CHAPTER 5126: COUNTY BOARDS OF MENTAL RETARDATION AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES

As used in this chapter:

(A) As used in this division, “adult” means an individual who is eighteen years of age or over and not enrolled in a program or service under Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code and an individual sixteen or seventeen years of age who is eligible for adult services under rules adopted by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

(1) “Adult services” means services provided to an adult outside the home, except when they are provided within the home according to an individual’s assessed needs and identified in an individual service plan, that support learning and assistance in the area of self-care, sensory and motor development, socialization, daily living skills, communication, community living, social skills, or vocational skills.

(2) “Adult services” includes all of the following:

(a) Adult day habilitation services;

(b) Adult day care;

(c) Prevocational services;

(d) Sheltered employment;

(e) Educational experiences and training obtained through entities and activities that are not expressly intended for individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities, including trade schools, vocational or technical schools, adult education, job exploration and sampling, unpaid work experience in the community, volunteer activities, and spectator sports;

(f) Community employment services and supported employment services.

(B)(1) “Adult day habilitation services” means adult services that do the following:

(a) Provide access to and participation in typical activities and functions of community life that are desired and chosen by the general population, including such activities and functions as opportunities to experience and participate in community exploration, companionship with friends and peers, leisure activities, hobbies, maintaining family contacts, community events, and activities where individuals without disabilities are involved;

(b) Provide supports or a combination of training and supports that afford an individual a wide variety of opportunities to facilitate and build relationships and social supports in the community.

(2) “Adult day habilitation services” includes all of the following:

(a) Personal care services needed to ensure an individual’s ability to experience and participate in vocational services, educational services, community activities, and any other adult day habilitation services;

(b) Skilled services provided while receiving adult day habilitation services, including such skilled services as behavior management intervention, occupational therapy, speech and language therapy, physical therapy, and nursing services;

(c) Training and education in self-determination designed to help the individual do one or more of the following: develop self-advocacy skills, exercise the individual’s civil rights, acquire skills that enable the individual to exercise control and responsibility over the services received, and acquire skills that enable the individual to become more independent, integrated, or productive in the community;

(d) Recreational and leisure activities identified in the individual’s service plan as therapeutic in nature or assistive in developing or maintaining social supports;

(e) Counseling and assistance provided to obtain housing, including such counseling as identifying options for either rental or purchase, identifying financial resources, assessing needs for environmental modifications, locating housing, and planning for ongoing management and maintenance of the housing selected;

(f) Transportation necessary to access adult day habilitation services;

(g) Habilitation management, as described in section 5126.14 of the Revised Code.

(3) “Adult day habilitation services” does not include activities that are components of the provision of residential services, family support services, or supported living services.

(C) “Appointing authority” means the following:

(1) In the case of a member of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities appointed by, or to be appointed by, a board of county commissioners, the board of county commissioners;

(2) In the case of a member of a county board appointed by, or to be appointed by, a senior probate judge, the senior probate judge.

(D) “Community employment services” or “supported employment services” means job training and other services related to employment outside a sheltered workshop. “Community employment services” or “supported employment services” include all of the following:

(1) Job training resulting in the attainment of competitive work, supported work in a typical work environment, or self-employment;

(2) Supervised work experience through an employer paid to provide the supervised work experience;

(3) Ongoing work in a competitive work environment at a wage commensurate with workers without disabilities;

(4) Ongoing supervision by an employer paid to provide the supervision.

(E) As used in this division, “substantial functional limitation,” “developmental delay,” and “established risk” have the meanings established pursuant to section 5123.011 of the Revised Code.

“Developmental disability” means a severe, chronic disability that is characterized by all of the following:

(1) It is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or a combination of mental and physical impairments, other than a mental or physical impairment solely caused by mental illness as defined in division (A) of section 5122.01 of the Revised Code;

(2) It is manifested before age twenty-two;

(3) It is likely to continue indefinitely;

(4) It results in one of the following:

(a) In the case of a person under age three, at least one developmental delay or an established risk;

(b) In the case of a person at least age three but under age six, at least two developmental delays or an established risk;

(c) In the case of a person age six or older, a substantial functional limitation in at least three of the following areas of major life activity, as appropriate for the person’s age: self-care, receptive and expressive language, learning, mobility, self-direction, capacity for independent living, and, if the person is at least age sixteen, capacity for economic self-sufficiency.

(5) It causes the person to need a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or other type of care, treatment, or provision of services for an extended period of time that is individually planned and coordinated for the person.

(F) “Early childhood services” means a planned program of habilitation designed to meet the needs of individuals with mental retardation or other developmental disabilities who have not attained compulsory school age.

(G)(1) “Environmental modifications” means the physical adaptations to an individual’s home, specified in the individual’s service plan, that are necessary to ensure the individual’s health, safety, and welfare or that enable the individual to function with greater independence in the home, and without which the individual would require institutionalization.

(2) “Environmental modifications” includes such adaptations as installation of ramps and grab-bars, widening of doorways, modification of bathroom facilities, and installation of specialized electric and plumbing systems necessary to accommodate the individual’s medical equipment and supplies.

(3) “Environmental modifications” does not include physical adaptations or improvements to the home that are of general utility or not of direct medical or remedial benefit to the individual, including such adaptations or improvements as carpeting, roof repair, and central air conditioning.

(H) “Family support services” means the services provided under a family support services program operated under section 5126.11 of the Revised Code.

(I) “Habilitation” means the process by which the staff of the facility or agency assists an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability in acquiring and maintaining those life skills that enable the individual to cope more effectively with the demands of the individual’s own person and environment, and in raising the level of the individual’s personal, physical, mental, social, and vocational efficiency. Habilitation includes, but is not limited to, programs of formal, structured education and training.

(J) “Home and community-based services” means medicaid-funded home and community-based services specified in division (B)(1) of section 5111.87 of the Revised Code and provided under the medicaid waiver components the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities administers pursuant to section 5111.871 of the Revised Code.

(K) “Immediate family” means parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, spouses, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, mothers-in-law, fathers-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, sons-in-law, and daughters-in-law.

(L) “Medicaid” has the same meaning as in section 5111.01 of the Revised Code.

(M) “Medicaid case management services” means case management services provided to an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability that the state medicaid plan requires.

(N) “Mental retardation” means a mental impairment manifested during the developmental period characterized by significantly subaverage general intellectual functioning existing concurrently with deficiencies in the effectiveness or degree with which an individual meets the standards of personal independence and social responsibility expected of the individual’s age and cultural group.

(O) “Residential services” means services to individuals with mental retardation or other developmental disabilities to provide housing, food, clothing, habilitation, staff support, and related support services necessary for the health, safety, and welfare of the individuals and the advancement of their quality of life. “Residential services” includes program management, as described in section 5126.14 of the Revised Code.

(P) “Resources” means available capital and other assets, including moneys received from the federal, state, and local governments, private grants, and donations; appropriately qualified personnel; and appropriate capital facilities and equipment.

(Q) “Senior probate judge” means the current probate judge of a county who has served as probate judge of that county longer than any of the other current probate judges of that county. If a county has only one probate judge, “senior probate judge” means that probate judge.

(R) “Service and support administration” means the duties performed by a service and support administrator pursuant to section 5126.15 of the Revised Code.

(S)(1) “Specialized medical, adaptive, and assistive equipment, supplies, and supports” means equipment, supplies, and supports that enable an individual to increase the ability to perform activities of daily living or to perceive, control, or communicate within the environment.

(2) “Specialized medical, adaptive, and assistive equipment, supplies, and supports” includes the following:

(a) Eating utensils, adaptive feeding dishes, plate guards, mylatex straps, hand splints, reaches, feeder seats, adjustable pointer sticks, interpreter services, telecommunication devices for the deaf, computerized communications boards, other communication devices, support animals, veterinary care for support animals, adaptive beds, supine boards, prone boards, wedges, sand bags, sidelayers, bolsters, adaptive electrical switches, hand-held shower heads, air conditioners, humidifiers, emergency response systems, folding shopping carts, vehicle lifts, vehicle hand controls, other adaptations of vehicles for accessibility, and repair of the equipment received.

(b) Nondisposable items not covered by medicaid that are intended to assist an individual in activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living.

(T) “Supportive home services” means a range of services to families of individuals with mental retardation or other developmental disabilities to develop and maintain increased acceptance and understanding of such persons, increased ability of family members to teach the person, better coordination between school and home, skills in performing specific therapeutic and management techniques, and ability to cope with specific situations.

(U)(1) “Supported living” means services provided for as long as twenty-four hours a day to an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability through any public or private resources, including moneys from the individual, that enhance the individual’s reputation in community life and advance the individual’s quality of life by doing the following:

(a) Providing the support necessary to enable an individual to live in a residence of the individual’s choice, with any number of individuals who are not disabled, or with not more than three individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities unless the individuals are related by blood or marriage;

(b) Encouraging the individual’s participation in the community;

(c) Promoting the individual’s rights and autonomy;

(d) Assisting the individual in acquiring, retaining, and improving the skills and competence necessary to live successfully in the individual’s residence.

(2) “Supported living” includes the provision of all of the following:

(a) Housing, food, clothing, habilitation, staff support, professional services, and any related support services necessary to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of the individual receiving the services;

(b) A combination of lifelong or extended-duration supervision, training, and other services essential to daily living, including assessment and evaluation and assistance with the cost of training materials, transportation, fees, and supplies;

(c) Personal care services and homemaker services;

(d) Household maintenance that does not include modifications to the physical structure of the residence;

(e) Respite care services;

(f) Program management, as described in section 5126.14 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-26-2003; 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2005 HB66 07-01-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

Effective Date: 03-13-1997

(A) Each county shall either have its own county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities or, pursuant to section 5126.021 or 5126.022 of the Revised Code, be a member of a multicounty board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. Subject to division (B) of this section:

(1) A county board shall be operated as a separate administrative and service entity.

(2) The functions of a county board shall not be combined with the functions of any other entity of county government.

(B) Division (A) of this section does not prohibit or restrict any county board from sharing administrative functions or personnel with one or more other county boards, including entering into an arrangement authorized by division (B) of section 5126.0226 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

Subject to sections 5126.024 and 5126.025 of the Revised Code, a multicounty board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may be created if each of the following, before January 1, 2007, and within a one-hundred-eighty-day period, adopt an identical resolution or issue an identical order providing for the creation of the multicounty board:

(A) A majority of the members of each of the boards of county commissioners seeking to create the multicounty board;

(B) The senior probate judge of each county served by those boards of county commissioners.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

Subject to sections 5126.024 and 5126.025 of the Revised Code, a county that is not part of the creation of a multicounty board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities under section 5126.021 of the Revised Code may join the multicounty board if each of the following, within a sixty-day period, adopt an identical resolution or issue an identical order providing for the county to join the multicounty board:

(A) A majority of the members of the board of county commissioners of the county seeking to join the multicounty board;

(B) A majority of the members of each of the boards of county commissioners that are members of the multicounty board;

(C) The senior probate judge of the county seeking to join the multicounty board;

(D) The senior probate judge of each of the counties that are members of the multicounty board.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

(A) Subject to section 5126.024 of the Revised Code, the board of county commissioners of a county that is a member of a multicounty board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and the senior probate judge of that county may terminate the county’s membership in the multicounty board in the manner provided in this section. To terminate the county’s membership in the multicounty board, the board of county commissioners shall adopt a resolution, and the senior probate judge shall issue an order, providing for the termination.

(B) A resolution and order of termination adopted or issued under this section shall specify the last day that the county will be a member of the multicounty board. The resolution and order also shall provide for the county to do one of the following on the day immediately following the last day that the county will be a member of the multicounty board:

(1) Create a single county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities;

(2) If the day immediately following the last day that the county will be a member of the current multicounty board is before January 1, 2007, co-create a new multicounty board pursuant to section 5126.021 of the Revised Code;

(3) Join a different multicounty board pursuant to section 5126.022 of the Revised Code.

(C) A resolution and an order of termination adopted or issued under this section shall include a plan for the equitable adjustment and division of all services, assets, property, debts, and obligations, if any, of the multicounty board that the county will cease to be a member of.

(D) Any county terminating its membership in a multicounty board shall continue to have levied against its tax list and duplicate any tax levied by the board of county commissioners for mental retardation and developmental disability services during the period in which the county was a member of the multicounty board until the levy expires or is renewed or replaced.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

(A) If a board of county commissioners and senior probate judge propose to join in the creation of, join, or terminate the county’s membership in a multicounty board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities as provided in section 5126.021, 5126.022, or 5126.023 of the Revised Code, the board of county commissioners and judge shall do both of the following:

(1) Notify the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities in writing of their intent to join in the creation of, join, or terminate the county’s membership in a multicounty board, including a written explanation of the administrative, fiscal, and performance considerations underlying the proposed action;

(2) Provide the county board an opportunity to comment on the proposed action.

(B) If the county board, not more than sixty days after receiving the notice under division (A) of this section, votes to oppose the proposed action and notifies the board of county commissioners and judge of the vote, the county may join in creation of a multicounty board, join a multicounty board, or terminate the county’s membership in a multicounty board only on the unanimous vote of the board of county commissioners and the order of that judge to proceed with the creation of, joining, or termination of the county’s membership in a multicounty board.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

Not more than five counties may be members of the same multicounty board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. Only contiguous counties may be members of the same multicounty board.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

A board of county commissioners shall provide the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities with a copy of each resolution the board adopts under section 5126.021, 5126.022, or 5126.023 of the Revised Code. A senior probate judge shall provide the director with a copy of each order the judge issues under those sections.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

(A) A reference to a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities in a law enacted by the general assembly shall mean the following:

(1) In the case of a county with its own county board, a single county board;

(2) In the case of a county that is a member of a multicounty board, a multicounty board.

