed in accordance with this section shall be amended by the existing 9-1-1- planning committee, and the amendment of such a final plan is not an amendment of a final plan for the purpose of division (A) of section 4931.45 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-01-1994

(A) This section applies only to a county that has a final plan for a countywide 9-1-1 system that either has not been approved in the county under section 4931.44 of the Revised Code or has been approved but has not been put into operation because of a lack of funding.

(B) A board of county commissioners may adopt a resolution imposing a monthly charge on telephone access lines to pay for the operating and equipment costs of establishing and maintaining no more than one public safety answering point of a countywide 9-1-1 system. The resolution shall state the amount of the charge, which shall not exceed fifty cents per month, and the month the charge will first be imposed, which shall be no earlier than four months after the special election held pursuant to this section. Each residential and business telephone company customer within the area of the county served by the 9-1-1 system shall pay the monthly charge for each of its residential or business customer access lines or their equivalent.

Before adopting a resolution under this division, the board of county commissioners shall hold at least two public hearings on the proposed charge. Before the first hearing, the board shall publish notice of the hearings once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. The notice shall state the amount of the proposed charge, an explanation of the necessity for the charge, and the date, time, and location of each of the hearings.

(C) A resolution adopted under division (B) of this section shall direct the board of elections to submit the question of imposing the charge to the electors of the county at a special election on the day of the next primary or general election in the county. The board of county commissioners shall certify a copy of the resolution to the board of elections not less than seventy-five days before the day of the special election. No resolution adopted under division (B) of this section shall take effect unless approved by a majority of the electors voting upon the resolution at an election held pursuant to this section.

In any year, the board of county commissioners may impose a lesser charge than the amount originally approved by the electors. The board may change the amount of the charge no more than once a year. The board shall not impose a charge greater than the amount approved by the electors without first holding an election on the question of the greater charge.

(D) Money raised from a monthly charge on telephone access lines under this section shall be deposited into a special fund created in the county treasury by the board of county commissioners pursuant to section 5705.12 of the Revised Code, to be used only for the necessary operating and equipment costs of establishing and maintaining no more than one public safety answering point of a countywide 9-1-1 system pursuant to a resolution adopted under division (B) of this section. In complying with this division, any county may seek the assistance of the public utilities commission with regard to operating and maintaining a 9-1-1 system.

(E) Nothing in sections 4931.40 to 4931.53 of the Revised Code precludes a final plan adopted in accordance with those sections from being amended to provide that, by agreement included in the plan, a public safety answering point of another countywide 9-1-1 system is the public safety answering point of a countywide 9-1-1 system funded through a monthly charge imposed in accordance with this section. In that event, the county for which the public safety answering point is provided shall be deemed the subdivision operating the public safety answering point for purposes of sections 4931.40 to 4931.53 of the Revised Code, except that, for the purpose of division (D) of section 4931.41 of the Revised Code, the county shall pay only so much of the costs associated with establishing, equipping, furnishing, operating, or maintaining the public safety answering point specified in the agreement included in the final plan.

(F) Pursuant to the voter approval required by division (C) of this section, the final plan for a countywide 9-1-1 system that will be funded through a monthly charge imposed in accordance with this section, or that will be amended to include an agreement described in division (E) of this section, shall be amended by the existing 9-1-1 planning committee, and the amendment of such a final plan is not an amendment of a final plan for the purpose of division (A) of section 4931.45 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 09-21-2000

(A) As part of its normal monthly billing process, each telephone company with customers in the area served by a 9-1-1 system shall bill and collect from those customers any charge imposed under section 4931.52 or 4931.53 of the Revised Code. The company may list the charge as a separate entry on each bill and may indicate on the bill that the charge is made pursuant to approval of a ballot issue by county voters. Any customer billed by a company for a charge imposed under section 4931.52 or 4931.53 of the Revised Code is liable to the county for the amount billed. The company shall apply any partial payment of a customer’s bill first to the amount the customer owes the company. The company shall keep complete records of charges it bills and collects, and such records shall be open during business hours for inspection by the county commissioners or their agents or employees. If a company fails to bill any customer for the charge, it is liable to the county for the amount that was not billed.

(B) A telephone company that collects charges under this section shall remit the money to the county on a quarterly basis. The company may retain three per cent of any charge it collects as compensation for the costs of such collection. If a company collects charges under this section and fails to remit the money to the county as prescribed, it is liable to the county for any amount collected and not remitted.

