CHAPTER 5120: DEPARTMENT OF REHABILITATION AND CORRECTION

The director of rehabilitation and correction is the executive head of the department of rehabilitation and correction. All duties conferred on the various divisions and institutions of the department by law or by order of the director shall be performed under the rules and regulations that the director prescribes and shall be under the director’s control. Inmates committed to the department of rehabilitation and correction shall be under the legal custody of the director or the director’s designee, and the director or the director’s designee shall have power to control transfers of inmates between the several state institutions included under section 5120.05 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 03-31-2003

(A) As used in this section, “civil action or appeal against a government entity or employee,” “inmate,” “political subdivision,” and “employee” have the same meanings as in section 2969.21 of the Revised Code.

(B) The director of rehabilitation and correction may adopt rules under section 5120.01 of the Revised Code to implement the procedures described in sections 2323.51, 2969.22, and 2969.23 of the Revised Code.

(C) The director of rehabilitation and correction shall adopt rules that provide that, if an inmate files a civil action or appeal against a government entity or employee or files a civil action against the state, a political subdivision, or an employee in a federal court and if the court in which the action or appeal is filed dismisses the action or appeal pursuant to section 2969.24 of the Revised Code or the federal court finds the action to be frivolous under 28 U.S.C. 1915(d), the inmate shall be subject to one or more of the following sanctions:

(1) Extra work duty, without compensation, for not more than sixty days;

(2) The loss of commissary privileges for not more than sixty days;

(3) The loss of sundry-package privileges for one time in any calendar year;

(4) The loss of television privileges for not more than sixty days;

(5) The loss of radio privileges for not more than sixty days;

(6) The loss of recreational activity privileges for not more than sixty days.

Effective Date: 10-17-1996

The assistant director of the department of rehabilitation and correction is hereby excepted from section 121.05 of the Revised Code. The assistant director shall exercise the powers and perform the duties which the director of correction may order and shall act as director in the absence or disability of the director, or in case of a vacancy in the position of director.

Effective Date: 07-12-1972

(A) The provisions of Chapter 5120. of the Revised Code, as they existed prior to July 1, 1996, and that address the duration or potential duration of incarceration or parole or other forms of supervised release, apply to all persons upon whom a court imposed a term of imprisonment prior to July 1, 1996, and all persons upon whom a court, on or after July 1, 1996, and in accordance with law existing prior to July 1, 1996, imposed a term of imprisonment for an offense that was committed prior to July 1, 1996.

(B) The provisions of Chapter 5120. of the Revised Code, as they exist on or after July 1, 1996, and that address the duration or potential duration of incarceration or supervised release, apply to all persons upon whom a court imposed a stated prison term for an offense committed on or after July 1, 1996.

(C) Nothing in this section limits or affects the applicability of any provision in Chapter 5120. of the Revised Code, as amended or enacted on or after July 1, 1996, that pertains to an issue other than the duration or potential duration of incarceration or supervised release, to persons in custody or under the supervision of the department of rehabilitation and correction.

Effective Date: 07-01-1996; 05-18-2005

(A) Subject to division (C) of this section, the director of rehabilitation and correction may change the purpose for which any institution or place under the control of the department of rehabilitation and correction is being used. The director may designate a new or another use for such institution, if the change of use and new designation has for its objective, improvement in the classification, segregation, care, education, cure, or rehabilitation of persons subject to the control of the department.

(B) The director of rehabilitation and correction, by executive order, issued on or before December 31, 1988, shall eliminate the distinction between penal institutions and reformatory institutions. Notwithstanding any provision of the Revised Code or the Administrative Code to the contrary, upon the issuance of the executive order, any distinction made between the types of prisoners sentenced to or otherwise assigned to the institutions under the control of the department shall be discontinued.

(C) The director shall contract under section 9.06 of the Revised Code for the private operation and management of not less than two facilities under the control of the department, unless the contractor managing and operating a facility is not in substantial compliance with the material terms and conditions of its contract and no other person or entity is willing and able to satisfy the obligations of the contract. All inmates assigned to a facility operated and managed by a private contractor remain inmates in the care and custody of the department. The statutes, rules, and policies of the department may apply to the private contractor and any inmate assigned to a facility operated and managed by a private contractor as agreed to in the contract entered into under section 9.06 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 09-29-1997; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Certificate of high school equivalence” means a statement that is issued by the state board of education or an equivalent agency of another state and that indicates that its holder has achieved the equivalent of a high school education as measured by scores obtained on the tests of general educational development published by the American council on education.

(2) “Certificate of adult basic education” means a statement that is issued by the department of rehabilitation and correction through the Ohio central school system approved by the state board of education and that indicates that its holder has achieved a 6.0 grade level, or higher, as measured by scores of nationally standardized or recognized tests.

(3) “Deadly weapon” and “firearm” have the same meanings as in section 2923.11 of the Revised Code.

(4) “Eligible offender” means a person, other than one who is ineligible to participate in an intensive program prison under the criteria specified in section 5120.032 of the Revised Code, who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to, and has been sentenced for, a felony.

(5) “Shock incarceration” means the program of incarceration that is established pursuant to the rules of the department of rehabilitation and correction adopted under this section.

(B)(1) The director of rehabilitation and correction, by rules adopted under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall establish a pilot program of shock incarceration that may be used for offenders who are sentenced to serve a term of imprisonment under the custody of the department of rehabilitation and correction, whom the department determines to be eligible offenders, and whom the department, subject to the approval of the sentencing judge, may permit to serve their sentence as a sentence of shock incarceration in accordance with this section.

(2) The rules for the pilot program shall require that the program be established at an appropriate state correctional institution designated by the director and that the program consist of both of the following for each eligible offender whom the department, with the approval of the sentencing judge, permits to serve the eligible offender’s sentence as a sentence of shock incarceration:

(a) A period of imprisonment at that institution of ninety days that shall consist of a military style combination of discipline, physical training, and hard labor and substance abuse education, employment skills training, social skills training, and psychological treatment. During the ninety-day period, the department may permit an eligible offender to participate in a self-help program. Additionally, during the ninety-day period, an eligible offender who holds a high school diploma or a certificate of high school equivalence may be permitted to tutor other eligible offenders in the shock incarceration program. If an eligible offender does not hold a high school diploma or certificate of high school equivalence, the eligible offender may elect to participate in an education program that is designed to award a certificate of adult basic education or an education program that is designed to award a certificate of high school equivalence to those eligible offenders who successfully complete the education program, whether the completion occurs during or subsequent to the ninety-day period. To the extent possible, the department shall use as teachers in the education program persons who have been issued a license pursuant to sections 3319.22 to 3319.31 of the Revised Code, who have volunteered their services to the education program, and who satisfy any other criteria specified in the rules for the pilot project.

(b) Immediately following the ninety-day period of imprisonment, and notwithstanding any other provision governing the early release of a prisoner from imprisonment or the transfer of a prisoner to transitional control, one of the following, as determined by the director:

(i) An intermediate, transitional type of detention for the period of time determined by the director and, immediately following the intermediate, transitional type of detention, a release under a post-release control sanction imposed in accordance with section 2967.28 of the Revised Code. The period of intermediate, transitional type of detention imposed by the director under this division may be in a halfway house, in a community-based correctional facility and program or district community-based correctional facility and program established under sections 2301.51 to 2301.58 of the Revised Code, or in any other facility approved by the director that provides for detention to serve as a transition between imprisonment in a state correctional institution and release from imprisonment.

(ii) A release under a post-release control sanction imposed in accordance with section 2967.28 of the Revised Code.

(3) The rules for the pilot program also shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(a) Rules identifying the locations within the state correctional institution designated by the director that will be used for eligible offenders serving a sentence of shock incarceration;

(b) Rules establishing specific schedules of discipline, physical training, and hard labor for eligible offenders serving a sentence of shock incarceration, based upon the offender’s physical condition and needs;

(c) Rules establishing standards and criteria for the department to use in determining which eligible offenders the department will permit to serve their sentence of imprisonment as a sentence of shock incarceration;

(d) Rules establishing guidelines for the selection of post-release control sanctions for eligible offenders;

(e) Rules establishing procedures for notifying sentencing courts of the performance of eligible offenders serving their sentences of imprisonment as a sentence of shock incarceration;

(f) Any other rules that are necessary for the proper conduct of the pilot program.

(C)(1) If an offender is sentenced to a term of imprisonment under the custody of the department, if the sentencing court either recommends the offender for placement in a program of shock incarceration under this section or makes no recommendation on placement of the offender, and if the department determines that the offender is an eligible offender for placement in a program of shock incarceration under this section, the department may permit the eligible offender to serve the sentence in a program of shock incarceration, in accordance with division (K) of section 2929.14 of the Revised Code, with this section, and with the rules adopted under this section. If the sentencing court disapproves placement of the offender in a program of shock incarceration, the department shall not place the offender in any program of shock incarceration.

If the sentencing court recommends the offender for placement in a program of shock incarceration and if the department subsequently places the offender in the recommended program, the department shall notify the court of the offender’s placement in the recommended program and shall include with the notice a brief description of the placement.

If the sentencing court recommends placement of the offender in a program of shock incarceration and the department for any reason does not subsequently place the offender in the recommended program, the department shall send a notice to the court indicating why the offender was not placed in the recommended program.

If the sentencing court does not make a recommendation on the placement of an offender in a program of shock incarceration and if the department determines that the offender is an eligible offender for placement in a program of that nature, the department shall screen the offender and determine if the offender is suited for the program of shock incarceration. If the offender is suited for the program of shock incarceration, at least three weeks prior to permitting an eligible offender to serve the sentence in a program of shock incarceration, the department shall notify the sentencing court of the proposed placement of the offender in the program and shall include with the notice a brief description of the placement. The court shall have ten days from receipt of the notice to disapprove the placement. If the sentencing court disapproves of the placement, the department shall not permit the eligible offender to serve the sentence in a program of shock incarceration. If the judge does not timely disapprove of placement of the offender in the program of shock incarceration, the department may proceed with plans for placement of the offender.

If the department determines that the offender is not eligible for placement in a program of shock incarceration, the department shall not place the offender in any program of shock incarceration.