(B) Unless the context provides otherwise, a law enacted by the general assembly that refers to a county, or an entity or official of a county, that a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities serves shall be deemed to refer to the following:

(1) In the case of a county with a single county board, that county or the county entity or official specified in the law;

(2) In the case of a county that is a member of a multicounty board, each of the counties that are members of the multicounty board or the specified entity or official of each of those counties.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall consist of seven members. In the case of a single county board, the board of county commissioners of the county shall appoint five members and the senior probate judge of the county shall appoint two members. In the case of a multicounty board, the membership shall be appointed as follows:

(A) If there are five member counties, the board of county commissioners of each of the member counties shall each appoint one member and the senior probate judges of the member counties with the largest and second largest population shall each appoint one member.

(B) If there are four member counties, the board of county commissioners of the member county with the largest population shall appoint two members, the other three boards of county commissioners shall each appoint one member, and the senior probate judges of the member counties with the largest and second largest population shall each appoint one member.

(C) If there are three member counties, the boards of county commissioners of the member counties with the largest and second largest populations shall each appoint two members, the other board of county commissioners shall appoint one member, and the senior probate judges of the member counties with the largest and second largest population shall each appoint one member.

(D) If there are two member counties, the board of county commissioners of the member county with the largest population shall appoint three members, the board of county commissioners of the other county shall appoint two members, and the senior probate judge of each county shall each appoint one member.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

(A) When making appointments to a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, an appointing authority shall do all of the following:

(1) Appoint only individuals who are residents of the county the appointing authority serves, citizens of the United States, and interested and knowledgeable in the field of mental retardation and other allied fields;

(2) If the appointing authority is a board of county commissioners, appoint, subject to division (B) of this section, at least two individuals who are immediate family members of individuals eligible for services provided by the county board and, whenever possible, ensure that one of those two members is an immediate family member of an individual eligible for adult services and the other is an immediate family member of an individual eligible for early intervention services or services for preschool or school-age children;

(3) If the appointing authority is a senior probate judge, appoint, subject to division (B) of this section, at least one individual who is an immediate family member of an individual eligible for residential services or supported living;

(4) Appoint, to the maximum extent possible, individuals who have professional training and experience in business management, finance, law, health care practice, personnel administration, or government service;

(5) Provide for the county board’s membership to reflect, as nearly as possible, the composition of the county or counties that the county board serves.

(B) The appointing authorities of a multicounty board shall coordinate their appointments to the extent necessary to satisfy the requirements of this section. The coordination may provide for one of the boards of county commissioners making one of the two appointments required by division (A)(2) of this section and another board of county commissioners making the other appointment required by that division. The coordination shall ensure that at least one of the senior probate judges satisfies the requirement of division (A)(3) of this section.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

(A) None of the following individuals may serve as a member of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities:

(1) An elected public official, except for a township trustee, township fiscal officer, or individual excluded from the definition of public official or employee in division (B) of section 102.01 of the Revised Code;

(2) An immediate family member of another county board member;

(3) A county board employee or immediate family member of a county board employee;

(4) A former employee of the county board whose employment with the county board ceased less than one calendar year before the former employee would begin to serve as a member of the county board;

(5) An individual who or whose immediate family member is a board member or an employee of an agency licensed or certified by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to provide services to individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities;

(6) An individual who or whose immediate family member is a board member or employee of an agency contracting with the county board that is not licensed or certified by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to provide services to individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities unless there is no conflict of interest;

(7) An individual with an immediate family member who serves as a county commissioner of a county served by the county board unless the individual was a member of the county board before October 31, 1980.

(B) All questions relating to the existence of a conflict of interest for the purpose of division (A)(6) of this section shall be submitted to the local prosecuting attorney for resolution. The Ohio ethics commission may examine any issues arising under Chapter 102. and sections 2921.42, 2921.421, and 2921.43 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

(A) No individual may be appointed or reappointed to a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities unless the individual, before the appointment or reappointment, provides to the appointing authority a written declaration specifying both of the following:

(1) That no circumstance described in section 5126.0210 of the Revised Code exists that bars the individual from serving on the county board;

(2) Whether the individual or an immediate family member of the individual has an ownership interest in or is under contract with an agency contracting with the county board, and, if such an ownership interest or contract exists, the identity of the agency and the nature of the relationship to that agency.

(B) On appointment or reappointment of an individual to the county board, the appointing authority shall provide a copy of the individual’s declaration to the superintendent of the county board. The declaration is a public record for the purpose of section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

Except for members appointed under section 5126.0214 of the Revised Code to fill a vacancy, members of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall be appointed or reappointed not later than the last day of November, commence their terms on the date of the stated annual organizational meeting in the following January as provided under section 5126.0216 of the Revised Code, and serve terms of four years. The membership of an individual appointed as an immediate family member of a recipient of services shall not be terminated because the services are no longer received.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

Except as otherwise provided in this section and section 5126.0225 of the Revised Code, a member of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may be reappointed to the county board. Prior to making a reappointment, the appointing authority shall ascertain, through written communication with the board, that the member being considered for reappointment meets the requirements of sections 5126.029 and 5126.0225 of the Revised Code.

A member who has served during each of three consecutive terms shall not be reappointed for a subsequent term until two years after ceasing to be a member of the county board, except that a member who has served for ten years or less within three consecutive terms may be reappointed for a subsequent term before becoming ineligible for reappointment for two years.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

Within sixty days after a vacancy on a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities occurs, including a vacancy created under section 5126.0220 of the Revised Code, the appointing authority shall fill the vacancy for the unexpired term. Before filling a vacancy, the appointing authority shall cause a notice of the vacancy to be published on at least two separate dates in one or more newspapers serving the county or counties the county board serves.

A member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of the term for which the member’s predecessor was appointed shall hold office for the remainder of that term.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

Members of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the conduct of county board business, including expenses that are incurred in the member’s county of residence in accordance with an established policy of the county board.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall hold an organizational meeting no later than the thirty-first day of January of each year and shall elect its officers, which shall include a president, vice-president, and recording secretary. After its annual organizational meeting, the board shall meet in such manner and at such times as prescribed by rules adopted by the board, but the board shall meet at least ten times annually in regularly scheduled sessions in accordance with section 121.22 of the Revised Code, not including in-service training sessions. A majority of the board constitutes a quorum. The board shall adopt rules for the conduct of its business and a record shall be kept of board proceedings, which shall be open for public inspection.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

Each year, each member of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall attend at least four hours of in-service training provided or approved by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. This training shall not be considered regularly scheduled meetings of the county board.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

A member of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall be considered present at an in-service training session even though the member is not physically present in the room in which the session is held if the member is connected to the session through a system that enables the member to communicate with the individuals participating in the session and such individuals to communicate with the member.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

In no circumstance shall a member of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities participate in or vote on any matter before the county board concerning a contract agency of which the member or an immediate family member of the member is also a board member or an employee.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

(A) Subject to sections 5126.0221 and 5126.0223 of the Revised Code, an appointing authority shall remove a member of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities for any of the following reasons:

(1) Neglect of duty;

(2) Misconduct;

(3) Malfeasance;

(4) Ineligibility to serve on the county board pursuant to section 5126.0210 of the Revised Code;

(5) Failure to attend at least four hours of in-service training session each year;

(6) Failure to attend within one year four regularly scheduled board meetings;

(7) Failure to attend within one year two regularly scheduled board meetings if the member gave no prior notice of the member’s absence;

(8) Consistently poor performance on the county board, as demonstrated by documentation that the president of the county board provides to the appointing authority and the appointing authority determines is convincing evidence.

(B) The removal provisions of divisions (A)(6) and (7) of this section do not apply to absences from special meetings or work sessions.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

An appointing authority shall not remove a member of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities from the county board by reason of division (A)(5), (6), or (7) of section 5126.0220 of the Revised Code if the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities waives the requirement that the member be removed. The director may issue the waiver only if the appointing authority requests that the director issue the waiver and provides the director evidence that is satisfactory to the director that the member’s absences from the in-service training sessions or regularly scheduled board meetings are due to a serious health problem of the member or a member of the member’s immediate family. The director’s decision on whether to issue the waiver is final and not subject to appeal.

The county board on which the member serves may pass a resolution urging the appointing authority to request that the director issue the waiver. The member whose absences from the sessions or meetings are at issue may not vote on the resolution. The appointing authority may request the waiver regardless of whether the county board adopts the resolution.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

If there are grounds for the mandatory removal of a member of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities under section 5126.0220 of the Revised Code, the county board shall supply the board member and the member’s appointing authority with written notice of the grounds.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

An appointing authority shall afford a member of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities an opportunity for a hearing on the member’s proposed removal in accordance with procedures the appointing authority shall establish, unless the appointing authority requested that the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities waive the mandatory removal under section 5126.0221 of the Revised Code and the director refused to issue the waiver. The appointing authority shall hold the hearing if the member requests the hearing not later than thirty days after the date that the county board sends the member the notice required by section 5126.0222 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

If a member of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities requests a hearing within the time required by section 5126.0223 of the Revised Code, the appointing authority may not remove the member from the board before the conclusion of the hearing.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

A member of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities who is removed from the county board is ineligible for reappointment to the board for not less than one year. The appointing authority shall specify the time during which the member is ineligible for reappointment. If the member is removed under division (A)(5) of section 5126.0220 of the Revised Code, the county board shall specify the training the member must complete before being eligible for reappointment.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

(A) Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall either employ a superintendent or obtain the services of the superintendent of another county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. The board shall provide for a superintendent who is qualified, as specified in rules adopted by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. The superintendent shall have no voting privileges on the board.

The board shall prescribe the duties of its superintendent and review the superintendent’s performance. The superintendent may be removed, suspended, or demoted for cause pursuant to section 5126.23 of the Revised Code. The board shall fix the superintendent’s compensation and reimburse the superintendent for actual and necessary expenses.

Each county board that employs its own superintendent shall employ the superintendent under a contract. To enter into a contract, the board shall adopt a resolution agreeing to the contract. Each contract for employment or re-employment of a superintendent shall be for a term of not less than one and not more than five years. At the expiration of a superintendent’s current term of employment, the superintendent may be re-employed . If the board intends not to re-employ the superintendent, the board shall give the superintendent written notification of its intention . The notice shall be given not less than ninety days prior to the expiration of the superintendent’s contract.

(B) Two or more county boards may enter into an arrangement under which the superintendent of one county board acts as the superintendent of another county board. To enter into such an arrangement, each board shall adopt a resolution agreeing to the arrangement. The resolutions shall specify the duration of the arrangement and the contribution each board is to make to the superintendent’s compensation and reimbursement for expenses.

(C) If a vacancy occurs in the position of superintendent, a county board may appoint a person who holds a valid superintendent’s certificate issued under the rules of the department to work under a contract for an interim period not to exceed one hundred eighty days until a permanent superintendent can be employed or arranged for under division (A) or (B) of this section. The director of the department may approve additional periods of time for these types of interim appointments when so requested by a resolution adopted by a county board, if the director determines that the additional periods are warranted and the services of a permanent superintendent are not available.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

The superintendent of the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall:

(A) Administer the work of the board, subject to the board’s rules;

(B) Recommend to the board the changes necessary to increase the effectiveness of the programs and services offered pursuant to Chapters 3323. and 5126. of the Revised Code;

(C) Employ persons for all positions authorized by the board, approve contracts of employment for management employees that are for a term of one year or less, and approve personnel actions that involve employees in the classified civil service as may be necessary for the work of the board;

(D) Approve compensation for employees within the limits set by the salary schedule and budget set by the board and in accordance with section 5126.26 of the Revised Code, and ensure that all employees and consultants are properly reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of official duties;

(E) Provide consultation to public agencies as defined in division (C) of section 102.01 of the Revised Code, including other county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, and to individuals, agencies, or organizations providing services supported by the board.

The superintendent may authorize the payment of board obligations by the county auditor.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

(A) As used in this section, “specialized services” has the same meaning as in section 5126.281 of the Revised Code.

(B) Except as provided in division (C) of section 5126.033 of the Revised Code, none of the following individuals may be employed by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities:

(1) An employee of an agency contracting with the county board;

(2) An immediate family member of an employee of an agency contracting with the county board unless the county board adopts a resolution authorizing the immediate family member’s employment with the county board or the employment is consistent with a policy adopted by the board establishing parameters for such employment and the policy is consistent with Chapter 102. and sections 2921.42, 2921.421, and 2921.43 of the Revised Code;

(3) An individual with an immediate family member who serves as a county commissioner of any of the counties served by the county board unless the individual was an employee of the county board before October 31, 1980;

(4) An individual who is employed by, has an ownership interest in, performs or provides administrative duties for, or is a member of the governing board of an entity that provides specialized services, regardless of whether the entity contracts with the county board to provide specialized services.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

As used in this section, “specialized services” has the same meaning as in section 5126.281 of the Revised Code.

Notwithstanding any provision of the Revised Code to the contrary, including applicable provisions of sections 102.03, 102.04, 2921.42, and 2921.43 of the Revised Code, an employee of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities also may be a member of the governing board of a political subdivision, including the board of education of a school district, or an agency that does not provide specialized services. The county board may contract with such a governing board even though the governing board includes an individual who is an employee of the county board. That member of the governing board may not vote on any matter before the governing board concerning a contract with the county board or participate in any discussion or debate regarding such a contract.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

As used in this section and in sections 5126.031 to 5126.034 of the Revised Code:

(A) “Direct services contract” means any legally enforceable agreement with an individual, agency, or other entity that, pursuant to its terms or operation, may result in a payment from a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to an eligible person or to a member of the immediate family of an eligible person for services rendered to the eligible person. “Direct services contract” includes a contract for supported living pursuant to sections 5126.40 to 5126.47 of the Revised Code, family support services under section 5126.11 of the Revised Code, and reimbursement for transportation expenses.

(B) “Eligible person” means a person eligible to receive services from a county board or from an entity under contract with a county board.

(C) “Former board member” means a person whose service on the county board ended less than one year prior to commencement of services under a direct services contract.

(D) “Former employee” means a person whose employment by the county board ended less than one year prior to commencement of services under a direct services contract.