Effective Date: 09-21-2000

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

There is hereby created within the public utilities commission the 9-1-1 service program, headed by an Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator in the unclassified civil service pursuant to division (A)(9) of section 124.11 of the Revised Code. The coordinator shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the commission chairperson and shall report directly to the chairperson. Upon the effective date of this section, the chairperson shall appoint an interim coordinator and, upon submission of a list of nominees by the Ohio 9-1-1 council pursuant to section 4931.69 of the Revised Code, shall consider those nominees in making the final appointment and in appointing any subsequent coordinator. The chairperson may request the council to submit additional nominees and may reject any of the nominees. The chairperson shall fix the compensation of the coordinator. The chairperson shall evaluate the performance of the coordinator after considering the evaluation and recommendations of the council under section 4931.68 of the Revised Code.

The Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator shall administer the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund as specified in sections 4931.63 and 4931.64 of the Revised Code and otherwise carry out the coordinator’s duties under sections 4931.60 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code. The chairperson may establish additional duties of the coordinator based on a list of recommended duties submitted by the Ohio 9-1-1 council pursuant to section 4931.68 of the Revised Code. The chairperson may assign one or more commission employees to assist the coordinator in carrying out the coordinator’s duties.

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

(A) Beginning on the first day of the third month following the effective date of this section and ending December 31, 2008, there is hereby imposed, on each wireless telephone number of a wireless service subscriber who has a billing address in this state, a wireless 9-1-1 charge of thirty-two cents per month. The subscriber shall pay the wireless 9-1-1 charge for each such wireless telephone number assigned to the subscriber. Each wireless service provider and each reseller of wireless service shall collect the wireless 9-1-1 charge as a specific line item on each subscriber’s monthly bill. The line item shall be expressly designated “State/Local Wireless-E911 Costs ($0.32/billed number).” If a provider bills a subscriber for any wireless enhanced 9-1-1 costs that the provider may incur, the charge or amount is not to appear in the same line item as the state/local line item. If the charge or amount is to appear in its own, separate line item on the bill, the charge or amount shall be expressly designated “[Name of Provider] Federal Wireless-E911 Costs.” For any subscriber of prepaid wireless service, a wireless service provider or reseller shall collect the wireless 9-1-1 charge in any of the following manners:

(1) At the point of sale. For purposes of prepaid wireless services, point of sale includes the purchasing of additional minutes by the subscriber along with any necessary activation of those minutes.

(2) If the subscriber has a positive account balance on the last day of the month and has used the service during that month, by reducing that balance not later than the end of the first week of the following month by the amount of the charge or an equivalent number of air time minutes;

(3) By dividing the total earned prepaid wireless telephone revenue from sales within this state received by the wireless service provider or reseller during the month by fifty, multiplying the quotient by thirty-two cents, and remitting this amount pursuant to division (A)(1) of section 4931.62 of the Revised Code.

(B) The wireless 9-1-1 charge shall be exempt from state or local taxation.

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

(A)(1) Beginning with the second month following the month in which the wireless 9-1-1 charge is first imposed under section 4931.61 of the Revised Code, a wireless service provider or reseller of wireless service, not later than the last day of each month, shall remit the full amount of all wireless 9-1-1 charges it collected for the second preceding calendar month to the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator, with the exception of charges equivalent to the amount authorized as a billing and collection fee under division (A)(2) of this section. In doing so, the provider or reseller may remit the requisite amount in any reasonable manner consistent with its existing operating or technological capabilities, such as by customer address, location associated with the wireless telephone number, or another allocation method based on comparable, relevant data. If the wireless service provider or reseller receives a partial payment for a bill from a wireless service subscriber, the wireless service provider or reseller shall apply the payment first against the amount the subscriber owes the wireless service provider or reseller and shall remit to the coordinator such lesser amount, if any, as results from that invoice.

(2) A wireless service provider or reseller of wireless service may retain as a billing and collection fee two per cent of the total wireless 9-1-1 charges it collects in any month and shall account to the coordinator for the amount retained.