(2) If the department permits an eligible offender to serve the eligible offender’s sentence of imprisonment as a sentence of shock incarceration and the eligible offender does not satisfactorily complete the entire period of imprisonment described in division (B)(2)(a) of this section, the offender shall be removed from the pilot program for shock incarceration and shall be required to serve the remainder of the offender’s sentence of imprisonment imposed by the sentencing court as a regular term of imprisonment. If the eligible offender commences a period of post-release control described in division (B)(2)(b) of this section and violates the conditions of that post-release control, the eligible offender shall be subject to the provisions of sections 2929.141, 2967.15, and 2967.28 of the Revised Code regarding violation of post-release control sanctions.

(3) If an eligible offender’s stated prison term expires at any time during the eligible offender’s participation in the shock incarceration program, the adult parole authority shall terminate the eligible offender’s participation in the program and shall issue to the eligible offender a certificate of expiration of the stated prison term.

(D) The director shall keep sentencing courts informed of the performance of eligible offenders serving their sentences of imprisonment as a sentence of shock incarceration, including, but not limited to, notice of eligible offenders who fail to satisfactorily complete their entire sentence of shock incarceration or who satisfactorily complete their entire sentence of shock incarceration.

(E) Within a reasonable period of time after November 20, 1990, the director shall appoint a committee to search for one or more suitable sites at which one or more programs of shock incarceration, in addition to the pilot program required by division (B)(1) of this section, may be established. The search committee shall consist of the director or the director’s designee, as chairperson; employees of the department of rehabilitation and correction appointed by the director; and any other persons that the director, in the director’s discretion, appoints. In searching for such sites, the search committee shall give preference to any site owned by the state or any other governmental entity and to any existing structure that reasonably could be renovated, enlarged, converted, or remodeled for purposes of establishing such a program. The search committee shall prepare a report concerning its activities and, on the earlier of the day that is twelve months after the first day on which an eligible offender began serving a sentence of shock incarceration under the pilot program or January 1, 1992, shall file the report with the president and the minority leader of the senate, the speaker and the minority leader of the house of representatives, the members of the senate who were members of the senate judiciary committee in the 118th general assembly or their successors, and the members of the house of representatives who were members of the select committee to hear drug legislation that was established in the 118th general assembly or their successors. Upon the filing of the report, the search committee shall terminate. The report required by this division shall contain all of the following:

(1) A summary of the process used by the search committee in performing its duties under this division;

(2) A summary of all of the sites reviewed by the search committee in performing its duties under this division, and the benefits and disadvantages it found relative to the establishment of a program of shock incarceration at each such site;

(3) The findings and recommendations of the search committee as to the suitable site or sites, if any, at which a program of shock incarceration, in addition to the pilot program required by division (B)(1) of this section, may be established.

(F) The director periodically shall review the pilot program for shock incarceration required to be established by division (B)(1) of this section. The director shall prepare a report relative to the pilot program and, on the earlier of the day that is twelve months after the first day on which an eligible offender began serving a sentence of shock incarceration under the pilot program or January 1, 1992, shall file the report with the president and the minority leader of the senate, the speaker and the minority leader of the house of representatives, the members of the senate who were members of the senate judiciary committee in the 118th general assembly or their successors, and the members of the house of representatives who were members of the select committee to hear drug legislation that was established in the 118th general assembly or their successors. The pilot program shall not terminate at the time of the filing of the report, but shall continue in operation in accordance with this section. The report required by this division shall include all of the following:

(1) A summary of the pilot program as initially established, a summary of all changes in the pilot program made during the period covered by the report and the reasons for the changes, and a summary of the pilot program as it exists on the date of preparation of the report;

(2) A summary of the effectiveness of the pilot program, in the opinion of the director and employees of the department involved in its operation;

(3) An analysis of the total cost of the pilot program, of its cost per inmate who was permitted to serve a sentence of shock incarceration and who served the entire sentence of shock incarceration, and of its cost per inmate who was permitted to serve a sentence of shock incarceration;

(4) A summary of the standards and criteria used by the department in determining which eligible offenders were permitted to serve their sentence of imprisonment as a sentence of shock incarceration;

(5) A summary of the characteristics of the eligible offenders who were permitted to serve their sentence of imprisonment as a sentence of shock incarceration, which summary shall include, but not be limited to, a listing of every offense of which any such eligible offender was convicted or to which any such eligible offender pleaded guilty and in relation to which the eligible offender served a sentence of shock incarceration, and the total number of such eligible offenders who were convicted of or pleaded guilty to each such offense;

(6) A listing of the number of eligible offenders who were permitted to serve a sentence of shock incarceration and who did not serve the entire sentence of shock incarceration, and, to the extent possible, a summary of the length of the terms of imprisonment served by such eligible offenders after they were removed from the pilot program;

(7) A summary of the effect of the pilot program on overcrowding at state correctional institutions;

(8) To the extent possible, an analysis of the rate of recidivism of eligible offenders who were permitted to serve a sentence of shock incarceration and who served the entire sentence of shock incarceration;

(9) Recommendations as to legislative changes to the pilot program that would assist in its operation or that could further alleviate overcrowding at state correctional institutions, and recommendations as to whether the pilot program should be expanded.

Effective Date: 07-08-2002; 10-12-2006

(A) No later than January 1, 1998, the department of rehabilitation and correction shall develop and implement intensive program prisons for male and female prisoners other than prisoners described in division (B)(2) of this section. The intensive program prisons shall include institutions at which imprisonment of the type described in division (B)(2)(a) of section 5120.031 of the Revised Code is provided and prisons that focus on educational achievement, vocational training, alcohol and other drug abuse treatment, community service and conservation work, and other intensive regimens or combinations of intensive regimens.

(B)(1)(a) Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this section, if an offender is sentenced to a term of imprisonment under the custody of the department, if the sentencing court either recommends the prisoner for placement in the intensive program prison under this section or makes no recommendation on placement of the prisoner, and if the department determines that the prisoner is eligible for placement in an intensive program prison under this section, the department may place the prisoner in an intensive program prison established pursuant to division (A) of this section. If the sentencing court disapproves placement of the prisoner in an intensive program prison, the department shall not place the prisoner in any intensive program prison.

If the sentencing court recommends a prisoner for placement in an intensive program prison and if the department subsequently places the prisoner in the recommended prison, the department shall notify the court of the prisoner’s placement in the recommended intensive program prison and shall include with the notice a brief description of the placement.

If the sentencing court recommends placement of a prisoner in an intensive program prison and the department for any reason does not subsequently place the prisoner in the recommended prison, the department shall send a notice to the court indicating why the prisoner was not placed in the recommended prison.

If the sentencing court does not make a recommendation on the placement of a prisoner in an intensive program prison and if the department determines that the prisoner is eligible for placement in a prison of that nature, the department shall screen the prisoner and determine if the prisoner is suited for the prison. If the prisoner is suited for the intensive program prison, at least three weeks prior to placing the prisoner in the prison, the department shall notify the sentencing court of the proposed placement of the prisoner in the intensive program prison and shall include with the notice a brief description of the placement. The court shall have ten days from receipt of the notice to disapprove the placement. If the sentencing court disapproves the placement, the department shall not proceed with it. If the sentencing court does not timely disapprove of the placement, the department may proceed with plans for it.

If the department determines that a prisoner is not eligible for placement in an intensive program prison, the department shall not place the prisoner in any intensive program prison.

(b) The department may reduce the stated prison term of a prisoner upon the prisoner’s successful completion of a ninety-day period in an intensive program prison. A prisoner whose term has been so reduced shall be required to serve an intermediate, transitional type of detention followed by a release under post-release control sanctions or, in the alternative, shall be placed under post-release control sanctions, as described in division (B)(2)(b)(ii) of section 5120.031 of the Revised Code. In either case, the placement under post-release control sanctions shall be under terms set by the parole board in accordance with section 2967.28 of the Revised Code and shall be subject to the provisions of that section and section 2929.141 of the Revised Code with respect to a violation of any post-release control sanction.

(2) A prisoner who is in any of the following categories is not eligible to participate in an intensive program prison established pursuant to division (A) of this section:

(a) The prisoner is serving a prison term for aggravated murder, murder, or a felony of the first or second degree or a comparable offense under the law in effect prior to July 1, 1996, or the prisoner previously has been imprisoned for aggravated murder, murder, or a felony of the first or second degree or a comparable offense under the law in effect prior to July 1, 1996.

(b) The prisoner is serving a mandatory prison term, as defined in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.

(c) The prisoner is serving a prison term for a felony of the third, fourth, or fifth degree that either is a sex offense, an offense betraying public trust, or an offense in which the prisoner caused or attempted to cause actual physical harm to a person, the prisoner is serving a prison term for a comparable offense under the law in effect prior to July 1, 1996, or the prisoner previously has been imprisoned for an offense of that type or a comparable offense under the law in effect prior to July 1, 1996.

(d) The prisoner is serving a mandatory prison term in prison for a third or fourth degree felony OVI offense, as defined in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code, that was imposed pursuant to division (G)(2) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code.

(C) Upon the implementation of intensive program prisons pursuant to division (A) of this section, the department at all times shall maintain intensive program prisons sufficient in number to reduce the prison terms of at least three hundred fifty prisoners who are eligible for reduction of their stated prison terms as a result of their completion of a regimen in an intensive program prison under this section.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) As used in this section, “third degree felony OVI offense” and “fourth degree felony OVI offense” have the same meanings as in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) Within eighteen months after October 17, 1996, the department of rehabilitation and correction shall develop and implement intensive program prisons for male and female prisoners who are sentenced pursuant to division (G)(2) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code to a mandatory prison term for a third or fourth degree felony OVI offense. The department shall contract pursuant to section 9.06 of the Revised Code for the private operation and management of the initial intensive program prison established under this section and may contract pursuant to that section for the private operation and management of any other intensive program prison established under this section. The intensive program prisons established under this section shall include prisons that focus on educational achievement, vocational training, alcohol and other drug abuse treatment, community service and conservation work, and other intensive regimens or combinations of intensive regimens.