Effective Date: 03-13-1997; 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

(A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, annually at the organizational meeting required by section 5126.0216 of the Revised Code, the chairperson of the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall appoint three members of the board to an ethics council to review all direct services contracts. The board’s chairperson may be one of those appointed. The superintendent of the board shall be a nonvoting member of the council. The chairperson shall not appoint a person to the council if the person, or any member of the person’s immediate family, will have any interest in any direct services contract under review by the council while the person serves on the council or during the twelve-month period after completing service on the council. If a council member or a member of the council member’s immediate family has or will have such an interest, the chairperson shall replace the member by appointing another board member to the council.

The council shall meet regularly as directed by the board to perform its duties. Minutes shall be kept of the actions of the council. The minutes shall be part of the public record of the county board.

Any action taken by the council on direct services contracts under its review shall be in public. The council shall afford an affected party the opportunity to meet with the council on matters related to a direct services contract or any action taken by the council.

(B) If a county board establishes a policy specifying that the board is not willing to enter into direct services contracts with any person who is a board member or former board member or a member of the immediate family of a board member or former board member, the board may assume the responsibilities and perform the duties of an ethics council specified in section 5126.032 of the Revised Code. The policy shall be established by resolution adopted by a majority of the members of the board in attendance at a meeting at which there is a quorum and shall be in effect for one year after its adoption, at which time the board shall, by resolution adopted in the same manner as the initial resolution, either renew the policy or establish a new one.

Effective Date: 03-13-1997; 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

(A) The ethics council appointed for a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall review all direct services contracts, and approve or disapprove each contract in accordance with the standards in section 5126.033 of the Revised Code. The council shall develop, in consultation with the prosecuting attorney, and recommend to the board ethical standards, contract audit procedures, and grievance procedures with respect to the award and reconciliation of direct services contracts.

The superintendent, or an employee of the county board designated by the superintendent, shall, in accordance with a policy established by the county board, certify to the council a copy of each proposed direct services contract or contract renewal at a reasonable time before the contract would take effect if entered into or renewed, if, at the time the contract or renewal is proposed, resources approved by the board for such purposes are available.

The council shall promptly review each direct services contract certified to it. If the contract does not meet the conditions specified in section 5126.033 of the Revised Code, the council shall recommend that the board not enter into the contract or suggest specified revisions. The superintendent shall provide all the information the council needs to make its determinations.

The council shall certify to the board its recommendation with regard to each contract. Except as provided in division (B) of this section, the board, by resolution, shall enter into each direct services contract that the council recommends or recommends with specified revisions. The board shall not enter into any contract that is not recommended by the council or enter into any contract to which revisions are suggested if the contract does not include the specified revisions.

(B) The prosecuting attorney, at the request of the board, shall prepare a legal review of any direct services contract that has been recommended, or recommended with revisions, by the council. The board shall enter into only those contracts submitted for review that are determined by the prosecuting attorney to be in compliance with state law.

Effective Date: 03-13-1997

(A) A county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall not enter into a direct services contract unless the contract is limited either to the actual amount of the expenses or to a reasonable and allowable amount projected by the board.

(B) A county board shall not enter into a direct services contract that would result in payment to a board member, former board member, employee, former employee, or member of the immediate family of a board member, former board member, employee, or former employee if the person who would receive services under the contract stands to receive any preferential treatment or any unfair advantage over other eligible persons.

(C) A county board shall not enter into a direct services contract for services provided in accordance with section 5126.11 or sections 5126.40 to 5126.46 of the Revised Code under which an individual, agency, or other entity will employ an individual who is also an employee of that county board unless all of the following conditions are met:

(1) The employee is not in a capacity to influence the award of the contract.

(2) The employee has not attempted in any manner to secure the contract on behalf of the individual, agency, or other entity.

(3) The employee is not employed in management level two or three according to rules adopted by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and does not provide service and support administration.

(4) The employee is not employed by the board during the period when the contract is developed as an administrator or supervisor responsible for approving or supervising services to be provided under the contract and agrees not to take such a position while the contract is in effect, regardless of whether the position is related to the services provided under the contract.

(5) The employee has not taken any actions that create the need for the services to be provided under the contract.

(6) The individual, agency, or other entity seeks the services of the employee because of the employee’s expertise and familiarity with the care and condition of one or more eligible persons and other individuals with such expertise and familiarity are unavailable, or an eligible person has requested to have the services provided by that employee.

The superintendent of the county board shall notify the employee and the individual, agency, or other entity that seeks the employee’s services of the ethics council’s determination under section 5126.032 of the Revised Code regarding the contract. The council’s determination shall be binding on all parties.

The employee who is the subject of the contract shall inform the superintendent of the county board of any employment the employee has outside the county board that is with any individual, agency, or other entity that has a contract with the county board.

Effective Date: 12-13-2001; 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

(A) If the requirements of section 5126.033 of the Revised Code have been met for a particular direct services contract, a member or former member of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, an employee or former employee of a county board, or an immediate family member of a member, former member, employee, or former employee of a county board is not in violation of the restrictions in Chapter 102. and sections 2921.42 and 5126.0210 of the Revised Code with regard to that contract.

(B) Nothing in section 5126.033 of the Revised Code shall be construed to allow a member or employee of a county board to authorize, or use the authority of the member’s or employee’s office or employment to secure authorization of, a contract that could result in receipt by the county board member or employee or a member of the immediate family of the county board member or employee of payment for expenses incurred on behalf of an immediate family member who is an eligible person.

Effective Date: 03-13-1997; 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

Effective Date: 2007 HB119 09-29-2007

Effective Date: 2007 HB119 09-29-2007

No county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall contract with a nongovernmental agency whose board includes a county commissioner of any of the counties served by the county board.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2006 HB699 03-29-2007

(A) As used in this section, “professional services” means all of the following services provided on behalf of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, members or employees of a county board, or both:

(1) Lobbying and other governmental affairs services;

(2) Legal services other than the legal services provided by a county prosecutor or provided for the purpose of collective bargaining;

(3) Public relation services;

(4) Consulting services;

(5) Personnel training services, not including tuition or professional growth reimbursement programs for county board members or employees.

(B) Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall submit to the board of county commissioners of each county that is served by the county board, in accordance with the normal budget process and as part of its budget request, a list identifying the total expenditures projected for any of the following:

(1) Any membership dues of the members or employees of the county board, in any organization, association, or other entity;

(2) Any professional services of the county board, its members or employees, or both;

(3) Any training of the members or employees of the county board.

Effective Date: 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007

(A) Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall plan and set priorities based on available resources for the provision of facilities, programs, and other services to meet the needs of county residents who are individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities, former residents of the county residing in state institutions or placed under purchase of service agreements under section 5123.18 of the Revised Code, and children subject to a determination made pursuant to section 121.38 of the Revised Code.

Each county board shall assess the facility and service needs of the individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities who are residents of the county or former residents of the county residing in state institutions or placed under purchase of service agreements under section 5123.18 of the Revised Code.

Each county board shall require individual habilitation or service plans for individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities who are being served or who have been determined eligible for services and are awaiting the provision of services. Each board shall ensure that methods of having their service needs evaluated are available.

(B)(1) If a foster child is in need of assessment for eligible services or is receiving services from a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and that child is placed in a different county, the agency that placed the child, immediately upon placement, shall inform the county board in the new county all of the following:

(a) That a foster child has been placed in that county;

(b) The name and other identifying information of the foster child;

(c) The name of the foster child’s previous county of residence;

(d) That the foster child was in need of assessment for eligible services or was receiving services from the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities in the previous county.

(2) Upon receiving the notice described in division (B)(1) of this section or otherwise learning that the child was in need of assessment for eligible services or was receiving services from a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities in the previous county, the county board in the new county shall communicate with the county board of the previous county to determine how services for the foster child shall be provided in accordance with each board’s plan and priorities as described in division (A) of this section.

If the two county boards are unable to reach an agreement within ten days of the child’s placement, the county board in the new county shall send notice to the Ohio department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities of the failure to agree. The department shall decide how services shall be provided for the foster child within ten days of receiving notice that the county boards could not reach an agreement. The department may decide that one, or both, of the county boards shall provide services. The services shall be provided in accordance with the board’s plan and priorities as described in division (A) of this section.

(C) The department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code as necessary to implement this section. To the extent that rules adopted under this section apply to the identification and placement of handicapped children under Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code, the rules shall be consistent with the standards and procedures established under sections 3323.03 to 3323.05 of the Revised Code.

(D) The responsibility or authority of a county board to provide services under this chapter does not affect the responsibility of any other entity of state or local government to provide services to individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

(E) On or before the first day of February prior to a school year, a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may elect not to participate during that school year in the provision of or contracting for educational services for children ages six through twenty-one years of age, provided that on or before that date the board gives notice of this election to the superintendent of public instruction, each school district in the county, and the educational service center serving the county. If a board makes this election, it shall not have any responsibility for or authority to provide educational services that school year for children ages six through twenty-one years of age. If a board does not make an election for a school year in accordance with this division, the board shall be deemed to have elected to participate during that school year in the provision of or contracting for educational services for children ages six through twenty-one years of age.

(F) If a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities elects to provide educational services during a school year to individuals six through twenty-one years of age who are multiply handicapped, the board may provide these services to individuals who are appropriately identified and determined eligible pursuant to Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code, and in accordance with applicable rules of the state board of education. The county board may also provide related services to individuals six through twenty-one years of age who have one or more disabling conditions, in accordance with section 3317.20 and Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code and applicable rules of the state board of education.

Effective Date: 07-01-1998; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007; 2008 HB214 05-14-2008

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Biological risk” and “environmental risk” have the meanings established pursuant to section 5123.011 of the Revised Code.

(2) ” Preschool child with a disability” has the same meaning as in section 3323.01 of the Revised Code.

(3) “State institution” means all or part of an institution under the control of the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities pursuant to section 5123.03 of the Revised Code and maintained for the care, treatment, and training of the mentally retarded.

(B) Except as provided in division (C) of this section, each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall make eligibility determinations in accordance with the definition of “developmental disability” in section 5126.01 of the Revised Code. Pursuant to rules the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, a county board may establish eligibility for programs and services for either of the following:

(1) Individuals under age six who have a biological risk or environmental risk of a developmental delay;

(2) Any preschool child with a disability eligible for services under section 3323.02 of the Revised Code whose disability is not attributable solely to mental illness as defined in section 5122.01 of the Revised Code.

(C)(1) A county board shall make determinations of eligibility for service and support administration in accordance with rules adopted under section 5126.08 of the Revised Code.

(2) All persons who were eligible for services and enrolled in programs offered by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities pursuant to this chapter on July 1, 1991, shall continue to be eligible for those services and to be enrolled in those programs as long as they are in need of services.

(3) A person who resided in a state institution on or before October 29, 1993, is eligible for programs and services offered by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, unless the person is determined by the county board not to be in need of those programs and services.

(D) A county board shall refer a person who requests but is not eligible for programs and services offered by the board to other entities of state and local government or appropriate private entities that provide services.

(E) Membership of a person on, or employment of a person by, a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities does not affect the eligibility of any member of that person’s family for services provided by the board or by any entity under contract with the board.

Effective Date: 06-06-2001; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Emergency” means any situation that creates for an individual with mental retardation or developmental disabilities a risk of substantial self-harm or substantial harm to others if action is not taken within thirty days. An “emergency” may include one or more of the following situations:

(a) Loss of present residence for any reason, including legal action;

(b) Loss of present caretaker for any reason, including serious illness of the caretaker, change in the caretaker’s status, or inability of the caretaker to perform effectively for the individual;

(c) Abuse, neglect, or exploitation of the individual;

(d) Health and safety conditions that pose a serious risk to the individual or others of immediate harm or death;

(e) Change in the emotional or physical condition of the individual that necessitates substantial accommodation that cannot be reasonably provided by the individual’s existing caretaker.

(2) “Service substitution list” means a service substitution list established by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities before the effective date of this amendment pursuant to division (B) of this section as this section existed on the day immediately before the effective date of this amendment.

(B) If a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities determines that available resources are not sufficient to meet the needs of all individuals who request programs and services and may be offered the programs and services, it shall establish waiting lists for services. The board may establish priorities for making placements on its waiting lists according to an individual’s emergency status and shall establish priorities in accordance with divisions (D) and (E) of this section.

The individuals who may be placed on a waiting list include individuals with a need for services on an emergency basis and individuals who have requested services for which resources are not available.

An individual placed on a county board’s service substitution list before the effective date of this amendment for the purpose of obtaining home and community-based services shall be deemed to have been placed on the county board’s waiting list for home and community-based services on the date the individual made a request to the county board that the individual receive home and community-based services instead of the services the individual received at the time the request for home and community-based services was made to the county board.

(C) A county board shall establish a separate waiting list for each of the following categories of services, and may establish separate waiting lists within the waiting lists:

(1) Early childhood services;

(2) Educational programs for preschool and school age children;

(3) Adult services;

(4) Service and support administration;

(5) Residential services and supported living;

(6) Transportation services;

(7) Other services determined necessary and appropriate for persons with mental retardation or a developmental disability according to their individual habilitation or service plans;

(8) Family support services provided under section 5126.11 of the Revised Code.

(D) Except as provided in division (G) of this section, a county board shall do, as priorities, all of the following in accordance with the assessment component, approved under section 5123.046 of the Revised Code, of the county board’s plan developed under section 5126.054 of the Revised Code:

(1) For the purpose of obtaining additional federal medicaid funds for home and community-based services and medicaid case management services, do both of the following:

(a) Give an individual who is eligible for home and community-based services and meets both of the following requirements priority over any other individual on a waiting list established under division (C) of this section for home and community-based services that include supported living, residential services, or family support services:

(i) Is twenty-two years of age or older;

(ii) Receives supported living or family support services.

(b) Give an individual who is eligible for home and community-based services and meets both of the following requirements priority over any other individual on a waiting list established under division (C) of this section for home and community-based services that include adult services:

(i) Resides in the individual’s own home or the home of the individual’s family and will continue to reside in that home after enrollment in home and community-based services;

(ii) Receives adult services from the county board.