(B) Each subscriber on which a wireless 9-1-1 charge is imposed under division (A) of section 4931.61 of the Revised Code is liable to the state for the amount of the charge. If a wireless service provider or reseller fails to collect the charge under that division from a subscriber of prepaid wireless service, or fails to bill any other subscriber for the charge, the wireless service provider or reseller is liable to the state for the amount not collected or billed. If a wireless service provider or reseller collects charges under that division and fails to remit the money to the coordinator, the wireless service provider or reseller is liable to the state for any amount collected and not remitted.

(C)(1) If the public utilities commission has reason to believe that a wireless service provider or reseller has failed to bill, collect, or remit the wireless 9-1-1 charge as required by divisions (A)(1) and (B) of this section or has retained more than the amount authorized under division (A)(2) of this section, and after written notice to the provider or reseller, the commission may audit the provider or reseller for the sole purpose of making such a determination. The audit may be of a sample of the provider’s or reseller’s billings, collections, remittances, or retentions for a representative period, and the commission shall make a good faith effort to reach agreement with the provider or reseller in selecting that sample.

(2) Upon written notice to the wireless service provider or reseller, the commission, by order after completion of the audit, may make an assessment against the provider or reseller if, pursuant to the audit, the commission determines that the provider or reseller has failed to bill, collect, or remit the wireless 9-1-1 charge as required by divisions (A)(1) and (B) of this section or has retained more than the amount authorized under division (A)(2) of this section. The assessment shall be in the amount of any remittance that was due and unpaid on the date notice of the audit was sent by the commission to the provider or reseller or, as applicable, in the amount of the excess amount under division (A)(2) of this section retained by the provider or reseller as of that date.

(3) The portion of any assessment not paid within sixty days after the date of service by the commission of the assessment notice under division (C)(2) of this section shall bear interest from that date until paid at the rate per annum prescribed by section 5703.47 of the Revised Code. That interest may be collected by making an assessment under division (C)(2) of this section. An assessment under this division and any interest due shall be remitted in the same manner as the wireless 9-1-1 charge.

(4) An assessment is final and due and payable and shall be remitted to the commission unless the assessed party petitions for rehearing under section 4903.10 of the Revised Code. The proceedings of the commission specified in division (C)(4) of this section are subject to and governed by Chapter 4903. of the Revised Code, except that the court of appeals of Franklin county has exclusive, original jurisdiction to review, modify, or vacate an order of the commission under division (C)(2) of this section. The court shall hear and determine such appeal in the same manner and under the same standards as the Ohio supreme court hears and determines appeals under Chapter 4903. of the Revised Code.

The judgment of the court of appeals is final and conclusive unless reversed, vacated, or modified on appeal. Such an appeal may be made by the commission or the person to whom the order under division (C)(2) of this section was issued and shall proceed as in the case of appeals in civil actions as provided in Chapter 2505. of the Revised Code.

(5) After an assessment becomes final, if any portion of the assessment remains unpaid, including accrued interest, a certified copy of the commission’s entry making the assessment final may be filed in the office of the clerk of the court of common pleas in the county in which the place of business of the assessed party is located. If the party maintains no place of business in this state, the certified copy of the entry may be filed in the office of the clerk of the court of common pleas of Franklin county. Immediately upon the filing, the clerk shall enter a judgment for the state against the assessed party in the amount shown on the entry. The judgment may be filed by the clerk in a loose-leaf book entitled “special judgments for wireless 9-1-1 charges” and shall have the same effect as other judgments. The judgment shall be executed upon the request of the commission.

(6) An assessment under this division does not discharge a subscriber’s liability to reimburse the provider or reseller for the wireless 9-1-1 charge. If, after the date of service of the audit notice under division (C)(1) of this section, a subscriber pays a wireless 9-1-1 charge for the period covered by the assessment, the payment shall be credited against the assessment.

(7) All money collected by the commission under this division shall be paid to the treasurer of state, for deposit to the credit of the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund.

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

(A) There is hereby created the wireless 9-1-1 administrative fund in the state treasury. A sufficient percentage, determined by the chairperson of the public utilities commission but not to exceed four per cent through the first full fiscal year and two per cent thereafter, of the periodic remittances of the wireless 9-1-1 charge under section 4931.62 of the Revised Code shall be deposited to the credit of the fund, to be used by the commission to cover such nonpayroll costs and, at the discretion of the commission such payroll costs, of the commission as are incurred in assisting the coordinator in carrying out sections 4931.60 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code and in conducting audits under division (C) of section 4931.62 of the Revised Code. In addition, the compensation of the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator, and any expenses of the coordinator in carrying out those sections, shall be paid from the fund.