(C) Except as provided in division (D) of this section, the department may place a prisoner who is sentenced to a mandatory prison term for a third or fourth degree felony OVI offense in an intensive program prison established pursuant to division (B) of this section if the sentencing judge, upon notification by the department of its intent to place the prisoner in an intensive program prison, does not notify the department that the judge disapproves the placement. If the stated prison term imposed on a prisoner who is so placed is longer than the mandatory prison term that is required to be imposed on the prisoner, the department may reduce the stated prison term upon the prisoner’s successful completion of the prisoner’s mandatory prison term in an intensive program prison. A prisoner whose term has been so reduced shall be required to serve an intermediate, transitional type of detention followed by a release under post-release control sanctions or, in the alternative, shall be placed under post-release control sanctions, as described in division (B)(2)(b)(ii) of section 5120.031 of the Revised Code. In either case, the placement under post-release control sanctions shall be under terms set by the parole board in accordance with section 2967.28 of the Revised Code and shall be subject to the provisions of that section and section 2929.141 of the Revised Code with respect to a violation of any post-release control sanction. Upon the establishment of the initial intensive program prison pursuant to division (B) of this section that is privately operated and managed by a contractor pursuant to a contract entered into under section 9.06 of the Revised Code, the department shall comply with divisions (G)(2)(a) and (b) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code in placing prisoners in intensive program prisons under this section.

(D) A prisoner who is sentenced to a mandatory prison term for a third or fourth degree felony OVI offense is not eligible to participate in an intensive program prison established under division (B) of this section if any of the following applies regarding the prisoner:

(1) In addition to the mandatory prison term for the third or fourth degree felony OVI offense, the prisoner also is serving a prison term of a type described in division (B)(2)(a), (b), or (c) of section 5120.032 of the Revised Code.

(2) The prisoner previously has been imprisoned for an offense of a type described in division (B)(2)(a) or (c) of section 5120.032 of the Revised Code or a comparable offense under the law in effect prior to July 1, 1996.

(E) Intensive program prisons established under division (B) of this section are not subject to section 5120.032 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

The department of rehabilitation and correction, with the approval of the governor and in accordance with rules adopted pursuant to division (B) of section 5145.03 of the Revised Code, may assign prisoners who are committed or transferred to institutions under the administration of the department to perform labor on any public work of the state.

Effective Date: 04-09-1982

The department of rehabilitation and correction may maintain, operate, manage, and govern all state institutions for the custody, control, training, and rehabilitation of persons convicted of crime and sentenced to correctional institutions.

The department may designate correctional institutions by appropriate respective names.

The department may receive from the department of youth services any children in the custody of the department of youth services, committed to the department of rehabilitation and correction by the department of youth services, upon the terms and conditions that are agreed upon by the departments.

Effective Date: 03-17-1998

The department of rehabilitation and correction shall provide for the needs of mentally ill and mentally retarded persons who are incarcerated in state correctional institutions. The department may designate an institution or a unit within an institution for the custody, care, special training, treatment, and rehabilitation of mentally ill or mentally retarded persons.

Effective Date: 06-20-1996

(A) The following divisions are hereby established in the department of rehabilitation and correction:

(1) The division of business administration;

(2) The division of parole and community services.

(B) The director of rehabilitation and correction may establish offices, divisions in addition to those specified in division (A) of this section, bureaus, and other administrative units within the department of rehabilitation and correction and prescribe their powers and duties.

Effective Date: 03-17-1998

Effective Date: 03-17-1998

The department of rehabilitation and correction shall require any of its employees and each officer and employee of every institution under its control who may be charged with custody or control of any money or property belonging to the state or who is required to give bond, to give a surety company bond, properly conditioned, in a sum to be fixed by the department which when approved by the department, shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state. The cost of such bonds, when approved by the department, shall be paid from funds available for the department. The bonds required or authorized by this section may, in the discretion of the director of rehabilitation and correction, be individual, schedule, or blanket bonds.

Effective Date: 07-12-1972

Under the supervision and control of the director of rehabilitation and correction, the division of business administration shall do all of the following:

(A) Submit the budgets for the several divisions of the department of rehabilitation and correction, as prepared by the respective chiefs of those divisions, to the director. The director, with the assistance of the chief of the division of business administration, shall compile a departmental budget that contains all proposals submitted by the chiefs of the divisions and shall forward the departmental budget to the governor with comments and recommendations that the director considers necessary.

(B) Maintain accounts and records and compile statistics that the director prescribes;

(C) Under the control of the director, coordinate and make the necessary purchases and requisitions for the department and its divisions, except as provided under section 5119.16 of the Revised Code;

(D) Administer within this state federal criminal justice acts that the governor requires the department to administer. In order to improve the criminal justice system of this state, the division of business administration shall apply for, allocate, disburse, and account for grants that are made available pursuant to those federal criminal justice acts and grants that are made available from other federal government sources, state government sources, or private sources. As used in this division, “criminal justice system” and “federal criminal justice acts” have the same meanings as in section 5502.61 of the Revised Code.

(E) Audit the activities of governmental entities, persons as defined in section 1.59 of the Revised Code, and other types of nongovernmental entities that are financed in whole or in part by funds that the department allocates or disburses and that are derived from grants described in division (D) of this section;

(F) Enter into contracts, including contracts with federal, state, or local governmental entities, persons as defined in section 1.59 of the Revised Code, foundations, and other types of nongovernmental entities, that are necessary for the department to carry out its duties and that neither the director nor another section of the Revised Code authorizes another division of the department to enter;

(G) Exercise other powers and perform other duties that the director may assign to the division of business administration.

Effective Date: 09-29-1997; 06-30-2005

There is hereby created in the state treasury the education services fund. The department of rehabilitation and correction shall deposit into the fund all state revenues it receives from the Ohio department of education. Any money in the fund shall solely be used to pay educational expenses incurred by the department.

Effective Date: 07-22-1994

(A)(1) The director of rehabilitation and correction, by rule, shall promulgate minimum standards for jails in Ohio, including minimum security jails dedicated under section 341.34 or 753.21 of the Revised Code. Whenever the director files a rule or an amendment to a rule in final form with both the secretary of state and the director of the legislative service commission pursuant to section 111.15 of the Revised Code, the director of rehabilitation and correction promptly shall send a copy of the rule or amendment, if the rule or amendment pertains to minimum jail standards, by ordinary mail to the political subdivisions or affiliations of political subdivisions that operate jails to which the standards apply.

(2) The rules promulgated in accordance with division (A)(1) of this section shall serve as criteria for the investigative and supervisory powers and duties vested by division (D) of this section in the division of parole and community services of the department of rehabilitation and correction or in another division of the department to which those powers and duties are assigned.

(B) The director may initiate an action in the court of common pleas of the county in which a facility that is subject to the rules promulgated under division (A)(1) of this section is situated to enjoin compliance with the minimum standards for jails or with the minimum standards and minimum renovation, modification, and construction criteria for minimum security jails.

(C) Upon the request of an administrator of a jail facility, the chief executive of a municipal corporation, or a board of county commissioners, the director of rehabilitation and correction or the director’s designee shall grant a variance from the minimum standards for jails in Ohio for a facility that is subject to one of those minimum standards when the director determines that strict compliance with the minimum standards would cause unusual, practical difficulties or financial hardship, that existing or alternative practices meet the intent of the minimum standards, and that granting a variance would not seriously affect the security of the facility, the supervision of the inmates, or the safe, healthful operation of the facility. If the director or the director’s designee denies a variance, the applicant may appeal the denial pursuant to section 119.12 of the Revised Code.

(D) The following powers and duties shall be exercised by the division of parole and community services unless assigned to another division by the director:

(1) The investigation and supervision of county and municipal jails, workhouses, minimum security jails, and other correctional institutions and agencies;

(2) The management and supervision of the adult parole authority created by section 5149.02 of the Revised Code;

(3) The review and approval of proposals for community-based correctional facilities and programs and district community-based correctional facilities and programs that are submitted pursuant to division (B) of section 2301.51 of the Revised Code;

(4) The distribution of funds made available to the division for purposes of assisting in the renovation, maintenance, and operation of community-based correctional facilities and programs and district community-based correctional facilities and programs in accordance with section 5120.112 of the Revised Code;

(5) The performance of the duty imposed upon the department of rehabilitation and correction in section 5149.31 of the Revised Code to establish and administer a program of subsidies to eligible municipal corporations, counties, and groups of contiguous counties for the development, implementation, and operation of community-based corrections programs;

(6) Licensing halfway houses and community residential centers for the care and treatment of adult offenders in accordance with section 2967.14 of the Revised Code;

(7) Contracting with a public or private agency or a department or political subdivision of the state that operates a licensed halfway house or community residential center for the provision of housing, supervision, and other services to parolees, releasees, persons placed under a residential sanction, persons under transitional control, and other eligible offenders in accordance with section 2967.14 of the Revised Code.

Other powers and duties may be assigned by the director of rehabilitation and correction to the division of parole and community services. This section does not apply to the department of youth services or its institutions or employees.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

Effective Date: 10-16-1996

As used in sections 5120.102 to 5120.105 of the Revised Code:

(A) “Private, nonprofit organization” means a private association, organization, corporation, or other entity that is exempt from federal income taxation under section 501(a) and is described in section 501(c) of the “Internal Revenue Code of 1986,” 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C.A. 501, as amended.

(B) “Governmental agency” means a state agency; a municipal corporation, county, township, other political subdivision or special district in this state established by or pursuant to law, or a combination of those political subdivisions or special districts; the United States or a department, division, or agency of the United States; or an agency, commission, or authority established pursuant to an interstate compact or agreement.

(C) “State agency” means the state or one of its branches, offices, boards, commissions, authorities, departments, divisions, or other units or agencies of the state.

(D) “Halfway house organization” means a private, nonprofit organization or a governmental agency that provides programs or activities in areas directly concerned with housing and monitoring offenders who are under the community supervision of the department of rehabilitation and correction or whom a court places in a halfway house pursuant to section 2929.16 or 2929.26 of the Revised Code.