(2) As federal medicaid funds become available pursuant to division (D)(1) of this section, give an individual who is eligible for home and community-based services and meets any of the following requirements priority for such services over any other individual on a waiting list established under division (C) of this section:

(a) Does not receive residential services or supported living, either needs services in the individual’s current living arrangement or will need services in a new living arrangement, and has a primary caregiver who is sixty years of age or older;

(b) Is less than twenty-two years of age and has at least one of the following service needs that are unusual in scope or intensity:

(i) Severe behavior problems for which a behavior support plan is needed;

(ii) An emotional disorder for which anti-psychotic medication is needed;

(iii) A medical condition that leaves the individual dependent on life-support medical technology;

(iv) A condition affecting multiple body systems for which a combination of specialized medical, psychological, educational, or habilitation services are needed;

(v) A condition the county board determines to be comparable in severity to any condition described in divisions (D)(2)(b)(i) to (iv) of this section and places the individual at significant risk of institutionalization.

(c) Is twenty-two years of age or older, does not receive residential services or supported living, and is determined by the county board to have intensive needs for home and community-based services on an in-home or out-of-home basis.

(E) Except as provided in division (G) of this section and for a number of years and beginning on a date specified in rules adopted under division (K) of this section, a county board shall give an individual who is eligible for home and community-based services, resides in a nursing facility, and chooses to move to another setting with the help of home and community-based services, priority over any other individual on a waiting list established under division (C) of this section for home and community-based services who does not meet these criteria.

(F) If two or more individuals on a waiting list established under division (C) of this section for home and community-based services have priority for the services pursuant to division (D)(1) or (2) or (E) of this section, a county board may use criteria specified in rules adopted under division (K)(2) of this section in determining the order in which the individuals with priority will be offered the services. Otherwise, the county board shall offer the home and community-based services to such individuals in the order they are placed on the waiting list.

(G) No individual may receive priority for services pursuant to division (D) or (E) of this section over an individual placed on a waiting list established under division (C) of this section on an emergency status.

(H) Prior to establishing any waiting list under this section, a county board shall develop and implement a policy for waiting lists that complies with this section and rules adopted under division (K) of this section.

Prior to placing an individual on a waiting list, the county board shall assess the service needs of the individual in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws. The county board shall place the individual on the appropriate waiting list and may place the individual on more than one waiting list. The county board shall notify the individual of the individual’s placement and position on each waiting list on which the individual is placed.

At least annually, the county board shall reassess the service needs of each individual on a waiting list. If it determines that an individual no longer needs a program or service, the county board shall remove the individual from the waiting list. If it determines that an individual needs a program or service other than the one for which the individual is on the waiting list, the county board shall provide the program or service to the individual or place the individual on a waiting list for the program or service in accordance with the board’s policy for waiting lists.

When a program or service for which there is a waiting list becomes available, the county board shall reassess the service needs of the individual next scheduled on the waiting list to receive that program or service. If the reassessment demonstrates that the individual continues to need the program or service, the board shall offer the program or service to the individual. If it determines that an individual no longer needs a program or service, the county board shall remove the individual from the waiting list. If it determines that an individual needs a program or service other than the one for which the individual is on the waiting list, the county board shall provide the program or service to the individual or place the individual on a waiting list for the program or service in accordance with the board’s policy for waiting lists. The county board shall notify the individual of the individual’s placement and position on the waiting list on which the individual is placed.

(I) A child subject to a determination made pursuant to section 121.38 of the Revised Code who requires the home and community-based services provided through a medicaid component that the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities administers under section 5111.871 of the Revised Code shall receive services through that medicaid component. For all other services, a child subject to a determination made pursuant to section 121.38 of the Revised Code shall be treated as an emergency by the county boards and shall not be subject to a waiting list.

(J) Not later than the fifteenth day of March of each even-numbered year, each county board shall prepare and submit to the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities its recommendations for the funding of services for individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities and its proposals for reducing the waiting lists for services.

(K)(1) The department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code governing waiting lists established under this section. The rules shall include procedures to be followed to ensure that the due process rights of individuals placed on waiting lists are not violated.

(2) As part of the rules adopted under this division, the department shall adopt rules establishing criteria a county board may use under division (F) of this section in determining the order in which individuals with priority for home and community-based services will be offered the services. The rules shall also specify conditions under which a county board, when there is no individual with priority for home and community-based services pursuant to division (D)(1) or (2) or (E) of this section available and appropriate for the services, may offer the services to an individual on a waiting list for the services but not given such priority for the services.

(3) As part of the rules adopted under this division, the department shall adopt rules specifying both of the following for the priority category established under division (E) of this section:

(a) The number of years, which shall not exceed five, that the priority category will be in effect;

(b) The date that the priority category is to go into effect.

(L) The following shall take precedence over the applicable provisions of this section:

(1) Medicaid rules and regulations;

(2) Any specific requirements that may be contained within a medicaid state plan amendment or waiver program that a county board has authority to administer or with respect to which it has authority to provide services, programs, or supports.

Effective Date: 06-26-2003; 07-01-2005; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007; 2008 HB405 09-01-2008

When an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability is required within this chapter to consent, refuse to give consent, or withdraw consent for services and the individual has been adjudicated incompetent pursuant to Chapter 2111. of the Revised Code, the guardian for the individual appointed under that chapter and functioning in accordance with the appointment shall be responsible for giving, refusing to give, or withdrawing the consent for services.

Individuals with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities, including those who have been adjudicated incompetent pursuant to Chapter 2111. of the Revised Code, have the right to participate in decisions that affect their lives and to have their needs, desires, and preferences considered.

Effective Date: 03-13-1997

(A) As used in this section, “eligible person” has the same meaning as in section 5126.03 of the Revised Code.

(B) Except as provided in division (D) of this section, no person shall disclose the identity of an individual who requests programs or services under this chapter or release a record or report regarding an eligible person that is maintained by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities or an entity under contract with a county board unless one of the following circumstances exists:

(1) The individual, eligible person, or the individual’s guardian, or, if the individual is a minor, the individual’s parent or guardian, makes a written request to the county board or entity for or approves in writing disclosure of the individual’s identity or release of the record or report regarding the eligible person.

(2) Disclosure of the identity of an individual is needed for approval of a direct services contract under section 5126.032 or 5126.033 of the Revised Code. The county board shall release only the individual’s name and the general nature of the services to be provided.

(3) Disclosure of the identity of the individual is needed to ascertain that the county board’s waiting lists for programs or services are being maintained in accordance with section 5126.042 of the Revised Code and the rules adopted under that section. The county board shall release only the individual’s name, the general nature of the programs or services to be provided the individual, the individual’s rank on each waiting list that includes the individual, and any circumstances under which the individual was given priority when placed on a waiting list.

(C) A board or entity that discloses an individual’s identity or releases a record or report regarding an eligible person shall maintain a record of when and to whom the disclosure or release was made.

(D)(1) At the request of an eligible person or the person’s guardian or, if the eligible person is a minor, the person’s parent or guardian, a county board or entity under contract with a county board shall provide the person who made the request access to records and reports regarding the eligible person. On written request, the county board or entity shall provide copies of the records and reports to the eligible person, guardian, or parent. The county board or entity may charge a reasonable fee to cover the costs of copying. The county board or entity may waive the fee in cases of hardship.

(2) A county board shall provide access to any waiting list or record or report regarding an eligible person maintained by the board to any state agency responsible for monitoring and reviewing programs and services provided or arranged by the county board, any state agency involved in the coordination of services for an eligible person, and any agency under contract with the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities for the provision of protective service pursuant to section 5123.56 of the Revised Code.

(3) When an eligible person who requests programs or services under this chapter dies, the county board or entity under contract with the county board, shall, on written request, provide to both of the following persons any reports and records in the board or entity’s possession concerning the eligible person:

(a) If the report or records are necessary to administer the estate of the person who is the subject of the reports or records, to the executor or administrator of the person’s estate;

(b) To the guardian of the person who is the subject of the reports or records or, if the individual had no guardian at the time of death, to a person in the first applicable of the following categories:

(i) The person’s spouse;

(ii) The person’s children;

(iii) The person’s parents;

(iv) The person’s brothers or sisters;

(v) The person’s uncles or aunts;

(vi) The person’s closest relative by blood or adoption;

(vii) The person’s closest relative by marriage.

The county board or entity shall provide the reports and records as required by division (D)(3) of this section not later than thirty days after receipt of the request.

(E) A county board shall notify an eligible person, the person’s guardian, or, if the eligible person is a minor, the person’s parent or guardian, prior to destroying any record or report regarding the eligible person.

Effective Date: 09-22-2000

(A) As used in this section, “eligible person” means a person eligible to receive services from a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities or from an entity under contract with a county board.

(B) A county board shall establish fees for services rendered to eligible persons if such fees are required by federal regulation and by rule adopted by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

A county board may provide services to a person who does not meet the standards for eligibility. The board may establish fees for these services, which may be paid for by the person, by another person on the person’s behalf of the ineligible person, or by another governmental entity.

Effective Date: 03-13-1997

(A) Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities that has medicaid local administrative authority under division (A) of section 5126.055 of the Revised Code for habilitation, vocational, or community employment services provided as part of home and community-based services shall create a list of all persons and government entities eligible to provide such habilitation, vocational, or community employment services. If the county board chooses and is eligible to provide such habilitation, vocational, or community employment services, the county board shall include itself on the list. The county board shall make the list available to each individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability who resides in the county and is eligible for such habilitation, vocational, or community employment services. The county board shall also make the list available to such individuals’ families.

An individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability who is eligible for habilitation, vocational, or community employment services may choose the provider of the services.

(B) Each month, the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall create a list of all persons and government entities eligible to provide residential services and supported living. The department shall include on the list all residential facilities licensed under section 5123.19 of the Revised Code and all supported living providers certified under section 5123.161 of the Revised Code. The department shall distribute the monthly lists to county boards that have local administrative authority under division (A) of section 5126.055 of the Revised Code for residential services and supported living provided as part of home and community-based services. A county board that receives a list shall make it available to each individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability who resides in the county and is eligible for such residential services or supported living. The county board shall also make the list available to the families of those individuals.

An individual who is eligible for residential services or supported living may choose the provider of the residential services or supported living.

(C) If a county board that has medicaid local administrative authority under division (A) of section 5126.055 of the Revised Code for home and community-based services violates the right established by this section of an individual to choose a provider that is qualified and willing to provide services to the individual, the individual shall receive timely notice that the individual may request a hearing under section 5101.35 of the Revised Code.

(D) The departments of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and job and family services shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code governing the implementation of this section. The rules shall include procedures for individuals to choose their service providers. The rules shall not be limited by a provider selection system established under section 5126.42 of the Revised Code, including any pool of providers created pursuant to a provider selection system.

Effective Date: 12-13-2001; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

(A) Subject to the rules established by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code for programs and services offered pursuant to this chapter, and subject to the rules established by the state board of education pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code for programs and services offered pursuant to Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code, the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall:

(1) Administer and operate facilities, programs, and services as provided by this chapter and Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code and establish policies for their administration and operation;

(2) Coordinate, monitor, and evaluate existing services and facilities available to individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities;

(3) Provide early childhood services, supportive home services, and adult services, according to the plan and priorities developed under section 5126.04 of the Revised Code;

(4) Provide or contract for special education services pursuant to Chapters 3317. and 3323. of the Revised Code and ensure that related services, as defined in section 3323.01 of the Revised Code, are available according to the plan and priorities developed under section 5126.04 of the Revised Code;

(5) Adopt a budget, authorize expenditures for the purposes specified in this chapter and do so in accordance with section 319.16 of the Revised Code, approve attendance of board members and employees at professional meetings and approve expenditures for attendance, and exercise such powers and duties as are prescribed by the director;

(6) Submit annual reports of its work and expenditures, pursuant to sections 3323.09 and 5126.12 of the Revised Code, to the director, the superintendent of public instruction, and the board of county commissioners at the close of the fiscal year and at such other times as may reasonably be requested;

(7) Authorize all positions of employment, establish compensation, including but not limited to salary schedules and fringe benefits for all board employees, approve contracts of employment for management employees that are for a term of more than one year, employ legal counsel under section 309.10 of the Revised Code, and contract for employee benefits;

(8) Provide service and support administration in accordance with section 5126.15 of the Revised Code;

(9) Certify respite care homes pursuant to rules adopted under section 5123.171 of the Revised Code by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

(B) To the extent that rules adopted under this section apply to the identification and placement of children with disabilities under Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code, they shall be consistent with the standards and procedures established under sections 3323.03 to 3323.05 of the Revised Code.

(C) Any county board may enter into contracts with other such boards and with public or private, nonprofit, or profit-making agencies or organizations of the same or another county, to provide the facilities, programs, and services authorized or required, upon such terms as may be agreeable, and in accordance with this chapter and Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code and rules adopted thereunder and in accordance with sections 307.86 and 5126.071 of the Revised Code.

(D) A county board may combine transportation for children and adults enrolled in programs and services offered under section 5126.12 with transportation for children enrolled in classes funded under section 3317.20 or units approved under section 3317.05 of the Revised Code.

(E) A county board may purchase all necessary insurance policies, may purchase equipment and supplies through the department of administrative services or from other sources, and may enter into agreements with public agencies or nonprofit organizations for cooperative purchasing arrangements.

(F) A county board may receive by gift, grant, devise, or bequest any moneys, lands, or property for the benefit of the purposes for which the board is established and hold, apply, and dispose of the moneys, lands, and property according to the terms of the gift, grant, devise, or bequest. All money received by gift, grant, bequest, or disposition of lands or property received by gift, grant, devise, or bequest shall be deposited in the county treasury to the credit of such board and shall be available for use by the board for purposes determined or stated by the donor or grantor, but may not be used for personal expenses of the board members. Any interest or earnings accruing from such gift, grant, devise, or bequest shall be treated in the same manner and subject to the same provisions as such gift, grant, devise, or bequest.

(G) The board of county commissioners shall levy taxes and make appropriations sufficient to enable the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to perform its functions and duties, and may utilize any available local, state, and federal funds for such purpose.