(B) There is hereby created the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund, which shall be in the custody of the treasurer of state but shall not be part of the state treasury. The periodic remittances of the wireless 9-1-1 charge remaining after the deposit required by division (A) of this section shall be deposited to the credit of the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund. The treasurer of state shall deposit or invest the moneys in this fund in accordance with Chapter 135. of the Revised Code and any other provision of law governing public moneys of the state as defined in section 135.01 of the Revised Code. The treasurer of state shall credit the interest earned to the fund. The treasurer of state shall disburse money from the fund solely upon order of the coordinator as authorized under section 4931.64 of the Revised Code. Annually, until the fund is depleted, the treasurer of state shall certify to the coordinator the amount of moneys in the treasurer of state’s custody belonging to the fund.

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

(A) Prior to the first disbursement under this section and annually thereafter not later than the twenty-fifth day of January, until the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund is depleted, the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator shall do both of the following for the purposes of division (B) of this section:

(1) Determine, for a county that has adopted a final plan under sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code for the provision of wireless enhanced 9-1-1 within the territory covered by the countywide 9-1-1 system established under the plan, the number of wireless telephone numbers assigned to wireless service subscribers that have billing addresses within the county. That number shall be adjusted between any two counties so that the number of wireless telephone numbers assigned to wireless service subscribers who have billing addresses within any portion of a municipal corporation that territorially lies primarily in one of the two counties but extends into the other county is added to the number already determined for that primary county and subtracted for the other county.

(2) Determine each county’s proportionate share of the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund for the ensuing calendar year on the basis set forth in division (B) of this section; estimate the ensuing calendar year’s fund balance; compute each such county’s estimated proceeds for the ensuing calendar year based on its proportionate share and the estimated fund balance; and certify such amount of proceeds to the county auditor of each such county.

(B) The Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator, in accordance with this division and not later than the last day of each month, shall disburse the amount credited as remittances to the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund during the second preceding month, plus any accrued interest on the fund. Such a disbursement shall be paid to each county treasurer. The amount to be so disbursed monthly to a particular county shall be a proportionate share of the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund balance based on the ratio between the following:

(1) The number of wireless telephone numbers determined for the county by the coordinator pursuant to division (A) of this section;

(2) The total number of wireless telephone numbers assigned to subscribers who have billing addresses within this state. To the extent that the fund balance permits, the disbursements to each county shall total at least twenty-five thousand dollars annually.

(C)(1) Each county that has not adopted a final plan for the provision of wireless enhanced 9-1-1 under sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code shall be deemed as having done so for the purposes of making the determinations and disbursements under divisions (A)(1) and (2) and (B) of this section through the third full calendar year following the effective date of this section.

(2) For each county described in division (C)(1) of this section and through the third full calendar year following the effective date of this section, the coordinator shall retain in the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund an amount equal to what would be the county’s disbursements under division (B) of this section if it had adopted such a final plan, plus any related accrued interest, to be set aside for that county until the board of county commissioners notifies the coordinator that a final plan for the provision of wireless enhanced 9-1-1 has been adopted, but not beyond the end of such third year. Provided notification is made prior to the end of that third year, the coordinator shall disburse and pay to the county treasurer, not later than the last day of the month following the month the notification is made, the total amount so set aside for the county plus any related accrued interest. After the end of the third full calendar year following the effective date of this section, any money and interest so retained and not disbursed as authorized under this division shall be available for disbursement only as provided in division (B) of this section.

(D) Immediately upon receipt by a county treasurer of a disbursement under division (B) or (C) of this section, the county shall disburse, in accordance with the allocation formula set forth in the final plan, the amount the county so received to any other subdivisions in the county that pay the costs of a public safety answering point providing wireless enhanced 9-1-1 under the plan.

(E) Nothing in sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code affects the authority of a subdivision operating or served by a public safety answering point of a 9-1-1 system to use, as provided in the final plan for the system or in an agreement under section 4931.48 of the Revised Code, any other authorized revenue of the subdivision for the purposes of providing basic or enhanced 9-1-1.