(E) “Halfway house facility” means a capital facility in this state to which all of the following apply:

(1) The construction of the capital facility is authorized or funded by the general assembly pursuant to division (C) of section 5120.105 of the Revised Code.

(2) The state owns or has a sufficient real property interest in the capital facility or in the site of the capital facility for a period of not less than the greater of the useful life of the capital facility, as determined by the director of budget and management using the guidelines for maximum maturities as provided under divisions (B), (C), and (E) of section 133.20 of the Revised Code and certified to the department of rehabilitation and correction and the Ohio building authority, or the final maturity of obligations issued by the Ohio building authority to finance the capital facility.

(3) The capital facility is managed directly by, or by contract with, the department of rehabilitation and correction and is used for housing offenders who are under the community supervision of the department of rehabilitation and correction or whom a court places in a halfway house pursuant to section 2929.16 or 2929.26 of the Revised Code.

(F) “Construction” includes acquisition, demolition, reconstruction, alteration, renovation, remodeling, enlargement, improvement, site improvements, and related equipping and furnishing.

(G) “General building services” means general building services for a halfway house facility that include, but are not limited to, general custodial care, security, maintenance, repair, painting, decoration, cleaning, utilities, fire safety, grounds and site maintenance and upkeep, and plumbing.

(H) “Manage,” “operate,” or “management” means the provision of, or the exercise of control over the provision of, activities that relate to the housing of offenders in correctional facilities, including, but not limited to, providing for release services for offenders who are under the community supervision of the department of rehabilitation and correction or are placed by a court in a halfway house pursuant to section 2929.16 or 2929.26 of the Revised Code, and who reside in halfway house facilities.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) To the extent that funds are available, the department of rehabilitation and correction, in accordance with this section and sections 5120.104 and 5120.105 of the Revised Code, may construct or provide for the construction of halfway house facilities for offenders whom a court places in a halfway house pursuant to section 2929.16 or 2929.26 of the Revised Code or who are eligible for community supervision by the department of rehabilitation and correction.

(B) A halfway house organization that seeks to assist in the program planning of a halfway house facility described in division (A) of this section shall file an application with the director of rehabilitation and correction as set forth in a request for proposal. Upon the submission of an application, the division of parole and community services shall review it and, if the division believes it is appropriate, shall submit a recommendation for its approval to the director. When the division submits a recommendation for approval of an application, the director may approve the application. The director shall not take action or fail to take action, or permit the taking of action or the failure to take action, with respect to halfway house facilities that would adversely affect the exclusion of interest on public obligations or on fractionalized interests in public obligations from gross income for federal income tax purposes, or the classification or qualification of the public obligations or the interest on or fractionalized interests in public obligations for, or their exemption from, other treatment under the Internal Revenue Code.

(C) The director of rehabilitation and correction and the halfway house organization may enter into an agreement establishing terms for the program planning of the halfway house facility. Any terms so established shall conform to the terms of any covenant or agreement pertaining to an obligation from which the funds used for the construction of the halfway house facility are derived.

(D) The director of rehabilitation and correction, in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, shall adopt rules that specify procedures by which a halfway house organization may apply for a contract for program planning of a halfway house facility constructed under this section, procedures for the department to follow in considering an application, criteria for granting approval of an application, and any other rules that are necessary for the selection of program planners of a halfway house facility.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) It is hereby declared to be a public purpose and an essential governmental function of the state that the department of rehabilitation and correction, in the name of the state and for the use and benefit of the department, purchase, acquire, construct, own, lease, or sublease capital facilities or sites for capital facilities for use as halfway house facilities.

(B) The director of rehabilitation and correction may lease or sublease capital facilities or sites for capital facilities under division (A) of this section to or from, and may make any other agreement with respect to the purchase, construction, management, or operation of those capital facilities with, a halfway house organization or the Ohio building authority. The director may make any lease, sublease, or other agreement under this division without the necessity for advertisement, auction, competitive bidding, court order, or other action or formality otherwise required by law. Notwithstanding any other provision of the Revised Code, the director shall make each lease or sublease to or from the Ohio building authority in accordance with division (D) of section 152.24 of the Revised Code.

(C) The director, by a sale, lease, sublease, release, or other agreement, may dispose of real or personal property or a lesser interest in real or personal property that is held or owned by the state for the use and benefit of the department, if the department does not need the property or interest for its purposes. The department shall make a sale, lease, sublease, release, or other agreement under this division upon the terms that it determines, subject to the approval by the governor in the case of a sale, lease, sublease, release, or other agreement regarding real property or an interest in real property. The director may make a lease, sublease, or other grant of use of property or an interest in property under this division without the necessity for advertisement, auction, competitive bidding, court order, or other action or formality otherwise required by law.

(D) The director may grant an easement or other interest in real property held by the state for the use and benefit of the department if that easement or interest will not interfere with the use of the property as a halfway house facility.

(E) All property purchased, acquired, constructed, owned, leased, or subleased by the department in the exercise of its powers and duties are public property used exclusively for a public purpose, and that property and the income derived by the department from the property are exempt from all taxation within this state, including without limitation, ad valorem and excise taxes.

Effective Date: 03-17-1998

(A) The department of administrative services shall provide for the construction of a halfway house facility in conformity with Chapter 153. of the Revised Code, except that construction services may be provided by the department of rehabilitation and correction.

(B) The director of rehabilitation and correction may enter into an agreement with a halfway house organization for the management of a halfway house facility. The halfway house organization that occupies, will occupy, or is responsible for the management of a halfway house facility shall pay the costs of management of and general building services for the halfway house facility as provided in an agreement between the department of rehabilitation and correction and the halfway house organization.

(C) No state funds, including state bond proceeds, shall be spent on the construction of a halfway house facility under sections 5120.102 to 5120.105 of the Revised Code, unless the general assembly has specifically authorized the spending of money on, or has made an appropriation to the department of rehabilitation and correction for, the construction of the halfway house facility or rental payments relating to the financing of the construction of that facility. An authorization to spend money or an appropriation for planning a halfway house facility does not constitute an authorization to spend money on, or an appropriation for, the construction of that facility. Capital funds for the construction of halfway house facilities under sections 5120.102 to 5120.105 of the Revised Code shall be paid from the adult correctional building fund created by the general assembly in the custody of the state treasurer.

Effective Date: 03-17-1998

Within the department of rehabilitation and correction, there shall be established and maintained a bureau of examination and classification. The bureau shall conduct or provide for sociological, psychological, and psychiatric examination of each inmate of the correctional institutions. The examination shall be made as soon as possible after each inmate is admitted to any of the institutions, and further examinations may be made, if it is advisable. If the inmate is determined to be a mentally retarded or developmentally disabled person, as defined in section 5123.01 of the Revised Code, the bureau shall notify the sentencing court in writing of its determination within forty-five days after sentencing.

The bureau shall collect such social and other information as will aid in the interpretation of its examinations.

Subject to division (C) of section 5120.21 of the Revised Code, the bureau shall keep a record of the health, activities, and behavior of each inmate while the inmate is in the custody of the state. The records, including the findings and recommendations of the bureau, shall be made available to the adult parole authority for use in imposing post-release control sanctions under section 2967.28 of the Revised Code or any other section of the Revised Code, in granting parole, and in making parole, post-release, and rehabilitation plans for the inmate when the inmate leaves the institution, and to the department for its use in approving transfers of inmates from one institution to another.

Effective Date: 07-01-1996

With respect to community-based correctional facilities and programs and district community-based correctional facilities and programs authorized under section 2301.51 of the Revised Code, the department of rehabilitation and correction shall do all of the following:

(A) Adopt rules, under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, that serve as criteria for the operation of community-based correctional facilities and programs and district community-based correctional facilities and programs approved in accordance with sections 2301.51 and 5120.10 of the Revised Code;

(B) Adopt rules, under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, governing the procedures for the submission of proposals for the establishment of community-based correctional facilities and programs and district community-based correctional facilities and programs to the division of parole and community services under division (B) of section 2301.51 of the Revised Code;

(C) Prescribe forms that are to be used by facility governing boards of community-based correctional facilities and programs and district community-based correctional facilities and programs in making application for state financial assistance under section 2301.56 of the Revised Code ;

(D) Adopt rules, under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, that prescribe the standards of operation for the facilities and programs that must be satisfied for the facilities and programs to be eligible for state financial assistance;

(E) Through the division of parole and community services, accept and review proposals for the establishment of the facilities and programs and approve those proposals that satisfy the minimum requirements contained in section 2301.52 of the Revised Code; and administer the program for state financial assistance to the facilities and programs in accordance with section 5120.112 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-06-1994; 10-12-2006

(A) The division of parole and community services shall accept applications for state financial assistance for the renovation, maintenance, and operation of proposed and approved community-based correctional facilities and programs and district community-based correctional facilities and programs that are filed in accordance with section 2301.56 of the Revised Code. The division, upon receipt of an application for a particular facility and program, shall determine whether the application is in proper form, whether the applicant satisfies the standards of operation that are prescribed by the department of rehabilitation and correction under section 5120.111 of the Revised Code, whether the applicant has established the facility and program, and, if the applicant has not at that time established the facility and program, whether the proposal of the applicant sufficiently indicates that the standards will be satisfied upon the establishment of the facility and program. If the division determines that the application is in proper form and that the applicant has satisfied or will satisfy the standards of the department, the division shall notify the applicant that it is qualified to receive state financial assistance for the facility and program under this section from moneys made available to the division for purposes of providing assistance to community-based correctional facilities and programs and district community-based correctional facilities and programs.

(B) The amount of state financial assistance that is awarded to a qualified applicant under this section shall be determined by the division of parole and community services in accordance with this division. In determining the amount of state financial assistance to be awarded to a qualified applicant under this section, the division shall not calculate the cost of an offender incarcerated in a community-based correctional facility and program or district community-based correctional facility program to be greater than the average yearly cost of incarceration per inmate in all state correctional institutions, as defined in section 2967.01 of the Revised Code, as determined by the department of rehabilitation and correction.

The times and manner of distribution of state financial assistance to be awarded to a qualified applicant under this section shall be determined by the division of parole and community services.