Effective Date: 12-13-2001; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007

(A) To the extent that resources are available, a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall provide for or arrange residential services and supported living for individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

A county board may acquire, convey, lease, or sell property for residential services and supported living and enter into loan agreements, including mortgages, for the acquisition of such property. A county board is not required to comply with provisions of Chapter 307. of the Revised Code providing for competitive bidding or sheriff sales in the acquisition, lease, conveyance, or sale of property under this division, but the acquisition, lease, conveyance, or sale must be at fair market value determined by appraisal of one or more disinterested persons appointed by the board.

Any action taken by a county board under this division that will incur debt on the part of the county shall be taken in accordance with Chapter 133. of the Revised Code. A county board shall not incur any debt on the part of the county without the prior approval of the board of county commissioners.

(B)(1) To the extent that resources are available, in addition to sheltered employment and work activities provided as adult services pursuant to division (A)(3) of section 5126.05 of the Revised Code, a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may provide or arrange for job training, vocational evaluation, and community employment services to mentally retarded and developmentally disabled individuals who are age eighteen and older and not enrolled in a program or service under Chapter 3323. of the Revised Code or age sixteen or seventeen and eligible for adult services under rules adopted by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. These services shall be provided in accordance with the individual’s individual service or habilitation plan and shall include support services specified in the plan.

(2) A county board may, in cooperation with the Ohio rehabilitation services commission, seek federal funds for job training and community employment.

(3) A county board may contract with any agency, board, or other entity that is accredited by the commission on accreditation of rehabilitation facilities to provide services. A county board that is accredited by the commission on accreditation of rehabilitation facilities may provide services for which it is certified by the commission.

(C) To the extent that resources are available, a county board may provide services to an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability in addition to those provided pursuant to this section, section 5126.05 of the Revised Code, or any other section of this chapter. The services shall be provided in accordance with the individual’s habilitation or service plan and may be provided in collaboration with other entities of state or local government.

Effective Date: 06-06-2001

(A) The superintendent of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities providing transportation for pupils to special education programs under this chapter may establish a volunteer bus rider assistance program under which qualified persons may be authorized to ride with pupils to and from such programs. Volunteers shall not be compensated for their services and are not employees for purposes of Chapter 4117. or 4123. of the Revised Code. Nothing in this section authorizes a superintendent or board to adversely affect the employment of any employee of the board.

Volunteers may be assigned duties or responsibilities by the superintendent, including but not limited to, assisting pupils in embarking and disembarking from buses and in crossing streets where necessary to ensure the safety of the pupil, assisting the bus driver, and such other activities as the superintendent determines will aid in the safe and efficient transportation of pupils.

(B) The superintendent shall ensure that each pupil receiving transportation under this chapter is instructed in school bus safety, proper bus rider behavior, and the potential problems and hazards associated with school bus ridership. Such instruction shall occur within two weeks after the pupil first receives transportation under this chapter.

Effective Date: 03-13-1997

Effective Date: 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

(A) Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall, by resolution, develop a three-calendar year plan that includes the following three components:

(1) An assessment component that includes all of the following:

(a) The number of individuals with mental retardation or other developmental disability residing in the county who need the level of care provided by an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded, may seek home and community-based services, are given priority for the services pursuant to division (D) of section 5126.042 of the Revised Code; the service needs of those individuals; and the projected annualized cost for services;

(b) The source of funds available to the county board to pay the nonfederal share of medicaid expenditures that the county board is required by sections 5126.059 and 5126.0510 of the Revised Code to pay;

(c) Any other applicable information or conditions that the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities requires as a condition of approving the component under section 5123.046 of the Revised Code.

(2) A preliminary implementation component that specifies the number of individuals to be provided, during the first year that the plan is in effect, home and community-based services pursuant to the priority given to them under divisions (D)(1) and (2) of section 5126.042 of the Revised Code and the types of home and community-based services the individuals are to receive;

(3) A component that provides for the implementation of medicaid case management services and home and community-based services for individuals who begin to receive the services on or after the date the plan is approved under section 5123.046 of the Revised Code. A county board shall include all of the following in the component:

(a) If the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities or department of job and family services requires, an agreement to pay the nonfederal share of medicaid expenditures that the county board is required by sections 5126.059 and 5126.0510 of the Revised Code to pay;

(b) How the services are to be phased in over the period the plan covers, including how the county board will serve individuals on a waiting list established under division (C) of section 5126.042 who are given priority status under division (D)(1) of that section;

(c) Any agreement or commitment regarding the county board’s funding of home and community-based services that the county board has with the department at the time the county board develops the component;

(d) Assurances adequate to the department that the county board will comply with all of the following requirements:

(i) To provide the types of home and community-based services specified in the preliminary implementation component required by division (A)(2) of this section to at least the number of individuals specified in that component;

(ii) To use any additional funds the county board receives for the services to improve the county board’s resource capabilities for supporting such services available in the county at the time the component is developed and to expand the services to accommodate the unmet need for those services in the county;

(iii) To employ a business manager who is either a new employee who has earned at least a bachelor’s degree in business administration or a current employee who has the equivalent experience of a bachelor’s degree in business administration. If the county board will employ a new employee, the county board shall include in the component a timeline for employing the employee.

(iv) To employ or contract with a medicaid services manager who is either a new employee who has earned at least a bachelor’s degree or a current employee who has the equivalent experience of a bachelor’s degree. If the county board will employ a new employee, the county board shall include in the component a timeline for employing the employee. Two or three county boards that have a combined total enrollment in county board services not exceeding one thousand individuals as determined pursuant to certifications made under division (B) of section 5126.12 of the Revised Code may satisfy this requirement by sharing the services of a medicaid services manager or using the services of a medicaid services manager employed by or under contract with a regional council that the county boards establish under section 5126.13 of the Revised Code.

(e) Programmatic and financial accountability measures and projected outcomes expected from the implementation of the plan;

(f) Any other applicable information or conditions that the department requires as a condition of approving the component under section 5123.046 of the Revised Code.

(B) A county board whose plan developed under division (A) of this section is approved by the department under section 5123.046 of the Revised Code shall update and renew the plan in accordance with a schedule the department shall develop.

Effective Date: 12-13-2001; 07-01-2005; 2007 HB119 07-01-2007

(A) Except as provided in section 5126.056 of the Revised Code, a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities has medicaid local administrative authority to, and shall, do all of the following for an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability who resides in the county that the county board serves and seeks or receives home and community-based services:

(1) Perform assessments and evaluations of the individual. As part of the assessment and evaluation process, the county board shall do all of the following:

(a) Make a recommendation to the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities on whether the department should approve or deny the individual’s application for the services, including on the basis of whether the individual needs the level of care an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded provides;

(b) If the individual’s application is denied because of the county board’s recommendation and the individual requests a hearing under section 5101.35 of the Revised Code, present, with the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities or department of job and family services, whichever denies the application, the reasons for the recommendation and denial at the hearing;

(c) If the individual’s application is approved, recommend to the departments of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and job and family services the services that should be included in the individual’s individualized service plan and, if either department approves, reduces, denies, or terminates a service included in the individual’s individualized service plan under section 5111.871 of the Revised Code because of the county board’s recommendation, present, with the department that made the approval, reduction, denial, or termination, the reasons for the recommendation and approval, reduction, denial, or termination at a hearing under section 5101.35 of the Revised Code.

(2) In accordance with the rules adopted under section 5126.046 of the Revised Code, perform the county board’s duties under that section regarding assisting the individual’s right to choose a qualified and willing provider of the services and, at a hearing under section 5101.35 of the Revised Code, present evidence of the process for appropriate assistance in choosing providers;

(3) If the county board is certified under section 5123.161 of the Revised Code to provide the services and agrees to provide the services to the individual and the individual chooses the county board to provide the services, furnish, in accordance with the county board’s medicaid provider agreement and for the authorized reimbursement rate, the services the individual requires;

(4) Monitor the services provided to the individual and ensure the individual’s health, safety, and welfare. The monitoring shall include quality assurance activities. If the county board provides the services, the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall also monitor the services.

(5) Develop, with the individual and the provider of the individual’s services, an effective individualized service plan that includes coordination of services, recommend that the departments of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and job and family services approve the plan, and implement the plan unless either department disapproves it;

(6) Have an investigative agent conduct investigations under section 5126.313 of the Revised Code that concern the individual;

(7) Have a service and support administrator perform the duties under division (B)(9) of section 5126.15 of the Revised Code that concern the individual.

(B) A county board shall perform its medicaid local administrative authority under this section in accordance with all of the following:

(1) The county board’s plan that the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities approves under section 5123.046 of the Revised Code;

(2) All applicable federal and state laws;

(3) All applicable policies of the departments of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and job and family services and the United States department of health and human services;

(4) The department of job and family services’ supervision under its authority under section 5111.01 of the Revised Code to act as the single state medicaid agency;

(5) The department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities’ oversight.

(C) The departments of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and job and family services shall communicate with and provide training to county boards regarding medicaid local administrative authority granted by this section. The communication and training shall include issues regarding audit protocols and other standards established by the United States department of health and human services that the departments determine appropriate for communication and training. County boards shall participate in the training. The departments shall assess the county board’s compliance against uniform standards that the departments shall establish.

(D) A county board may not delegate its medicaid local administrative authority granted under this section but may contract with a person or government entity, including a council of governments, for assistance with its medicaid local administrative authority. A county board that enters into such a contract shall notify the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. The notice shall include the tasks and responsibilities that the contract gives to the person or government entity. The person or government entity shall comply in full with all requirements to which the county board is subject regarding the person or government entity’s tasks and responsibilities under the contract. The county board remains ultimately responsible for the tasks and responsibilities.

(E) A county board that has medicaid local administrative authority under this section shall, through the departments of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and job and family services, reply to, and cooperate in arranging compliance with, a program or fiscal audit or program violation exception that a state or federal audit or review discovers. The department of job and family services shall timely notify the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and the county board of any adverse findings. After receiving the notice, the county board, in conjunction with the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, shall cooperate fully with the department of job and family services and timely prepare and send to the department a written plan of correction or response to the adverse findings. The county board is liable for any adverse findings that result from an action it takes or fails to take in its implementation of medicaid local administrative authority.

(F) If the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities or department of job and family services determines that a county board’s implementation of its medicaid local administrative authority under this section is deficient, the department that makes the determination shall require that county board do the following:

(1) If the deficiency affects the health, safety, or welfare of an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability, correct the deficiency within twenty-four hours;

(2) If the deficiency does not affect the health, safety, or welfare of an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability, receive technical assistance from the department or submit a plan of correction to the department that is acceptable to the department within sixty days and correct the deficiency within the time required by the plan of correction.

Effective Date: 12-13-2001; 07-01-2005; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007; 2008 HB405 09-01-2008

(A) The department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall take action under division (B) of this section against a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities if any of the following are the case:

(1) The county board fails to submit to the department all the components of its three-year plan required by section 5126.054 of the Revised Code.

(2) The department disapproves the county board’s three-year plan under section 5123.046 of the Revised Code.

(3) The county board fails, as required by division (B) of section 5126.054 of the Revised Code, to update and renew its three-year plan in accordance with a schedule the department develops under that section.

(4) The county board fails to implement its initial or renewed three-year plan approved by the department.

(5) The county board fails to correct a deficiency within the time required by division (F) of section 5126.055 of the Revised Code to the satisfaction of the department.

(6) The county board fails to submit an acceptable plan of correction to the department within the time required by division (F)(2) of section 5126.055 of the Revised Code.

(B) If required by division (A) of this section to take action against a county board, the department shall issue an order terminating the county board’s medicaid local administrative authority over all or part of home and community-based services, medicaid case management services, or all or part of both of those services. The department shall provide a copy of the order to the board of county commissioners, senior probate judge, county auditor, and president and superintendent of the county board. The department shall specify in the order the medicaid local administrative authority that the department is terminating, the reason for the termination, and the county board’s option and responsibilities under this division.

A county board whose medicaid local administrative authority is terminated may, not later than thirty days after the department issues the termination order, recommend to the department that another county board that has not had any of its medicaid local administrative authority terminated or another entity the department approves administer the services for which the county board’s medicaid local administrative authority is terminated. The department may contract with the other county board or entity to administer the services. If the department enters into such a contract, the county board shall adopt a resolution giving the other county board or entity full medicaid local administrative authority over the services that the other county board or entity is to administer. The other county board or entity shall be known as the contracting authority.

If the department rejects the county board’s recommendation regarding a contracting authority, the county board may appeal the rejection under section 5123.043 of the Revised Code.

If the county board does not submit a recommendation to the department regarding a contracting authority within the required time or the department rejects the county board’s recommendation and the rejection is upheld pursuant to an appeal, if any, under section 5123.043 of the Revised Code, the department shall appoint an administrative receiver to administer the services for which the county board’s medicaid local administrative authority is terminated. To the extent necessary for the department to appoint an administrative receiver, the department may utilize employees of the department, management personnel from another county board, or other individuals who are not employed by or affiliated with in any manner a person that provides home and community-based services or medicaid case management services pursuant to a contract with any county board. The administrative receiver shall assume full administrative responsibility for the county board’s services for which the county board’s medicaid local administrative authority is terminated.

The contracting authority or administrative receiver shall develop and submit to the department a plan of correction to remediate the problems that caused the department to issue the termination order. If, after reviewing the plan, the department approves it, the contracting authority or administrative receiver shall implement the plan.

The county board shall transfer control of state and federal funds it is otherwise eligible to receive for the services for which the county board’s medicaid local administrative authority is terminated and funds the county board may use under division (A) of section 5126.0511 of the Revised Code to pay the nonfederal share of the services that the county board is required by sections 5126.059 and 5126.0510 of the Revised Code to pay. The county board shall transfer control of the funds to the contracting authority or administrative receiver administering the services. The amount the county board shall transfer shall be the amount necessary for the contracting authority or administrative receiver to fulfill its duties in administering the services, including its duties to pay its personnel for time worked, travel, and related matters. If the county board fails to make the transfer, the department may withhold the state and federal funds from the county board and bring a mandamus action against the county board in the court of common pleas of the county served by the county board or in the Franklin county court of common pleas. The mandamus action may not require that the county board transfer any funds other than the funds the county board is required by division (B) of this section to transfer.