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

(A) A countywide 9-1-1 system receiving a disbursement under section 4931.64 of the Revised Code shall provide countywide wireless enhanced 9-1-1 in accordance with sections 4931.40 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code beginning as soon as reasonably possible after receipt of the first disbursement or, if that service is already implemented, shall continue to provide such service. Except as provided in divisions (B) and (C) of this section, disbursement shall be used solely for the purpose of paying either or both of the following:

(1) Any costs of designing, upgrading, purchasing, leasing, programming, installing, testing, or maintaining the necessary data, hardware, software, and trunking required for the public safety answering point or points of the 9-1-1 system to provide wireless enhanced 9-1-1, which costs are incurred before or on or after the effective date of this section and consist of such additional costs of the 9-1-1 system over and above any costs incurred to provide wireline 9-1-1. On or after the provision of technical and operational standards pursuant to division (D)(1) of section 4931.68 of the Revised Code, a subdivision shall consider the standards before incurring any costs described in this division.

(2) Any costs of training the staff of the public safety answering point or points to provide wireless enhanced 9-1-1, which costs are incurred before or on or after the effective date of this section and consist of such additional costs of the 9-1-1 system over and above any costs incurred to provide wireline 9-1-1.

(B) Beginning one year following the imposition of the wireless 9-1-1 charge under section 4931.61 of the Revised Code, a subdivision that certifies to the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator that it has paid the costs described in divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section and is providing countywide wireless enhanced 9-1-1 may use disbursements received under section 4931.64 of the Revised Code to pay any of its personnel costs of one or more public safety answering points providing countywide wireless enhanced 9-1-1.

(C) After receiving its April 2009, disbursement under section 4931.64 of the Revised Code, a subdivision may use any remaining balance of disbursements it received under that section to pay any of its costs of providing countywide wireless 9-1-1, including the personnel costs of one or more public safety answering points providing that service.

(D) The costs described in divisions (A), (B), and (C) of this section may include any such costs payable pursuant to an agreement under division (J) of section 4931.41 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

(A)(1) A wireless service provider, the state highway patrol as described in division (J) of section 4931.41 of the Revised Code, and each subdivision operating one or more public safety answering points for a countywide system providing wireless 9-1-1, shall provide the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator with such information as the coordinator requests for the purposes of carrying out the coordinator’s duties under sections 4931.60 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code, including, but not limited to, duties regarding the collection of the wireless 9-1-1 charge and regarding the provision of a report or recommendation under section 4931.70 of the Revised Code.

(2) A wireless service provider shall provide an official, employee, agent, or representative of a subdivision operating a public safety answering point, or of the state highway patrol as described in division (J) of section 4931.41 of the Revised Code, with such technical, service, and location information as the official, employee, agent, or representative requests for the purpose of providing wireless 9-1-1.

(3) A subdivision operating one or more public safety answering points of a 9-1-1 system, and a telephone company, shall provide to the Ohio 9-1-1 council such information as the council requires for the purpose of making any recommendation or report pursuant to division (D)(2) of section 4931.68 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) Any information provided under division (A) of this section that consists of trade secrets as defined in section 1333.61 of the Revised Code or of information regarding the customers, revenues, expenses, or network information of a telephone company shall be confidential and does not constitute a public record for the purpose of section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

(2) The public utilities commission, the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator, and any official, employee, agent, or representative of the commission, of the state highway patrol as described in division (J) of section 4931.41 of the Revised Code, or of a subdivision operating a public safety answering point, while acting or claiming to act in the capacity of the commission or coordinator or such official, employee, agent, or representative, shall not disclose any information provided under division (A) of this section regarding a telephone company’s customers, revenues, expenses, or network information. Nothing in division (B)(2) of this section precludes any such information from being aggregated and included in any report required under section 4931.70 or division (D)(2) of section 4931.69 of the Revised Code, provided the aggregated information does not identify the number of any particular company’s customers or the amount of its revenues or expenses or identify a particular company as to any network information.

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

The public utilities commission, after consultation with the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator, shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to carry out sections 4931.60 to 4931.70 of the Revised Code, including rules prescribing the necessary accounting for a wireless service provider’s or reseller’s billing and collection fee under division (A)(2) of section 4931.62 of the Revised Code and rules establishing a fair and reasonable process for recommending the amount of the wireless 9-1-1 charge as authorized under division (B) of section 4931.70 of the Revised Code. The amount of the wireless 9-1-1 charge shall be prescribed only by act of the general assembly.