(C) Upon approval of a proposal for a community-based correctional facility and program or a district community-based correctional facility and program by the division of parole and community services, the facility governing board, upon the advice of the judicial advisory board, shall enter into an award agreement with the department of rehabilitation and correction that outlines terms and conditions of the agreement on an annual basis. In the award agreement, the facility governing board shall identify a fiscal agent responsible for the deposit of funds and compliance with sections 2301.55 and 2301.56 of the Revised Code.

(D) No state financial assistance shall be distributed to a qualified applicant until an agreement concerning the assistance has been entered into by the director of rehabilitation and correction and the deputy director of the division of parole and community services on the part of the state, and by the chairperson of the facility governing board of the community-based correctional facility and program or district community-based correctional facility and program to receive the financial assistance, whichever is applicable. The agreement shall be effective for a period of one year from the date of the agreement and shall specify all terms and conditions that are applicable to the awarding of the assistance, including, but not limited to:

(1) The total amount of assistance to be awarded for each community-based correctional facility and program or district community-based correctional facility and program, and the times and manner of the payment of the assistance;

(2) How persons who will staff and operate the facility and program are to be utilized during the period for which the assistance is to be granted, including descriptions of their positions and duties, and their salaries and fringe benefits;

(3) A statement that none of the persons who will staff and operate the facility and program, including those who are receiving some or all of their salaries out of funds received by the facility and program as state financial assistance, are employees or are to be considered as being employees of the department of rehabilitation and correction, and a statement that the employees who will staff and operate that facility and program are employees of the facility and program;

(4) A list of the type of expenses, other than salaries of persons who will staff and operate the facility and program, for which the state financial assistance can be used, and a requirement that purchases made with funds received as state financial assistance follow established fiscal guidelines as determined by the division of parole and community services and any applicable sections of the Revised Code, including, but not limited to, sections 125.01 to 125.11 and Chapter 153. of the Revised Code;

(5) The accounting procedures that are to be used by the facility and program in relation to the state financial assistance;

(6) A requirement that the facility and program file reports, during the period that it receives state financial assistance, with the division of parole and community services, which reports shall be statistical in nature and shall contain that information required under a research design agreed upon by all parties to the agreement, for purposes of evaluating the facility and program;

(7) A requirement that the facility and program comply with standards of operation as prescribed by the department under section 5120.111 of the Revised Code, and with all information submitted on its application;

(8) A statement that the facility and program will make a reasonable effort to augment the funding received from the state.

(E)(1) No state financial assistance shall be distributed to a qualified applicant until its proposal for a community-based correctional facility and program or district community-based correctional facility and program has been approved by the division of parole and community services.

(2) State financial assistance may be denied to any applicant if it fails to comply with the terms of any agreement entered into pursuant to division (D) of this section.

Effective Date: 12-09-1994; 10-12-2006

The director of rehabilitation and correction may lease, for oil and gas, any real estate owned by the state and placed under the supervision of the department of rehabilitation and correction, to any person, upon such terms and for such number of years, not more than forty, as will be for the best interest of the state. No such lease shall be agreed upon or entered into before the proposal to lease the property has been advertised once each week for four weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the city where the central office of the department is located. Such lease shall be made with the person offering the best terms to the state.

The director, in such lease, may grant to such lessee the right to use so much of the surface of such land as may be reasonably necessary to carry on the work of prospecting for, extracting, piping, storing, and removing all oil or gas, and for depositing waste material and maintaining such buildings and constructions as are reasonably necessary for exploring or prospecting for such oil and gas.

All leases made under this section shall be prepared by the attorney general and approved by the governor. All moneys received from any such leases shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the general revenue fund.

Effective Date: 03-04-1998

(A) The department of rehabilitation and correction shall accept and hold on behalf of the state, if it is for the public interest, any grant, gift, devise, or bequest of money or property made to or for the use or benefit of any institution described in section 5120.05 of the Revised Code. The department shall keep such gift, grant, devise, or bequest as a distinct property or fund, and shall invest the same, if in money, in the manner provided by law. The department may deposit in a proper trust company or savings bank any fund left in trust during a specified life or lives, and shall adopt rules governing the deposit, transfer, withdrawal, or investment of such funds and the income thereof. Upon the expiration of any trust according to its terms, the department shall dispose of the funds or property held thereunder in the manner provided in the instrument creating the trust; except that, if the instrument creating the trust failed to make any terms of disposition, or if no trust was in evidence, then the decedent patient’s, pupil’s, or inmate’s moneys, savings or commercial deposits, dividends or distributions, bonds, or any other interest bearing debt certificate or stamp issued by the United States government shall escheat to the state. All such unclaimed intangible personal property of a former inmate shall be retained by the managing officer in such institution for the period of one year during which time every possible effort shall be made to find that former inmate or that former inmate’s legal representative. If, after a period of one year from the time such inmate has left such institution or has died, the managing officer is unable to locate the inmate or the inmate’s legal representative, upon proper notice of such fact, the director of rehabilitation and correction shall at that time formulate in writing a method of disposition on the minutes of the department authorizing the managing officer of the institution to convert the same to cash to be paid into the treasury of the state to the credit of the general revenue fund. The department shall include in the annual report a statement of all such funds and property and the terms and conditions relating thereto.

Moneys or property deposited with managing officers of institutions by relatives, guardians, conservators, and friends for the special benefit of any inmate shall remain in the hands of such officers for use accordingly. Such funds shall be deposited in a personal deposit fund. Each such managing officer shall keep an itemized book account of the receipt and disposition thereof, which book shall be open at all times to the inspection of the department. The department shall adopt rules governing the deposit, transfer, withdrawal, or investment of such funds and the income thereof.

(B) Whenever an inmate confined in any state institution subject to the jurisdiction of the department dies, escapes, is discharged or paroled from the institution, or is placed on a term of post-release control under any section of the Revised Code and personal funds of the person remain in the hands of the managing officer of the institution and no demand is made upon the managing officer by the owner of the funds or the owner’s legally appointed representative, the managing officer shall hold the funds in the personal deposit fund for a period of at least one year during which time the managing officer shall make every effort possible to locate the owner or the owner’s legally appointed representative.

If, at the end of this period, no demand has been made for the funds, the managing officer shall dispose of the funds as follows:

(1) All moneys in a personal deposit fund in excess of ten dollars due for the support of an inmate shall be paid into the state’s general revenue fund.

(2) All moneys in a personal deposit fund in excess of ten dollars not due for the support of an inmate shall be placed to the credit of the institution’s local account designated as “industrial and entertainment” fund.

(3) All moneys less than ten dollars to the credit of an inmate shall be placed to the credit of the institution’s local account designated as “industrial and entertainment” fund.

(C) Whenever an inmate in any state institution subject to the jurisdiction of the department dies, escapes, is discharged or paroled from the institution or is placed on a term of post-release control, and personal effects of the person remain in the hands of the managing officer of the institution, and no demand is made upon the managing officer by the owner of the property or the owner’s legally appointed representative, the managing officer shall hold and dispose of such property as follows:

All the miscellaneous personal effects shall be held for a period of at least one year, during which time the managing officer shall make every effort possible to locate the owner or the owner’s legal representative. If at the end of this period no demand has been made by the owner of the property or the owner’s legal representative, the managing officer shall file with the county recorder of the county of commitment of the owner, all deeds, wills, contract mortgages, or assignments. The balance of the personal effects shall be sold at public auction after being duly advertised, and the funds turned over to the treasurer of state for credit to the general revenue fund. If any of the property is not of a type to be filed with the county recorder and is not salable at public auction, then the managing officer of the institution shall destroy the property.

Effective Date: 07-01-1996

Each managing officer of an institution under the jurisdiction of the department of rehabilitation and correction as described in section 5120.05 of the Revised Code, with the approval of the director of the department of rehabilitation and correction, may establish local institution funds designated as follows:

(A) Industrial and entertainment fund created and maintained for the entertainment and welfare of the inmates of the institutions under the jurisdiction of the department. The director shall establish rules and regulations for the operation of the industrial and entertainment fund.

(B) Commissary fund created and maintained for the benefit of inmates in the institutions under the jurisdiction of the department.

Commissary revenue over and above operating costs and reserve shall be considered profits. All profits from the commissary fund operations shall be paid into the industrial and entertainment fund and used only for the entertainment and welfare of inmates. The director shall establish rules and regulations for the operation of the commissary fund.

Effective Date: 07-12-1972

(A) There is hereby created in the state treasury the prisoner programs fund. The director of rehabilitation and correction shall deposit in the fund all moneys received by the department from commissions on telephone systems established for the use of prisoners. The money in the fund shall be used only to pay for the costs of the following:

(1) The purchase of material, supplies, and equipment used in any library program, educational program, religious program, recreational program, or pre-release program operated by the department for the benefit of prisoners;

(2) The construction, alteration, repair, or reconstruction of buildings and structures owned by the department for use in any library program, educational program, religious program, recreational program, or pre-release program operated by the department for the benefit of prisoners;

(3) The payment of salary, wages, and other compensation to employees of the department who are employed in any library program, educational program, religious program, recreational program, or pre-release program operated by the department for the benefit of prisoners;

(4) The compensation to vendors that contract with the department for the provision of services for the benefit of prisoners in any library program, educational program, religious program, recreational program, or pre-release program operated by the department;

(5) The payment of prisoner release payments in an appropriate amount as determined pursuant to rule;

(6) The purchase of other goods and the payment of other services that are determined, in the discretion of the director, to be goods and services that may provide additional benefit to prisoners.

(B) The director shall establish rules for the operation of the prisoner programs fund.

Effective Date: 07-01-1992

(A) The department of rehabilitation and correction, upon receipt of a certified copy of the judgment of a court of record in an action in which a prisoner was a party that orders a prisoner to pay a stated obligation, may apply toward payment of the obligation money that belongs to a prisoner and that is in the account kept for the prisoner by the department. The department may transmit the prisoner’s funds directly to the court for disbursement or may make payment in another manner as directed by the court. Except as provided in rules adopted under this section, when an amount is received for the prisoner’s account, the department shall use it for the payment of the obligation and shall continue using amounts received for the account until the full amount of the obligation has been paid. No proceedings in aid of execution are necessary for the department to take the action required by this section.