The contracting authority or administrative receiver has the right to authorize the payment of bills in the same manner that the county board may authorize payment of bills under this chapter and section 319.16 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 12-13-2001; 2005 SB10 09-05-2005; 2005 HB66 07-01-2005; 2007 HB119 07-01-2007

Effective Date: 2007 HB119 07-01-2007

(A) Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall prepare a memorandum of understanding that is developed by all of the following and that is signed by the persons identified in divisions (A)(2) to (7) of this section:

(1) The senior probate judge of the county or the senior probate judge’s representative;

(2) The county peace officer;

(3) All chief municipal peace officers within the county;

(4) Other law enforcement officers handling abuse, neglect, and exploitation of mentally retarded and developmentally disabled persons in the county;

(5) The prosecuting attorney of the county;

(6) The public children services agency;

(7) The coroner of the county.

(B) A memorandum of understanding shall set forth the normal operating procedure to be employed by all concerned officials in the execution of their respective responsibilities under this section and sections 313.12, 2151.421, 2903.16, 5126.31, and 5126.33 of the Revised Code and shall have as its primary goal the elimination of all unnecessary interviews of persons who are the subject of reports made pursuant to this section. A failure to follow the procedure set forth in the memorandum by the concerned officials is not grounds for, and shall not result in, the dismissal of any charge or complaint arising from any reported case of abuse, neglect, or exploitation or the suppression of any evidence obtained as a result of any reported abuse, neglect, or exploitation and does not give any rights or grounds for appeal or post-conviction relief to any person.

(C) A memorandum of understanding shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(1) The roles and responsibilities for handling emergency and nonemergency cases of abuse, neglect, or exploitation;

(2) The roles and responsibilities for handling and coordinating investigations of reported cases of abuse, neglect, or exploitation and methods to be used in interviewing the person who is the subject of the report and who allegedly was abused, neglected, or exploited;

(3) The roles and responsibilities for addressing the categories of persons who may interview the person who is the subject of the report and who allegedly was abused, neglected, or exploited;

(4) The roles and responsibilities for providing victim services to mentally retarded and developmentally disabled persons pursuant to Chapter 2930. of the Revised Code;

(5) The roles and responsibilities for the filing of criminal charges against persons alleged to have abused, neglected, or exploited mentally retarded or developmentally disabled persons.

(D) A memorandum of understanding may be signed by victim advocates, municipal court judges, municipal prosecutors, and any other person whose participation furthers the goals of a memorandum of understanding, as set forth in this section.

Effective Date: 01-30-2004; 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

A county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall pay the nonfederal share of medicaid expenditures for medicaid case management services the county board provides to an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability who the county board determines under section 5126.041 of the Revised Code is eligible for county board services.

Effective Date: 2007 HB119 07-01-2007

(A) Except as otherwise provided in an agreement entered into under section 5123.048 of the Revised Code and subject to divisions (B), (C), and (D) of this section, a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall pay the nonfederal share of medicaid expenditures for the following home and community-based services provided to an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability who the county board determines under section 5126.041 of the Revised Code is eligible for county board services:

(1) Home and community-based services provided by the county board to such an individual;

(2) Home and community-based services provided by a provider other than the county board to such an individual who is enrolled as of June 30, 2007, in the medicaid waiver component under which the services are provided;

(3) Home and community-based services provided by a provider other than the county board to such an individual who, pursuant to a request the county board makes, enrolls in the medicaid waiver component under which the services are provided after June 30, 2007;

(4) Home and community-based services provided by a provider other than the county board to such an individual for whom there is in effect an agreement entered into under division (E) of this section between the county board and director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

(B) In the case of medicaid expenditures for home and community-based services for which division (A)(2) of this section requires a county board to pay the nonfederal share, the following shall apply to such services provided during fiscal year 2008 under the individual options medicaid waiver component:

(1) The county board shall pay no less than the total amount the county board paid as the nonfederal share for home and community-based services provided in fiscal year 2007 under the individual options medicaid waiver component;

(2) The county board shall pay no more than the sum of the following:

(a) The total amount the county board paid as the nonfederal share for home and community-based services provided in fiscal year 2007 under the individual options medicaid waiver component;

(b) An amount equal to one per cent of the total amount the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and county board paid as the nonfederal share for home and community-based services provided in fiscal year 2007 under the individual options medicaid waiver component to individuals the county board determined under section 5126.041 of the Revised Code are eligible for county board services.

(C) A county board is not required to pay the nonfederal share of home and community-based services provided after June 30, 2008, that the county board is otherwise required by division (A)(2) of this section to pay if the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities fails to comply with division (A) of section 5123.0416 of the Revised Code.

(D) A county board is not required to pay the nonfederal share of home and community-based services that the county board is otherwise required by division (A)(3) of this section to pay if both of the following apply:

(1) The services are provided to an individual who enrolls in the medicaid waiver component under which the services are provided as the result of an order issued following a state hearing, administrative appeal, or appeal to a court of common pleas made under section 5101.35 of the Revised Code;

(2) There are more individuals who are eligible for services from the county board enrolled in the medicaid waiver component than is required by section 5126.0512 of the Revised Code.

(E) A county board may enter into an agreement with the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities under which the county board agrees to pay the nonfederal share of medicaid expenditures for one or more home and community-based services that the county board is not otherwise required by division (A)(1), (2), or (3) of this section to pay and that are provided to an individual the county board determines under section 5126.041 of the Revised Code is eligible for county board services. The agreement shall specify which home and community-based services the agreement covers. The county board shall pay the nonfederal share of medicaid expenditures for the home and community-based services that the agreement covers as long as the agreement is in effect.

Effective Date: 2007 HB119 07-01-2007

(A) A county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may use the following funds to pay the nonfederal share of the medicaid expenditures that the county board is required by sections 5126.059 and 5126.0510 of the Revised Code to pay:

(1) To the extent consistent with the levy that generated the taxes, the following taxes:

(a) Taxes levied pursuant to division (L) of section 5705.19 of the Revised Code and section 5705.222 of the Revised Code;

(b) Taxes levied under section 5705.191 of the Revised Code that the board of county commissioners allocates to the county board.

(2) Funds that the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities distributes to the county board under sections 5126.11 and 5126.18 of the Revised Code;

(3) Earned federal revenue funds the county board receives for medicaid services the county board provides pursuant to the county board’s valid medicaid provider agreement;

(4) Funds that the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities distributes to the county board as subsidy payments;

(5) In the case of medicaid expenditures for home and community-based services, funds allocated to or otherwise made available for the county board under section 5123.0416 of the Revised Code to pay the nonfederal share of such medicaid expenditures.

Each year, each county board shall adopt a resolution specifying the amount of funds it will use in the next year to pay the nonfederal share of the medicaid expenditures that the county board is required by sections 5126.059 and 5126.0510 of the Revised Code to pay. The amount specified shall be adequate to assure that the services for which the medicaid expenditures are made will be available in the county in a manner that conforms to all applicable state and federal laws. A county board shall state in its resolution that the payment of the nonfederal share represents an ongoing financial commitment of the county board. A county board shall adopt the resolution in time for the county auditor to make the determination required by division (C) of this section.

(C) Each year, a county auditor shall determine whether the amount of funds a county board specifies in the resolution it adopts under division (B) of this section will be available in the following year for the county board to pay the nonfederal share of the medicaid expenditures that the county board is required by sections 5126.059 and 5126.0510 of the Revised Code to pay. The county auditor shall make the determination not later than the last day of the year before the year in which the funds are to be used.

Effective Date: 2007 HB119 07-01-2007

(A) As used in this section, “medicaid waiver component” means a medicaid waiver component as defined in section 5111.85 of the Revised Code under which home and community-based services are provided.

(B) Effective July 1, 2007, each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall ensure, for each medicaid waiver component, that the number of individuals eligible under section 5126.041 of the Revised Code for services from the county board who are enrolled in a medicaid waiver component is no less than the sum of the following:

(1) The number of individuals eligible for services from the county board who are enrolled in the medicaid waiver component on June 30, 2007;

(2) The number of medicaid waiver component slots the county board requested before July 1, 2007, that were assigned to the county board before that date but in which no individual was enrolled before that date.

(C) An individual enrolled in a medicaid waiver component after March 1, 2007, due to an emergency reserve capacity waiver assignment shall not be counted in determining the number of individuals a county board must ensure under division (B) of this section are enrolled in a medicaid waiver component.

(D) An individual who is enrolled in a medicaid waiver component to comply with the terms of the consent order filed March 5, 2007, in Martin v. Strickland, Case No. 89-CV-00362, in the United States district court for the southern district of Ohio, eastern division, shall be excluded in determining whether a county board has complied with division (B) of this section.

(E) A county board shall make as many requests for individuals to be enrolled in a medicaid waiver component as necessary for the county board to comply with division (B) of this section.

Effective Date: 2007 HB119 07-01-2007

(A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, any person who has a complaint involving any of the programs, services, policies, or administrative practices of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities or any of the entities under contract with the county board, may file a complaint with the board. Prior to commencing a civil action regarding the complaint, a person shall attempt to have the complaint resolved through the administrative resolution process established in the rules adopted under section 5123.043 of the Revised Code. After exhausting the administrative resolution process, the person may commence a civil action if the complaint is not settled to the person’s satisfaction.

(B) An employee of a county board may not file under this section a complaint related to the terms and conditions of employment of the employee.

Effective Date: 12-13-2001; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007

Effective Date: 03-13-1997

No county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities or any agency, corporation, or association under contract with a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall discriminate in the provision of services under its authority or contract on the basis of race, color, sex, creed, disability, national origin, or the inability to pay.

Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall provide a plan of affirmative action describing its goals and methods for the provision of equal employment opportunities for all persons under its authority and shall ensure nondiscrimination in employment under its authority or contract on the basis of race, color, sex, creed, disability, or national origin.

Effective Date: 10-31-1980

(A) As used in this section, “minority business enterprise” has the meaning given in division (E)(1) of section 122.71 of the Revised Code.

(B) Any minority business enterprise that desires to bid on a contract under division (C) or (D) of this section shall first apply to the equal employment opportunity coordinator in the department of administrative services for certification as a minority business enterprise. The coordinator shall approve the application of any minority business enterprise that complies with the rules adopted under section 122.71 of the Revised Code. The coordinator shall prepare and maintain a list of minority business enterprises certified under this section.

(C) From the contracts to be awarded for the purchases of equipment, materials, supplies, insurance, and nonprogram services, other than contracts entered into and exempt under sections 307.86 and 5126.05 of the Revised Code, each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall select a number of contracts with an aggregate value of approximately fifteen per cent of the total estimated value of such contracts to be awarded in the current calendar year. The board shall set aside the contracts so selected for bidding by minority business enterprises only. The bidding procedures for such contracts shall be the same as for all other contracts awarded under section 307.86 of the Revised Code, except that only minority business enterprises certified and listed under division (B) of this section shall be qualified to submit bids. Contracts set aside and awarded under this section shall not include contracts for the purchase of services such as direct and ancillary services, service and support administration, residential services, and family support services.

(D) To the extent that a board is authorized to enter into contracts for construction which are not exempt from the competitive bidding requirements of section 307.86 of the Revised Code, the board shall set aside a number of contracts the aggregate value of which equals approximately five per cent of the aggregate value of construction contracts for the current calendar year for bidding by minority business enterprises only. The bidding procedures for the contracts set aside for minority business enterprises shall be the same as for all other contracts awarded by the board, except that only minority business enterprises certified and listed under division (B) of this section shall be qualified to submit bids.

Any contractor awarded a construction contract pursuant to this section shall make every effort to ensure that certified minority business subcontractors and materials suppliers participate in the contract. In the case of contracts specified in this division, the total value of subcontracts awarded to and materials and services purchased from minority businesses shall be at least ten per cent of the total value of the contract, wherever possible and whenever the contractor awards subcontracts or purchases materials or services.

(E) In the case of contracts set aside under divisions (C) and (D) of this section, if no bid is submitted by a minority business enterprise, the contract shall be awarded according to normal bidding procedures. The board shall from time to time set aside such additional contracts as are necessary to replace those contracts previously set aside on which no minority business enterprise bid.

(F) This section does not preclude any minority business enterprise from bidding on any other contract not specifically set aside for minority business enterprises.

(G) Within ninety days after the beginning of each calendar year, each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall file a report with the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities that shows for that calendar year the name of each minority business enterprise with which the board entered into a contract, the value and type of each such contract, the total value of contracts awarded under divisions (C) and (D) of this section, the total value of contracts awarded for the purchases of equipment, materials, supplies, or services, other than contracts entered into under the exemptions of sections 307.86 and 5126.05 of the Revised Code, and the total value of contracts entered into for construction.

(H) Any person who intentionally misrepresents that person as owning, controlling, operating, or participating in a minority business enterprise for the purpose of obtaining contracts or any other benefits under this section shall be guilty of theft by deception as provided for in section 2913.02 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-06-2001

(A) The director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code for all programs and services offered by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. Such rules shall include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) Determination of what constitutes a program or service;

(2) Standards to be followed by a board in administering, providing, arranging, or operating programs and services;

(3) Standards for determining the nature and degree of mental retardation, including mild mental retardation, or developmental disability;

(4) Standards for determining eligibility for programs and services under sections 5126.042 and 5126.15 of the Revised Code;

(5) Procedures for obtaining consent for the arrangement of services under section 5126.31 of the Revised Code and for obtaining signatures on individual service plans under that section;

(6) Specification of the service and support administration to be provided by a county board and standards for resolving grievances in connection with service and support administration;

(7) Standards for the provision of environmental modifications, including standards that require adherence to all applicable state and local building codes;

(8) Standards for the provision of specialized medical, adaptive, and assistive equipment, supplies, and supports.

(B) The director shall be the final authority in determining the nature and degree of mental retardation or developmental disability.

Effective Date: 06-06-2001

(A) In addition to the rules adopted under division (A)(2) of section 5126.08 of the Revised Code establishing standards for the administration, provision, arrangement, and operation of programs and services by county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall establish a system of accreditation for county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to ensure that the boards are in compliance with federal and state statutes and rules. The department shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code governing the system of accreditation. The rules shall include appropriate timelines for compliance when a board is found to be not in compliance and appropriate actions to be taken by boards in complying with the accreditation requirements.