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

(A) There is hereby created the Ohio 9-1-1 council, consisting of eleven members as follows: the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator; a designee of the department of public safety, selected by the director of public safety; and nine members appointed by the governor. In appointing the nine members, the governor shall select one representative of public safety communications officials in this state, one representative of administrators of 9-1-1 service in this state, one representative of countywide 9-1-1 systems in this state, three representatives of wireline service providers in this state, and three representatives of wireless service providers in this state. For each such appointment, the governor shall consider a nominee proposed, respectively, by the Ohio chapter of the association of public-safety communications officials, the Ohio chapter of the national emergency number association, the county commissioners association of Ohio; and nominees proposed, respectively, by the Ohio telecom association and the wireless operators of Ohio; or any successor organization of each such entity.

Initial appointments shall be made not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Nothing in this section shall prevent the governor from rejecting any of the nominees or requesting that a nominating entity under this division submit the names of alternative nominees for consideration.

(B) The term of the initial appointee to the council representing public safety communications officials and the terms of one of the initial appointees representing wireline service providers and one representing wireless service providers shall expire on January 31, 2007. The term of the initial appointee to the council representing administrators of 9-1-1 service and the terms of another one of the initial appointees representing wireline service providers and another representing wireless service providers shall expire on January 31, 2008. The term of the initial appointee to the council representing countywide 9-1-1 systems and the terms of another one of the initial appointees representing wireline service providers and another representing wireless service providers shall expire on January 31, 2009. Thereafter, terms of appointed members shall be for three years, with each term ending on the same day of the same month as the term it succeeds.

Each council member shall hold office from the date of the member’s appointment until the end of the term for which the member was appointed. Members may be reappointed.

Vacancies shall be filled in the manner provided for original appointments. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration date of the term for which the member’s predecessor was appointed shall hold office as a member for the remainder of that term. A member shall continue in office after the expiration date of the member’s term until the member’s successor takes office or until a period of sixty days has elapsed, whichever occurs first.

Appointed members shall serve without compensation and shall not be reimbursed for expenses.

(C) The council shall select a chairperson from among the appointed members. Each member shall have one vote in all deliberations of the council, except that the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator shall not be eligible to vote on a matter described in division (D)(3) of this section. A majority of the voting members constitutes a quorum.

(D) The duties of the council shall consist of all of the following:

(1) Arbitrating or establishing relative to 9-1-1 systems in this state nondiscriminatory, competitively neutral, and uniform technical and operational standards consistent with recognized industry standards and federal law. This authority does not include authority to prescribe the technology that a telephone company or reseller uses to deliver 9-1-1 calls.

(2) Including for the purpose of the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator reporting to the general assembly, conducting research and making recommendations or reports regarding any wireline and wireless 9-1-1 issues, any improvements in the provision of service by 9-1-1 systems in this state, or any legislation or policies concerning such systems;

(3) Regarding the position of Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator, submitting names of nominees and recommended duties as authorized under section 4931.60 of the Revised Code and, at least biennially, conducting and submitting with recommendations to the public utilities commission a performance evaluation of the coordinator.

(E) The council is not an agency, as defined in section 101.82 of the Revised Code, for purposes of sections 101.82 to 101.87 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

(A) There is hereby created the wireless 9-1-1 advisory board, consisting of the Ohio 9-1-1 council appointee that represents public safety communications officials and five members appointed by the governor as follows: one of the council appointees that represents wireless service providers in this state, whose council term expires after the council term of the council appointee representing public safety communications officials, one noncouncil representative of wireless service providers in this state, one noncouncil representative of public safety communications officials in this state, and two noncouncil representatives of municipal and county governments in this state.

(B) The terms of the advisory board members who are also council members shall be concurrent with their terms as members of the council, as prescribed under division (B) of section 4931.68 of the Revised Code. The terms of the initial noncouncil appointee to the advisory board who represents wireless service providers and of one of the initial noncouncil appointees who represents municipal and county government shall expire on January 31, 2009. The terms of the initial noncouncil appointee to the advisory board representing public safety communications officials and of the other initial noncouncil appointee representing municipal and county government shall expire on January 31, 2010. Thereafter, terms of the noncouncil appointees shall be for three years, with each term ending on the same day of the same month as the term it succeeds. The conditions of holding office, manner of filling vacancies, and other matters concerning service by any member of the advisory board shall be the same as set forth for council members under division (B) of section 4931.68 of the Revised Code.