(B) The department may adopt rules specifying a portion of an inmate’s earnings or other receipts that the inmate is allowed to retain to make purchases from the commissary and that may not be used to satisfy an obligation pursuant to division (A) of this section. The rules shall not permit the application or disbursement of funds belonging to an inmate if those funds are exempt from execution, garnishment, attachment, or sale to satisfy a judgment or order pursuant to section 2329.66 of the Revised Code or to any other provision of law.

Effective Date: 10-06-1994

Each managing officer of an institution under the jurisdiction of the department of rehabilitation and correction, based upon a recommendation of the institution’s joint labor management committee, may establish a local institution fund that shall be designated the vending commission fund and that shall be created and maintained for the benefit and welfare of the employees of that institution. The fund shall receive the profits from vending commission areas that are designated solely for use by department of rehabilitation and correction employees. The director of rehabilitation and correction shall establish rules for the operation of employee vending commission funds.

Effective Date: 06-30-1995

(A) As used in this section, “laboratory services” includes the performance of medical laboratory analysis; professional laboratory and pathologist consultation; the procurement, storage, and distribution of laboratory supplies; and the performance of phlebotomy services.

(B) The department of rehabilitation and correction shall provide laboratory services to the departments of mental health, mental retardation and developmental disabilities, youth services, and rehabilitation and correction. The department of rehabilitation and correction may also provide laboratory services to other state, county, or municipal agencies and to private persons that request laboratory services if the department of rehabilitation and correction determines that the provision of laboratory services is in the public interest and considers it advisable to provide such services. The department of rehabilitation and correction may also provide laboratory services to agencies operated by the United States government and to public and private entities funded in whole or in part by the state if the director of rehabilitation and correction designates them as eligible to receive such services.

The department of rehabilitation and correction shall provide laboratory services from a laboratory that complies with the standards for certification set by the United States department of health and human services under the “Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988,” 102 Stat. 293, 42 U.S.C.A. 263a. In addition, the laboratory shall maintain accreditation or certification with an appropriate accrediting or certifying organization as considered necessary by the recipients of its laboratory services and as authorized by the director of rehabilitation and correction.

(C) The cost of administering this section shall be determined by the department of rehabilitation and correction and shall be paid by entities that receive laboratory services to the department for deposit in the state treasury to the credit of the laboratory services fund, which is hereby created. The fund shall be used to pay the costs the department incurs in administering this section.

(D) If the department of rehabilitation and correction does not provide laboratory services under this section in a satisfactory manner to the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, youth services, or mental health, the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, youth services, or mental health shall attempt to resolve the matter of the unsatisfactory provision of services with the director of rehabilitation and correction. If, after this attempt, the provision of laboratory services continues to be unsatisfactory, the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, youth services, or mental health shall notify the director of rehabilitation and correction regarding the continued unsatisfactory provision of laboratory services. If, within thirty days after the director receives this notice, the department of rehabilitation and correction does not provide the specified laboratory services in a satisfactory manner, the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, youth services, or mental health shall notify the director of rehabilitation and correction of the notifying director’s intent to cease obtaining laboratory services from the department of rehabilitation and correction. Following the end of a cancellation period of sixty days that begins on the date of the notice, the department that sent the notice may obtain laboratory services from a provider other than the department of rehabilitation and correction, if the department that sent the notice certifies to the department of administrative services that the requirements of this division have been met.

(E) Whenever a state agency fails to make a payment for laboratory services provided to it by the department of rehabilitation and correction under this section within thirty-one days after the date the payment was due, the office of budget and management may transfer moneys from that state agency to the department of rehabilitation and correction for deposit to the credit of the laboratory services fund. The amount transferred shall not exceed the amount of the overdue payments. Prior to making a transfer under this division, the office shall apply any credits the state agency has accumulated in payment for laboratory services provided under this section.

Effective Date: 03-18-1999

(A) If a person who was convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense escapes from a correctional institution in this state under the control of the department of rehabilitation and correction or otherwise escapes from the custody of the department, the department immediately after the escape shall report the escape, by telephone and in writing, to all local law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction in the county in which the institution from which the escape was made or to which the person was sentenced is located, to all local law enforcement agencies with jurisdiction in the county in which the person was convicted or pleaded guilty to the offense for which the escaped person was sentenced, to the state highway patrol, to the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the institution from which the escape was made or to which the person was sentenced is located, to the prosecuting attorney of the county in which the person was convicted or pleaded guilty to the offense for which the escaped person was sentenced, to a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the institution from which the escape was made or to which the person was sentenced is located, and to a newspaper of general circulation in each county in which the escaped person was indicted for an offense for which, at the time of the escape, the escaped person had been sentenced to that institution. The written notice may be by either facsimile transmission or mail. A failure to comply with this requirement is a violation of section 2921.22 of the Revised Code.

(B) Upon the apprehension of the escaped person, the department shall give notice of the apprehension by telephone and in writing to the persons who were given notice of the escape under division (A) of this section.

Effective Date: 06-30-1999

The department of rehabilitation and correction shall regulate the admission and discharge of inmates in the institutions described in section 5120.05 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 07-12-1972

(A) Persons sentenced to any institution, division, or place under the control of the department of rehabilitation and correction are committed to the control, care, and custody of the department. Subject to division (B) of this section, the director of rehabilitation and correction or the director’s designee may direct that persons sentenced to the department, or to any institution or place within the department, shall be conveyed initially to an appropriate facility established and maintained by the department for reception, examination, observation, and classification of the persons so sentenced. If a presentence investigation report was not prepared pursuant to section 2947.06 or 2951.03 of the Revised Code or Criminal Rule 32.2 regarding any person sentenced to the department or to any institution or place within the department, the director or the director’s designee may order the department’s field staff to conduct an offender background investigation and prepare an offender background investigation report regarding the person. The investigation and report shall be conducted in accordance with division (A) of section 2951.03 of the Revised Code and the report shall contain the same information as a presentence investigation report prepared pursuant to that section.

When the examination, observation, and classification of the person have been completed by the facility and a written report of the examination, observation, and classification is filed with the commitment papers, the director or the director’s designee, subject to division (B) of this section, shall assign the person to a suitable state institution or place maintained by the state within the director’s department or shall designate that the person is to be housed in a county, multicounty, municipal, municipal-county, or multicounty-municipal jail or workhouse, if authorized by section 5120.161 of the Revised Code, there to be confined, cared for, treated, trained, and rehabilitated until paroled, released in accordance with section 2929.20, 2967.26, or 2967.28 of the Revised Code, or otherwise released under the order of the court that imposed the person’s sentence. No person committed by a probate court, a trial court pursuant to section 2945.40, 2945.401, or 2945.402 of the Revised Code subsequent to a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity, or a juvenile court shall be assigned to a state correctional institution.

If a person is sentenced, committed, or assigned for the commission of a felony to any one of the institutions or places maintained by the department or to a county, multicounty, municipal, municipal-county, or multicounty-municipal jail or workhouse, the department, by order duly recorded and subject to division (B) of this section, may transfer the person to any other institution, or, if authorized by section 5120.161 of the Revised Code, to a county, multicounty, municipal, municipal-county, or multicounty-municipal jail or workhouse.

(B) If the case of a child who is alleged to be a delinquent child is transferred for criminal prosecution to the appropriate court having jurisdiction of the offense pursuant to section 2152.12 of the Revised Code, if the child is convicted of or pleads guilty to a felony in that case, if the child is sentenced to a prison term, as defined in section 2901.01 of the Revised Code, and if the child is under eighteen years of age when delivered to the custody of the department of rehabilitation and correction, all of the following apply regarding the housing of the child:

(1) Until the child attains eighteen years of age, subject to divisions (B)(2), (3), and (4) of this section, the department shall house the child in a housing unit in a state correctional institution separate from inmates who are eighteen years of age or older.

(2) The department is not required to house the child in the manner described in division (B)(1) of this section if the child does not observe the rules and regulations of the institution or the child otherwise creates a security risk by being housed separately.

(3) If the department receives too few inmates who are under eighteen years of age to fill a housing unit in a state correctional institution separate from inmates who are eighteen years of age or older, as described in division (B)(1) of this section, the department may house the child in a housing unit in a state correctional institution that includes both inmates who are under eighteen years of age and inmates who are eighteen years of age or older and under twenty-one years of age.

(4) Upon the child’s attainment of eighteen years of age, the department may house the child with the adult population of the state correctional institution.

(C) The director or the director’s designee shall develop a policy for dealing with problems related to infection with the human immunodeficiency virus. The policy shall include methods of identifying individuals committed to the custody of the department who are at high risk of infection with the virus and counseling those individuals.

Arrangements for housing individuals diagnosed as having AIDS or an AIDS-related condition shall be made by the department based on security and medical considerations and in accordance with division (B) of this section, if applicable.

Effective Date: 01-01-2002

(A) Except as provided in division (C) of this section, the department of rehabilitation and correction may enter into an agreement with any local authority operating a county, multicounty, municipal, municipal-county, or multicounty-municipal jail or workhouse, as described in section 307.93, 341.21, or 753.16 of the Revised Code, for the housing in the jail or workhouse operated by the local authority of persons who are convicted of or plead guilty to a felony of the fourth or fifth degree if the person previously has not been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a felony and if the felony is not an offense of violence. The agreement shall specify a per diem fee that the department shall pay the local authority for each such person housed in the jail or workhouse pursuant to the agreement, shall set forth any other terms and conditions for the housing of such persons in the jail or workhouse, and shall indicate that the department, subject to the relevant terms and conditions set forth, may designate those persons to be housed at the jail or workhouse.