(B) Prior to accrediting a board, the department shall conduct a comprehensive, on-site review of the board. During the review, the department shall document the board’s compliance with the department’s accreditation requirements. After completing the review, the department shall conduct an exit conference with the president of the board, the superintendent of the board, and any other officials the board asks to have present. The department shall discuss its findings from the review with the board’s representatives and provide a written report of its findings not later than thirty days following the exit conference. If the department finds that the board is in compliance with the requirements for accreditation, the department shall issue evidence of accreditation to the board.

Accreditation may be granted for periods of up to five years and may be renewed. Not less than once prior to the date a board’s accreditation is scheduled to expire, the department shall conduct a comprehensive, on-site review of the board.

Each board shall conduct an annual audit of itself to evaluate its compliance with the requirements for accreditation. The department may conduct an interim review of any new program or service initiated by a board after its last comprehensive review. The department may conduct other reviews and investigations as necessary to enforce this section.

(C) If the department determines through its review of a board that the board is not in compliance with the requirements for accreditation, the department shall, except as provided in division (F) of this section, grant the board an opportunity to correct the matters in which it is not in compliance. The department shall grant the board an appropriate length of time to comply with the requirements prior to taking any action to deny accreditation to the board. To avoid denial of accreditation, the board superintendent shall prepare a plan of correction to remediate the matters specified in the department’s written report as not being in compliance with the requirements for accreditation. The superintendent shall submit the plan to the board for review, and the board shall review the plan. If the board believes that the plan is sufficient to correct the matters, the board shall approve the plan by resolution and submit the plan to the department for its review. The department shall review the plan of correction. If the department approves the plan, the board shall commence action to implement the plan. The department shall, as necessary, conduct follow-up reviews of the board to determine whether it has met the requirements for accreditation. If the plan of correction submitted by a board is disapproved, the department shall inform the board of the reasons for disapproval and may grant the board an opportunity to submit a revised plan of correction.

A board may request technical assistance from the department, other boards, or professional organizations in preparing plans of correction and in implementing plans of correction.

(D) If, after being given the opportunity to implement a plan of correction, a board continues to fail to meet the requirements for accreditation, the department shall issue an order denying accreditation to the board. The department may deny accreditation to the board for all or part of the programs or services offered by the board.

The department shall simultaneously notify all of the following officials in the county: the members of the board of county commissioners, the senior probate judge, the county auditor, and the president and superintendent of the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. The notice shall identify the programs and services that have been denied accreditation, the requirements for accreditation with which the board is not in compliance, and the responsibilities of the county officials to contract under division (E)(1) of this section to have the board’s programs and services administered by another party or become subject to administrative receivership under division (E)(2) of this section.

(E)(1) When a board is denied accreditation, the department shall first give the board the option of contracting to have the board’s programs and services that were denied accreditation administered by an accredited county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities or another qualified entity subject to the approval of the department. The board may contract with more than one board that has been accredited. When a board enters into a contract, the board shall, by resolution, give the contractor full administrative authority over the programs and services that the contractor will administer.

(2) If a board fails to exercise its option of entering into a contract under division (E)(1) of this section sooner than thirty days after the department denies accreditation, the department shall appoint an administrative receiver of the board’s programs and services that were denied accreditation. The department may appoint employees of the department, management personnel from county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, or individuals from other entities as necessary to meet its needs for appointing an administrative receiver, except that individuals from other entities may be appointed only when qualified department employees or board management personnel are unavailable. The department may not appoint an individual who is employed by or affiliated with an entity that is under contract with the board. The administrative receiver shall assume full administrative responsibility for the board’s programs and services that were denied accreditation.

(3) The board or entity that contracts with a board under division (E)(1) of this section, or the administrative receiver appointed under division (E)(2) of this section, shall develop and implement a plan of correction to remediate the matters that caused the department to deny accreditation. The contractor or administrative receiver shall submit the plan to the department, and the department shall review the plan. If the plan is approved by the department, the contractor or administrative receiver shall commence action to implement the plan. The contractor or administrative receiver shall report to the department any findings it can make pertaining to issues or circumstances that are beyond the control of the board and result in the unlikelihood that compliance with the requirements for accreditation can be achieved unless the issues or circumstances are remediated.

(4) For purposes of divisions (E)(1) and (2) of this section, the department shall require the board that has been denied accreditation to transfer control of state and federal funds it is eligible to receive for the board’s programs and services that have been denied accreditation in an amount necessary for the contractor or administrative receiver to fulfill its duties in administering the programs and services for the board. The transfer of control of funds does not cause any programs and services of the board that are accredited to lose their accreditation. If the board refuses to transfer control of funds, the department may withhold state and federal funds from the board in an amount necessary for the contractor or administrative receiver to fulfill its duties. The amount transferred or withheld from a board shall include reimbursements for the personnel of the contractor or administrative receiver, including amounts for time worked, travel, and related expenses.

A contractor or administrative receiver that has assumed the administration of a board’s programs and services has the right to authorize the payment of bills in the same manner that a board may authorize payment of bills under this chapter and section 319.16 of the Revised Code.

(F) When the department’s review of a board reveals serious health and safety issues within the programs and services offered by the board, the department shall order the board to correct the violations immediately or appoint an administrative receiver.

(G) At any time a board can demonstrate that it is capable of assuming its duties in compliance with the department’s requirements for accreditation, the department shall reverse its order denying accreditation and issue evidence of accreditation to the board.

A board may appeal the department’s denial of accreditation or refusal to reverse a denial of accreditation only by filing a complaint under section 5123.043 of the Revised Code. If in its appeal the board can demonstrate that it is capable of assuming its duties in compliance with the department’s requirements for accreditation, the department shall reverse its order denying accreditation and shall issue evidence of accreditation to the board.

(H) All notices issued to a board by the department under this section shall be delivered to the board’s president and superintendent.

(I) A board’s president may designate another member of the board as the individual to be responsible for fulfilling all or part of the president’s responsibilities established under this section.

Effective Date: 09-22-2000; 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

(A) In addition to the rules adopted under division (A)(2) of section 5126.08 of the Revised Code establishing standards to be followed by county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities in administering, providing, arranging, and operating programs and services and in addition to the board accreditation system established under section 5126.081 of the Revised Code, the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing standards for promoting and advancing the quality of life of individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities receiving any of the following:

(1) Early childhood services pursuant to section 5126.05 of the Revised Code for children under age three;

(2) Adult services pursuant to section 5126.05 and division (B) of section 5126.051 of the Revised Code for individuals age sixteen or older;

(3) Family support services pursuant to section 5126.11 of the Revised Code.

(B) The rules adopted under this section shall specify the actions county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and the agencies with which they contract should take to do the following:

(1) Offer individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities, and their families when appropriate, choices in programs and services that are centered on the needs and desires of those individuals;

(2) Maintain infants with their families whenever possible by collaborating with other agencies that provide services to infants and their families and taking other appropriate actions;

(3) Provide families that have children with mental retardation and developmental disabilities under age eighteen residing in their homes the resources necessary to allow the children to remain in their homes;

(4) Create and implement community employment services based on the needs and desires of adults with mental retardation and developmental disabilities;

(5) Create, in collaboration with other agencies, transportation systems that provide safe and accessible transportation within the county to individuals with disabilities;

(6) Provide services that allow individuals with disabilities to be integrated into the community by engaging in educational, vocational, and recreational activities with individuals who do not have disabilities;

(7) Provide age-appropriate retirement services for individuals age sixty-five and older with mental retardation and developmental disabilities;

(8) Establish residential services and supported living for individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities in accordance with their needs.

(C) To assist in funding programs and services that meet the standards established under this section, each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall make a good faith effort to acquire available federal funds, including reimbursements under Title XIX of the “Social Security Act,” 79 Stat. 286 (1965), 42 U.S.C.A. 1396, as amended.

(D) Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall work toward full compliance with the standards established under this section, based on its available resources. Funds received under this chapter shall be used to comply with the standards. Annually, each board shall conduct a self audit to evaluate the board’s progress in complying fully with the standards.

(E) The department shall complete a program quality review of each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to determine the extent to which the board has complied with the standards. The review shall be conducted in conjunction with the comprehensive accreditation review of the board that is conducted under section 5126.081 of the Revised Code.

Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter or Chapter 5123. of the Revised Code requiring the department to distribute funds to county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, the department may withhold funds from a board if it finds that the board is not in substantial compliance with the standards established under this section.

(F) When the standards for accreditation from the commission on accreditation of rehabilitation facilities, or another accrediting agency, meet or exceed the standards established under this section, the director may accept accreditation from the commission or other agency as evidence that the board is in compliance with all or part of the standards established under this section. Programs and services accredited by the commission or agency are exempt from the program quality reviews required by division (E) of this section.

Effective Date: 09-22-2000

Effective Date: 05-04-1992

A county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may procure a policy or policies of insurance insuring board members or employees of the board or agencies with which the board contracts or volunteer bus rider assistants authorized by section 5126.061 of the Revised Code against liability arising from the performance of their official duties.

Effective Date: 03-28-1985

The director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing standard cost allocation procedures and shall require county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to use such procedures to allocate all indirect costs to services provided pursuant to Chapters 3323. and 5126. of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 07-01-1985

(A) As used in this section, “respite care” means appropriate, short-term, temporary care that is provided to a mentally retarded or developmentally disabled person to sustain the family structure or to meet planned or emergency needs of the family.

(B) Subject to rules adopted by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, and subject to the availability of money from state and federal sources, the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall establish a family support services program. Under such a program, the board shall make payments to an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability or the family of an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability who desires to remain in and be supported in the family home. Payments shall be made for all or part of costs incurred or estimated to be incurred for services that would promote self-sufficiency and normalization, prevent or reduce inappropriate institutional care, and further the unity of the family by enabling the family to meet the special needs of the individual and to live as much like other families as possible. Payments may be made in the form of reimbursement for expenditures or in the form of vouchers to be used to purchase services.

(C) Payment shall not be made under this section to an individual or the individual’s family if the individual is living in a residential facility that is providing residential services under contract with the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities or a county board.

(D) Payments may be made for the following services:

(1) Respite care, in or out of the home;

(2) Counseling, supervision, training, and education of the individual, the individual’s caregivers, and members of the individual’s family that aid the family in providing proper care for the individual, provide for the special needs of the family, and assist in all aspects of the individual’s daily living;

(3) Special diets, purchase or lease of special equipment, or modifications of the home, if such diets, equipment, or modifications are necessary to improve or facilitate the care and living environment of the individual;

(4) Providing support necessary for the individual’s continued skill development, including such services as development of interventions to cope with unique problems that may occur within the complexity of the family, enrollment of the individual in special summer programs, provision of appropriate leisure activities, and other social skills development activities;

(5) Any other services that are consistent with the purposes specified in division (B) of this section and specified in the individual’s service plan.

(E) In order to be eligible for payments under a family support services program, the individual or the individual’s family must reside in the county served by the county board, and the individual must be in need of habilitation. Payments shall be adjusted for income in accordance with the payment schedule established in rules adopted under this section. Payments shall be made only after the county board has taken into account all other available assistance for which the individual or family is eligible.

(F) Before incurring expenses for a service for which payment will be sought under a family support services program, the individual or family shall apply to the county board for a determination of eligibility and approval of the service. The service need not be provided in the county served by the county board. After being determined eligible and receiving approval for the service, the individual or family may incur expenses for the service or use the vouchers received from the county board for the purchase of the service.

If the county board refuses to approve a service, an appeal may be made in accordance with rules adopted by the department under this section.

(G) To be reimbursed for expenses incurred for approved services, the individual or family shall submit to the county board a statement of the expenses incurred accompanied by any evidence required by the board. To redeem vouchers used to purchase approved services, the entity that provided the service shall submit to the county board evidence that the service was provided and a statement of the charges. The county board shall make reimbursements and redeem vouchers no later than forty-five days after it receives the statements and evidence required by this division.

(H) A county board shall consider the following objectives in carrying out a family support services program:

(1) Enabling individuals to return to their families from an institution under the jurisdiction of the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities;

(2) Enabling individuals found to be subject to institutionalization by court order under section 5123.76 of the Revised Code to remain with their families with the aid of payments provided under this section;

(3) Providing services to eligible children and adults currently residing in the community;

(4) Providing services to individuals with developmental disabilities who are not receiving other services from the board.

(I) The director shall adopt, and may amend and rescind, rules for the implementation of family support services programs by county boards. Such rules shall include the following:

(1) A payment schedule adjusted for income;

(2) A formula for distributing to county boards the money appropriated for family support services;

(3) Standards for supervision, training, and quality control in the provision of respite care services;

(4) Eligibility standards and procedures for providing temporary emergency respite care;

(5) Procedures for hearing and deciding appeals made under division (F) of this section;

(6) Requirements to be followed by county boards regarding reports submitted under division (K) of this section.

Rules adopted under divisions (I)(1) and (2) of this section shall be adopted in accordance with section 111.15 of the Revised Code. Rules adopted under divisions (I)(3) to (6) of this section shall be adopted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

(J) All individuals certified by the superintendent of the county board as eligible for temporary emergency respite care in accordance with rules adopted under this section shall be considered eligible for temporary emergency respite care for not more than five days to permit the determination of eligibility for family support services. The requirements of divisions (E) and (F) of this section do not apply to temporary emergency respite care.

(K) The department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall distribute to county boards money appropriated for family support services in quarterly installments of equal amounts. The installments shall be made not later than the thirtieth day of September, the thirty-first day of December, the thirty-first day of March, and the thirtieth day of June. A county board shall use no more than seven per cent of the funds for administrative costs. Each county board shall submit reports to the department on payments made under this section. The reports shall be submitted at those times and in the manner specified in rules adopted under this section.

(L) The county board shall not be required to make payments for family support services at a level that exceeds available state and federal funds for such payments.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Approved school age class” means a class operated by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and funded by the department of education under section 3317.20 of the Revised Code.