(C) The Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator shall appoint the chairperson of the advisory board. Each member of the board shall be a voting member and shall have one vote in all deliberations of the board. A majority of the members constitutes a quorum.

(D)(1) The advisory board shall make a recommendation to the coordinator regarding the amount of the wireless 9-1-1 charge to be included in the report required by division (B) of section 4931.70 of the Revised Code and shall consult with the coordinator regarding that report.

(2) The advisory board shall make recommendations to and consult with the public utilities commission and the coordinator regarding any rules to be adopted under section 4931.67 of the Revised Code.

(E) The advisory board is not an agency, as defined in section 101.82 of the Revised Code, for purposes of sections 101.82 to 101.87 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

On the first day of November preceding the 2007-2009 budget biennium, the Ohio 9-1-1 coordinator shall submit a report to the general assembly, in accordance with section 101.68 of the Revised Code, that contains both of the following:

(A) A review of the implementation and provision of wireless enhanced 9-1-1 in this state and a description of how moneys disbursements from the wireless government assistance fund have been used. In preparing the report, the coordinator shall consult with the wireless 9-1-1 advisory board.

(B) The coordinator’s recommendation for the coming budget biennium of any change in the amount of the wireless 9-1-1 charge and the basis for that recommendation. The recommendation shall reflect the minimum amount necessary during the coming budget biennium, given any balance in the wireless 9-1-1 government assistance fund to be carried over to that biennium and the projected revenue from the charge, to fully cover the costs described in division (A) of section 4931.65 of the Revised Code as projected for that biennium. The amount also shall reflect the minimum amount necessary for the wireless 9-1-1 charge to cover the costs described in division (A) of section 4931.63 of the Revised Code as projected for the biennium, given the wireless 9-1-1 administrative fund balance to be carried over. In making a recommendation under this division, the coordinator shall consider any recommendation of the wireless 9-1-1 advisory board.

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Advertisement” means a message or material intended to cause the sale of realty, goods, or services.

(2) “Facsimile device” means a device that electronically or telephonically receives and copies onto paper reasonable reproductions or facsimiles of documents and photographs through connection with a telephone network.

(3) “Pre-existing business relationship” does not include transmitting an advertisement to the owner’s or lessee’s facsimile device.

(B)(1) No person shall transmit an advertisement to a facsimile device unless the person has received prior permission from the owner or, if the device is leased, from the lessee of the device to which the message is to be sent to transmit the advertisement; or the person has a pre-existing business relationship with such owner or lessee. Division (B)(1) of this section does not apply to a person who transmits an advertisement to a facsimile device located on residential premises.

(2) No person shall transmit an advertisement to a facsimile device located on residential premises unless the person has received prior written permission from the owner or, if the device is leased, from the lessee of the device to which the message is to be sent to transmit the advertisement. In addition to any other penalties or remedies, a recipient of an advertisement transmitted in violation of division (B)(2) of this section may bring a civil action against the person who transmitted that advertisement or caused it to be transmitted. In that action, the recipient may recover one thousand dollars for each violation.

(C) When requested by the owner or lessee, the transmission shall occur between seven p.m. and five a.m.

This section applies to all such advertisements intended to be so transmitted within this state.

Effective Date: 05-06-2005

(A) Whoever violates division (D) of section 4931.49 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.

(B) Whoever violates section 4931.25, 4931.26, 4931.27, 4931.30, or 4931.31 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the third degree.

(C) Whoever violates section 4931.28 of the Revised Code is guilty of a felony of the fourth degree.

(D) Whoever violates section 4931.29 or division (B) of section 4931.35 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor in the first degree.

(E) Whoever violates division (E) or (F) of section 4931.49 or division (B)(2) of section 4931.66 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on a first offense and a felony of the fifth degree on each subsequent offense.

(F) Whoever violates section 4931.75 of the Revised Code is guilty of a minor misdemeanor for a first offense and a misdemeanor of the first degree on each subsequent offense.

Effective Date: 09-29-1999; 05-06-2005