(B) A person designated by the department to be housed in a county, multicounty, municipal, municipal-county, or multicounty-municipal jail or workhouse that is the subject of an agreement entered into under division (A) of this section shall be conveyed by the department to that jail or workhouse and shall be kept at the jail or workhouse until the person’s term of imprisonment expires, the person is pardoned, paroled, or placed under a post-release control sanction, or the person is transferred under the laws permitting the transfer of prisoners. The department shall pay the local authority that operates the jail or workhouse the per diem fee specified in the agreement for each such person housed in the jail or workhouse. Each such person housed in the jail or workhouse shall be under the direct supervision and control of the keeper, superintendent, or other person in charge of the jail or workhouse, but shall be considered for all other purposes to be within the custody of the department of rehabilitation and correction. Section 2967.193 of the Revised Code and all other provisions of the Revised Code that pertain to persons within the custody of the department that would not by their nature clearly be inapplicable apply to persons housed pursuant to this section.

(C) The department of rehabilitation and correction shall not enter into an agreement pursuant to division (A) of this section with any local authority unless the jail or workhouse operated by the authority complies with the Minimum Standards for Jails in Ohio.

(D) A court that sentences a person for a felony may include as the sentence or part of the sentence, in accordance with division (A) of section 2929.16 of the Revised Code and regardless of whether the jail or workhouse is the subject of an agreement entered into under division (A) of this section, a sanction that consists of a term of up to six months in a jail or workhouse or, if the offense is a fourth degree felony OVI offense and the offender is sentenced under division (G)(1) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code, a sanction that consists of a term of up to one year in jail less the mandatory term of local incarceration of sixty or one hundred twenty consecutive days imposed pursuant to division (G)(1) of section 2929.13 of the Revised Code.

(E) “Fourth degree felony OVI offense” and “mandatory term of local incarceration” have the same meanings as in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2004

(A) The department of rehabilitation and correction may enter into an agreement with the department of youth services pursuant to which the department of youth services may transfer to a correctional medical center established by the department of rehabilitation and correction children who are within its custody, who have an illness, physical condition, or other medical problem, and who apparently would benefit from diagnosis or treatment at the center for that illness, condition, or problem. Notwithstanding the fact that portions of the center may be used for the benefit of children in the custody of the department of youth services, the center shall be considered a facility of the department of rehabilitation and correction and shall be controlled and operated in accordance with the agreement and the provisions of this section. A child who is in the custody of the department of youth services and who is transferred to the center shall be considered as remaining in the custody of the department of youth services during the period of his diagnosis, treatment, or housing for diagnosis or treatment in the center.

During the development or renovation of a correctional medical center that is the subject of an agreement under this section, the department of rehabilitation and correction shall confer with the department of youth services to ensure that the center is planned and constructed or renovated to facilitate its use for the diagnosis or treatment of both prisoners in the custody of the department of rehabilitation and correction and children in the custody of the department of youth services who may be transferred to the center.

(B) All children who are in the custody of the department of youth services and who are transferred to a correctional medical center pursuant to an agreement under this section shall be housed in areas of the center that are totally separate and removed by sight and sound from all prisoners who are in the custody of the department of rehabilitation and correction and who are being diagnosed, treated, or housed for diagnosis or treatment in the center or who otherwise are in the center. For purposes of this division, children who are being diagnosed, treated, or housed for diagnosis or treatment in a building or wing of a building in which no prisoners in the custody of the department of rehabilitation and correction are being diagnosed, treated, or housed for diagnosis or treatment or otherwise are present are being housed totally separate from any prisoners who are in the custody of the department of rehabilitation and correction.

Effective Date: 11-13-1992

At the time of reception and at other times the director determines to be appropriate, the department of rehabilitation and correction may examine and test a prisoner for tuberculosis, HIV infection, hepatitis, including but not limited to hepatitis A, B, and C, and other contagious diseases. The department may test and treat involuntarily a prisoner in a state correctional institution who refuses to be tested or treated for tuberculosis, HIV infection, hepatitis, including but not limited to hepatitis A, B, and C, or another contagious disease.

Effective Date: 03-17-1998

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Mental illness” means a substantial disorder of thought, mood, perception, orientation, or memory that grossly impairs judgment, behavior, capacity to recognize reality, or ability to meet the ordinary demands of life.

(2) “Mentally ill person subject to hospitalization” means a mentally ill person to whom any of the following applies because of the person’s mental illness:

(a) The person represents a substantial risk of physical harm to the person as manifested by evidence of threats of, or attempts at, suicide or serious self-inflicted bodily harm.

(b) The person represents a substantial risk of physical harm to others as manifested by evidence of recent homicidal or other violent behavior, evidence of recent threats that place another in reasonable fear of violent behavior and serious physical harm, or other evidence of present dangerousness.

(c) The person represents a substantial and immediate risk of serious physical impairment or injury to the person as manifested by evidence that the person is unable to provide for and is not providing for the person’s basic physical needs because of the person’s mental illness and that appropriate provision for those needs cannot be made immediately available in the correctional institution in which the inmate is currently housed.

(d) The person would benefit from treatment in a hospital for the person’s mental illness and is in need of treatment in a hospital as manifested by evidence of behavior that creates a grave and imminent risk to substantial rights of others or the person.

(3) “Psychiatric hospital” means a facility that is operated by the department of rehabilitation and correction, is designated as a psychiatric hospital, is licensed by the department of mental health pursuant to section 5119.20 of the Revised Code, and is in substantial compliance with the standards set by the joint commission on accreditation of healthcare organizations.

(4) “Inmate patient” means an inmate who is admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

(5) “Admitted” to a psychiatric hospital means being accepted for and staying at least one night at the psychiatric hospital.

(6) “Treatment plan” means a written statement of reasonable objectives and goals for an inmate patient that is based on the needs of the inmate patient and that is established by the treatment team, with the active participation of the inmate patient and with documentation of that participation. “Treatment plan” includes all of the following:

(a) The specific criteria to be used in evaluating progress toward achieving the objectives and goals;

(b) The services to be provided to the inmate patient during the inmate patient’s hospitalization;

(c) The services to be provided to the inmate patient after discharge from the hospital, including, but not limited to, housing and mental health services provided at the state correctional institution to which the inmate patient returns after discharge or community mental health services.

(7) “Mentally retarded person subject to institutionalization by court order” has the same meaning as in section 5123.01 of the Revised Code.

(8) “Emergency transfer” means the transfer of a mentally ill inmate to a psychiatric hospital when the inmate presents an immediate danger to self or others and requires hospital-level care.

(9) “Uncontested transfer” means the transfer of a mentally ill inmate to a psychiatric hospital when the inmate has the mental capacity to, and has waived, the hearing required by division (B) of this section.

(10)(a) “Independent decision-maker” means a person who is employed or retained by the department of rehabilitation and correction and is appointed by the chief or chief clinical officer of mental health services as a hospitalization hearing officer to conduct due process hearings.

(b) An independent decision-maker who presides over any hearing or issues any order pursuant to this section shall be a psychiatrist, psychologist, or attorney, shall not be specifically associated with the institution in which the inmate who is the subject of the hearing or order resides at the time of the hearing or order, and previously shall not have had any treatment relationship with nor have represented in any legal proceeding the inmate who is the subject of the order.

(B)(1) Except as provided in division (C) of this section, if the warden of a state correctional institution or the warden’s designee believes that an inmate should be transferred from the institution to a psychiatric hospital, the department shall hold a hearing to determine whether the inmate is a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization. The department shall conduct the hearing at the state correctional institution in which the inmate is confined, and the department shall provide qualified independent assistance to the inmate for the hearing. An independent decision-maker provided by the department shall preside at the hearing and determine whether the inmate is a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization.

(2) Except as provided in division (C) of this section, prior to the hearing held pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section, the warden or the warden’s designee shall give written notice to the inmate that the department is considering transferring the inmate to a psychiatric hospital, that it will hold a hearing on the proposed transfer at which the inmate may be present, that at the hearing the inmate has the rights described in division (B)(3) of this section, and that the department will provide qualified independent assistance to the inmate with respect to the hearing. The department shall not hold the hearing until the inmate has received written notice of the proposed transfer and has had sufficient time to consult with the person appointed by the department to provide assistance to the inmate and to prepare for a presentation at the hearing.

(3) At the hearing held pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section, the department shall disclose to the inmate the evidence that it relies upon for the transfer and shall give the inmate an opportunity to be heard. Unless the independent decision-maker finds good cause for not permitting it, the inmate may present documentary evidence and the testimony of witnesses at the hearing and may confront and cross-examine witnesses called by the department.

(4) If the independent decision-maker does not find clear and convincing evidence that the inmate is a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization, the department shall not transfer the inmate to a psychiatric hospital but shall continue to confine the inmate in the same state correctional institution or in another state correctional institution that the department considers appropriate. If the independent decision-maker finds clear and convincing evidence that the inmate is a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization, the decision-maker shall order that the inmate be transported to a psychiatric hospital for observation and treatment for a period of not longer than thirty days. After the hearing, the independent decision-maker shall submit to the department a written decision that states one of the findings described in division (B)(4) of this section, the evidence that the decision-maker relied on in reaching that conclusion, and, if the decision is that the inmate should be transferred, the reasons for the transfer.

(C)(1) The department may transfer an inmate to a psychiatric hospital under an emergency transfer order if the chief clinical officer of mental health services of the department or that officer’s designee and either a psychiatrist employed or retained by the department or, in the absence of a psychiatrist, a psychologist employed or retained by the department determines that the inmate is mentally ill, presents an immediate danger to self or others, and requires hospital-level care.

(2) The department may transfer an inmate to a psychiatric hospital under an uncontested transfer order if both of the following apply:

(a) A psychiatrist employed or retained by the department determines all of the following apply:

(i) The inmate has a mental illness or is a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization.

(ii) The inmate requires hospital care to address the mental illness.

(iii) The inmate has the mental capacity to make a reasoned choice regarding the inmate’s transfer to a hospital.

(b) The inmate agrees to a transfer to a hospital.

(3) The written notice and the hearing required under divisions (B)(1) and (2) of this section are not required for an emergency transfer or uncontested transfer under division (C)(1) or (2) of this section.

(4) After an emergency transfer under division (C)(1) of this section, the department shall hold a hearing for continued hospitalization within five working days after admission of the transferred inmate to the psychiatric hospital. The department shall hold subsequent hearings pursuant to division (F) of this section at the same intervals as required for inmate patients who are transported to a psychiatric hospital under division (B)(4) of this section.

(5) After an uncontested transfer under division (C)(2) of this section, the inmate may withdraw consent to the transfer in writing at any time. Upon the inmate’s withdrawal of consent, the hospital shall discharge the inmate, or, within five working days, the department shall hold a hearing for continued hospitalization. The department shall hold subsequent hearings pursuant to division (F) of this section at the same time intervals as required for inmate patients who are transported to a psychiatric hospital under division (B)(4) of this section.

(D)(1) If an independent decision-maker, pursuant to division (B)(4) of this section, orders an inmate transported to a psychiatric hospital or if an inmate is transferred pursuant to division (C)(1) or (2) of this section, the staff of the psychiatric hospital shall examine the inmate patient when admitted to the psychiatric hospital as soon as practicable after the inmate patient arrives at the hospital and no later than twenty-four hours after the time of arrival. The attending physician responsible for the inmate patient’s care shall give the inmate patient all information necessary to enable the patient to give a fully informed, intelligent, and knowing consent to the treatment the inmate patient will receive in the hospital. The attending physician shall tell the inmate patient the expected physical and medical consequences of any proposed treatment and shall give the inmate patient the opportunity to consult with another psychiatrist at the hospital and with the inmate advisor.

(2) No inmate patient who is transported or transferred to a psychiatric hospital pursuant to division (B)(4) or (C)(1) or (2) of this section and who is in the physical custody of the department of rehabilitation and correction shall be subjected to any of the following procedures:

(a) Convulsive therapy;

(b) Major aversive interventions;

(c) Any unusually hazardous treatment procedures;

(d) Psychosurgery.

(E) The warden of the psychiatric hospital or the warden’s designee shall ensure that an inmate patient hospitalized pursuant to this section receives or has all of the following:

(1) Receives sufficient professional care within twenty days of admission to ensure that an evaluation of the inmate patient’s current status, differential diagnosis, probable prognosis, and description of the current treatment plan have been formulated and are stated on the inmate patient’s official chart;

(2) Has a written treatment plan consistent with the evaluation, diagnosis, prognosis, and goals of treatment;

(3) Receives treatment consistent with the treatment plan;

(4) Receives periodic reevaluations of the treatment plan by the professional staff at intervals not to exceed thirty days;

(5) Is provided with adequate medical treatment for physical disease or injury;

(6) Receives humane care and treatment, including, without being limited to, the following:

(a) Access to the facilities and personnel required by the treatment plan;

(b) A humane psychological and physical environment;

(c) The right to obtain current information concerning the treatment program, the expected outcomes of treatment, and the expectations for the inmate patient’s participation in the treatment program in terms that the inmate patient reasonably can understand;

(d) Opportunity for participation in programs designed to help the inmate patient acquire the skills needed to work toward discharge from the psychiatric hospital;

(e) The right to be free from unnecessary or excessive medication and from unnecessary restraints or isolation;

(f) All other rights afforded inmates in the custody of the department consistent with rules, policy, and procedure of the department.

(F) The department shall hold a hearing for the continued hospitalization of an inmate patient who is transported or transferred to a psychiatric hospital pursuant to division (B)(4) or (C)(1) of this section prior to the expiration of the initial thirty-day period of hospitalization. The department shall hold any subsequent hearings, if necessary, not later than ninety days after the first thirty-day hearing and then not later than each one hundred and eighty days after the immediately prior hearing. An independent decision-maker shall conduct the hearings at the psychiatric hospital in which the inmate patient is confined. The inmate patient shall be afforded all of the rights set forth in this section for the hearing prior to transfer to the psychiatric hospital. The department may not waive a hearing for continued commitment. A hearing for continued commitment is mandatory for an inmate patient transported or transferred to a psychiatric hospital pursuant to division (B)(4) or (C)(1) of this section unless the inmate patient has the capacity to make a reasoned choice to execute a waiver and waives the hearing in writing. An inmate patient who is transferred to a psychiatric hospital pursuant to an uncontested transfer under division (C)(2) of this section and who has scheduled hearings after withdrawal of consent for hospitalization may waive any of the scheduled hearings if the inmate has the capacity to make a reasoned choice and executes a written waiver of the hearing.

If upon completion of the hearing the independent decision-maker does not find by clear and convincing evidence that the inmate patient is a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization, the independent decision-maker shall order the inmate patient’s discharge from the psychiatric hospital. If the independent decision-maker finds by clear and convincing evidence that the inmate patient is a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization, the independent decision-maker shall order that the inmate patient remain at the psychiatric hospital for continued hospitalization until the next required hearing.

If at any time prior to the next required hearing for continued hospitalization, the medical director of the hospital or the attending physician determines that the treatment needs of the inmate patient could be met equally well in an available and appropriate less restrictive state correctional institution or unit, the medical director or attending physician may discharge the inmate to that facility.

(G) An inmate patient is entitled to the credits toward the reduction of the inmate patient’s stated prison term pursuant to Chapters 2967. and 5120. of the Revised Code under the same terms and conditions as if the inmate patient were in any other institution of the department of rehabilitation and correction.

(H) The adult parole authority may place an inmate patient on parole or under post-release control directly from a psychiatric hospital.

(I) If an inmate patient who is a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization is to be released from a psychiatric hospital because of the expiration of the inmate patient’s stated prison term, the warden of the psychiatric hospital, at least fourteen days before the expiration date, may file an affidavit under section 5122.11 or 5123.71 of the Revised Code with the probate court in the county where the psychiatric hospital is located or the probate court in the county where the inmate will reside, alleging that the inmate patient is a mentally ill person subject to hospitalization by court order or a mentally retarded person subject to institutionalization by court order, whichever is applicable. The proceedings in the probate court shall be conducted pursuant to Chapter 5122. or 5123. of the Revised Code except as modified by this division.

Upon the request of the inmate patient, the probate court shall grant the inmate patient an initial hearing under section 5122.141 of the Revised Code or a probable cause hearing under section 5123.75 of the Revised Code before the expiration of the stated prison term. After holding a full hearing, the probate court shall make a disposition authorized by section 5122.15 or 5123.76 of the Revised Code before the date of the expiration of the stated prison term. No inmate patient shall be held in the custody of the department of rehabilitation and correction past the date of the expiration of the inmate patient’s stated prison term.

(J) The department of rehabilitation and correction shall set standards for treatment provided to inmate patients, consistent where applicable with the standards set by the joint commission on accreditation of healthcare organizations.

(K) A certificate, application, record, or report that is made in compliance with this section and that directly or indirectly identifies an inmate or former inmate whose hospitalization has been sought under this section is confidential. No person shall disclose the contents of any certificate, application, record, or report of that nature or any other psychiatric or medical record or report regarding a mentally ill inmate unless one of the following applies:

(1) The person identified, or the person’s legal guardian, if any, consents to disclosure, and the chief clinical officer or designee of mental health services of the department of rehabilitation and correction determines that disclosure is in the best interests of the person.

(2) Disclosure is required by a court order signed by a judge.

(3) An inmate patient seeks access to the inmate patient’s own psychiatric and medical records, unless access is specifically restricted in the treatment plan for clear treatment reasons.

(4) Hospitals and other institutions and facilities within the department of rehabilitation and correction may exchange psychiatric records and other pertinent information with other hospitals, institutions, and facilities of the department, but the information that may be released about an inmate patient is limited to medication history, physical health status and history, summary of course of treatment in the hospital, summary of treatment needs, and a discharge summary, if any.

(5) An inmate patient’s family member who is involved in planning, providing, and monitoring services to the inmate patient may receive medication information, a summary of the inmate patient’s diagnosis and prognosis, and a list of the services and personnel available to assist the inmate patient and family if the attending physician determines that disclosure would be in the best interest of the inmate patient. No disclosure shall be made under this division unless the inmate patient is notified of the possible disclosure, receives the information to be disclosed, and does not object to the disclosure.

(6) The department of rehabilitation and correction may exchange psychiatric hospitalization records, other mental health treatment records, and other pertinent information with county sheriffs’ offices, hospitals, institutions, and facilities of the department of mental health and with community mental health agencies and boards of alcohol, drug addiction, and mental health services with which the department of mental health has a current agreement for patient care or services to ensure continuity of care. Disclosure under this division is limited to records regarding a mentally ill inmate’s medication history, physical health status and history, summary of course of treatment, summary of treatment needs, and a discharge summary, if any. No office, department, agency, or board shall disclose the records and other information unless one of the following applies:

(a) The mentally ill inmate is notified of the possible disclosure and consents to the disclosure.

(b) The mentally ill inmate is notified of the possible disclosure, an attempt to gain the consent of the inmate is made, and the office, department, agency, or board documents the attempt to gain consent, the inmate’s objections, if any, and the reasons for disclosure in spite of the inmate’s objections.

(7) Information may be disclosed to staff members designated by the director of rehabilitation and correction for the purpose of evaluating the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of services and determining if the services meet minimum standards.

The name of an inmate patient shall not be retained with the information obtained during the evaluations.

(L) The director of rehabilitation and correction may adopt rules setting forth guidelines for the procedures required under divisions (B), (C)(1), and (C)(2) of this section.

Effective Date: 07-23-2002

(A) The department of rehabilitation and correction shall have exclusive direction and control of the care and treatment of seriously mentally ill inmates who are in the department’s custody. The department shall enter into any arrangements it considers desirable on such matters, including but not limited to both of the following:

(1) The monitoring of such services by another state agency or agencies;

(2) Adopting joint standards for the provision and monitoring of mental health services with the department of mental health and other state agencies.

(B) In order to implement its duties imposed by division (A) of this section, the department of rehabilitation and correction may enter into a contract for the provision of the mental health services described in that division.

Effective Date: 06-30-1995

A minor whose case is transferred for criminal prosecution pursuant to section 2152.12 of the Revised Code, who is prosecuted as an adult and is convicted of or pleads guilty to one or more offenses in that case, and who is sentenced to a prison term or term of imprisonment in a state correctional institution for one or more of those offenses shall be considered emancipated for the purpose of consenting to medical treatment while confined in the state correctional institution.

Effective Date: 01-01-2002