(2) “Approved preschool unit” means a class or unit operated by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and approved under division (B) of section 3317.05 of the Revised Code.

(3) “Active treatment” means a continuous treatment program, which includes aggressive, consistent implementation of a program of specialized and generic training, treatment, health services, and related services, that is directed toward the acquisition of behaviors necessary for an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability to function with as much self-determination and independence as possible and toward the prevention of deceleration, regression, or loss of current optimal functional status.

(4) “Eligible for active treatment” means that an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability resides in an intermediate care facility for the mentally retarded certified under Title XIX of the “Social Security Act,” 79 Stat. 286 (1965), 42 U.S.C. 1396, as amended; resides in a state institution operated by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities; or is enrolled in home and community-based services.

(5) “Traditional adult services” means vocational and nonvocational activities conducted within a sheltered workshop or adult activity center or supportive home services.

(B) Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall certify to the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities all of the following:

(1) On or before the fifteenth day of October, the average daily membership for the first full week of programs and services during October receiving:

(a) Early childhood services provided pursuant to section 5126.05 of the Revised Code for children who are less than three years of age on the thirtieth day of September of the academic year;

(b) Special education for children with disabilities in approved school age classes;

(c) Adult services for persons sixteen years of age and older operated pursuant to section 5126.05 and division (B) of section 5126.051 of the Revised Code. Separate counts shall be made for the following:

(i) Persons enrolled in traditional adult services who are eligible for but not enrolled in active treatment;

(ii) Persons enrolled in traditional adult services who are eligible for and enrolled in active treatment;

(iii) Persons enrolled in traditional adult services but who are not eligible for active treatment;

(iv) Persons participating in community employment services. To be counted as participating in community employment services, a person must have spent an average of no less than ten hours per week in that employment during the preceding six months.

(d) Other programs in the county for individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities that have been approved for payment of subsidy by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

The membership in each such program and service in the county shall be reported on forms prescribed by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

The department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt rules defining full-time equivalent enrollees and for determining the average daily membership therefrom, except that certification of average daily membership in approved school age classes shall be in accordance with rules adopted by the state board of education. The average daily membership figure shall be determined by dividing the amount representing the sum of the number of enrollees in each program or service in the week for which the certification is made by the number of days the program or service was offered in that week. No enrollee may be counted in average daily membership for more than one program or service.

(2) By the fifteenth day of December, the number of children enrolled in approved preschool units on the first day of December;

(3) On or before the thirtieth day of April, an itemized report of all income and operating expenditures for the immediately preceding calendar year, in the format specified by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities;

(4) That each required certification and report is in accordance with rules established by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and the state board of education for the operation and subsidization of the programs and services.

Effective Date: 06-26-2003; 07-01-2005; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may be eligible to receive a subsidy from the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities for the employment of a business manager as provided in this section. The department shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code specifying standards for the employment of such a business manager. The rules shall include the minimum education and experience requirements for the position of business manager and shall specify requirements for courses in fiscal and business management that are annually sponsored or certified by the department and that are applicable to the position and designed to teach effective business practices. Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities that employs a business manager in accordance with the standards adopted under this section may receive a subsidy from the department.

The department shall distribute this subsidy to eligible county boards in quarterly installments of equal amounts. The installments shall be made not later than the thirtieth day of September, the thirty-first day of December, the thirty-first day of March, and the thirtieth day of June.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003

(A) A county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may enter into an agreement with one or more other county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to establish a regional council in accordance with Chapter 167. of the Revised Code. The agreement shall specify the duties and functions to be performed by the council, which may include any duty or function a county board is required or authorized to perform under this chapter. If directed to do so by a resolution adopted by a county board that is a member of a regional council, the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall make any distributions of money for that county for the duties or functions performed by the council pursuant to its agreement that are otherwise required to be made to the county board under this chapter to the fiscal officer of the council designated under section 167.04 of the Revised Code.

A county board may also enter into an agreement with one or more school districts or other political subdivisions to establish a regional council in accordance with Chapter 167. of the Revised Code.

(B) On or before the thirtieth day of March, the fiscal officer of a regional council described in this section shall report to the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, in the format specified by the department, all income and operating expenditures of the council for the immediately preceding calendar year.

Effective Date: 09-22-2000

The entity responsible for the habilitation management included in adult day habilitation services, the program management included in residential services, and the program management included in supported living shall provide administrative oversight by doing all of the following:

(A) Having available supervisory personnel to monitor and ensure implementation of all interventions in accordance with every individual service plan implemented by the staff who work with the individuals receiving the services;

(B) Providing appropriate training and technical assistance for all staff who work with the individuals receiving services;

(C) Communicating with service and support administration staff for the purpose of coordinating activities to ensure that services are provided to individuals in accordance with individual service plans and intended outcomes;

(D) Monitoring for unusual and major unusual incidents and cases of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or misappropriation of funds involving the individual under the care of staff who are providing the services; taking immediate actions as necessary to maintain the health, safety, and welfare of the individuals receiving the services; and providing notice of unusual and major unusual incidents and suspected cases of abuse, neglect, exploitation, or misappropriation of funds to the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities;

(E) Performing other administrative duties as required by state or federal law or by the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities through contracts with providers.

Effective Date: 12-13-2001

(A) A county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall provide service and support administration to each individual three years of age or older who is eligible for service and support administration if the individual requests, or a person on the individual’s behalf requests, service and support administration. A board shall provide service and support administration to each individual receiving home and community-based services. A board may provide, in accordance with the service coordination requirements of 34 C.F.R. 303.23, service and support administration to an individual under three years of age eligible for early intervention services under 34 C.F.R. part 303. A board may provide service and support administration to an individual who is not eligible for other services of the board. Service and support administration shall be provided in accordance with rules adopted under section 5126.08 of the Revised Code.

A board may provide service and support administration by directly employing service and support administrators or by contracting with entities for the performance of service and support administration. Individuals employed or under contract as service and support administrators shall not be in the same collective bargaining unit as employees who perform duties that are not administrative.

Individuals employed by a board as service and support administrators shall not be assigned responsibilities for implementing other services for individuals and shall not be employed by or serve in a decision-making or policy-making capacity for any other entity that provides programs or services to individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities. An individual employed as a conditional status service and support administrator shall perform the duties of service and support administration only under the supervision of a management employee who is a service and support administration supervisor.

(B) The individuals employed by or under contract with a board to provide service and support administration shall do all of the following:

(1) Establish an individual’s eligibility for the services of the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities;

(2) Assess individual needs for services;

(3) Develop individual service plans with the active participation of the individual to be served, other persons selected by the individual, and, when applicable, the provider selected by the individual, and recommend the plans for approval by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities when services included in the plans are funded through medicaid;

(4) Establish budgets for services based on the individual’s assessed needs and preferred ways of meeting those needs;

(5) Assist individuals in making selections from among the providers they have chosen;

(6) Ensure that services are effectively coordinated and provided by appropriate providers;

(7) Establish and implement an ongoing system of monitoring the implementation of individual service plans to achieve consistent implementation and the desired outcomes for the individual;

(8) Perform quality assurance reviews as a distinct function of service and support administration;

(9) Incorporate the results of quality assurance reviews and identified trends and patterns of unusual incidents and major unusual incidents into amendments of an individual’s service plan for the purpose of improving and enhancing the quality and appropriateness of services rendered to the individual;

(10) Ensure that each individual receiving services has a designated person who is responsible on a continuing basis for providing the individual with representation, advocacy, advice, and assistance related to the day-to-day coordination of services in accordance with the individual’s service plan. The service and support administrator shall give the individual receiving services an opportunity to designate the person to provide daily representation. If the individual declines to make a designation, the administrator shall make the designation. In either case, the individual receiving services may change at any time the person designated to provide daily representation.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003; 04-14-2006; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

Effective Date: 06-05-2002

Effective Date: 06-05-2002

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “County board” means a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

(2) Notwithstanding section 5126.01 of the Revised Code, “adult services” means the following services, as they are identified on individual information forms submitted by county boards to the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, provided to an individual with mental retardation or other developmental disability who is at least twenty-two years of age:

(a) Assessment;

(b) Home service;

(c) Adult program;

(d) Community employment services;

(e) Retirement.

(3) “Adult services enrollment” means a county board’s average daily membership in adult services, exclusive of such services provided to individuals served solely through service and support administration provided pursuant to section 5126.15 of the Revised Code or family support services provided pursuant to section 5126.11 of the Revised Code.

(4) “Taxable value” means the taxable value of a county board certified under division (B)(1) of this section.

(5) “Per-mill yield” of a county board means the quotient obtained by dividing (a) the taxable value of the county board by (b) one thousand.

(6) “Local adult services cost” means a county board’s expenditures for adult services, excluding all federal and state reimbursements and subsidy allocations received by such boards and expended for such services, as certified under section 5126.12 of the Revised Code.

(7) “Statewide average millage” means one thousand multiplied by the quotient obtained by dividing (a) the total of the local adult services costs of all county boards by (b) the total of the taxable values of all county boards.

(8) “County yield” of a county board means the product obtained by multiplying (a) the statewide average millage by (b) the per-mill yield of the county board.

(9) “County yield per enrollee” of a county board means the quotient obtained by dividing (a) the county yield of the county board by (b) the adult enrollment of the county board.

(10) “Statewide yield per enrollee” means the quotient obtained by dividing (a) the sum of the county yields of all county boards by (b) the sum of the adult enrollments of all county boards.

(11) “Local tax effort for adult services” of a county board means one thousand multiplied by the quotient obtained by dividing (a) the local adult services cost of the county board by (b) the taxable value of the county board.

(12) “Funding percentage” for a fiscal year means the percentage that the amount appropriated to the department for the purpose of making payments under this section in the fiscal year is of the amount computed under division (C)(3) of this section for the fiscal year.

(13) “Funding-adjusted required millage” for a fiscal year means the statewide average millage multiplied by the funding percentage for that fiscal year.

(B)(1) On the request of the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, the tax commissioner shall provide to the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities information specifying the taxable value of property on each county’s tax list of real and public utility property and tax list of personal property for the most recent tax year for which such information is available. The director may request any other tax information necessary for the purposes of this section.

(2) On the request of the director, each county board shall report the county board’s adult services enrollment and local adult services cost.

(C) Each year, the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall compute the following:

(1) For each county board, the amount, if any, by which the statewide yield per enrollee exceeds the county yield per enrollee;

(2) For each county board, the amount of any excess computed under division (C)(1) of this section multiplied by the adult services enrollment of the county board;

(3) The sum of the amounts computed under division (C)(2) of this section for all county boards.

(D) From money appropriated for the purpose, the department shall provide for payment to each county board of the amount computed for that county board under division (C)(2) of this section, subject to any reduction or adjustment under division (E), (F), or (G) of this section. The department shall make the payments in quarterly installments of equal amounts. The installments shall be made not later than the thirtieth day of September, thirty-first day of December, thirty-first day of March, and thirtieth day of June.

(E) If a county board’s local tax effort for adult services is less than the funding-adjusted required millage, the director shall reduce the amount of payment otherwise computed under division (C)(2) of this section so that the amount paid, after the reduction, is the same percentage of the amount computed under division (C)(2) of this section as the county board’s local tax effort for adult services is of the funding-adjusted required millage.

If the director reduces the amount of a county board’s payment under this division, the department, not later than the fifteenth day of July, shall notify the county board of the reduction and the amount of the reduction. The notice shall include a statement that the county board may request to be exempted from the reduction by filing a request with the director, in the manner and form prescribed by the director, within twenty-one days after such notification is issued. The board may present evidence of its attempt to obtain passage of levies or any other extenuating circumstances the board considers relevant. If the county board requests a hearing before the director to present such evidence, the director shall conduct a hearing on the request unless the director exempts the board from the reduction on the basis of the evidence presented in the request filed by the board. Upon receiving a properly and timely filed request for exemption, but not later than the thirty-first day of August, the director shall determine whether the county board shall be exempted from all or a part of the reduction. The director may exempt the board from all or part of the reduction if the director finds that the board has made good faith efforts to obtain passage of tax levies or that there are extenuating circumstances.

(F) If a payment is reduced under division (E) of this section and the director does not exempt the county board from the reduction, the amount of the reduction shall be apportioned among all county boards entitled to payments under this section for which payments were not so reduced. The amount apportioned to each county board shall be proportionate to the amount of the board’s payment as computed under division (C)(2) of this section.

(G) If, for any fiscal year, the amount appropriated to the department for the purpose of this section is less than the amount computed under division (C)(3) of this section for the fiscal year, the department shall adjust the amount of each payment as computed under divisions (C)(2), (E), and (F) of this section by multiplying that amount by the funding percentage.

(H) The payments authorized by this section are supplemental to all other funds that may be received by a county board. A county board shall use the payments solely to pay the nonfederal share of medicaid expenditures that sections 5126.059 and 5126.0510 of the Revised Code require the county board to pay.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

(A) The director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may grant temporary funding from the community mental retardation and developmental disabilities trust fund based on allocations to county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. The director may distribute all or part of the funding directly to a county board, the persons who provide the services for which the funding is granted, or persons with mental retardation or developmental disabilities who are to receive those services.

(B) Funding granted under division (A) of this section shall be granted according to the availability of moneys in the fund and priorities established by the director. Funding may be granted for any of the following purposes:

(1) Behavioral or short-term interventions for persons with mental retardation or developmental disabilities that assist them in remaining in the community by preventing institutionalization;

(2) Emergency respite care services, as defined in section 5126.11 of the Revised Code;

(3) Family support services provided under section 5126.11 of the Revised Code;

(4) Supported living, as defined in section 5126.01 of the Revised Code;

(5) Staff training for county board employees, employees of providers of residential services as defined in section 5126.01 of the Revised Code, and other personnel under contract with a county board, to provide the staff with necessary training in serving mentally retarded or developmentally disabled persons in the community;

(6) Short-term provision of early childhood services provided under section 5126.05, adult services provided under sections 5126.05 and 5126.051, and service and support administration provided under section 5126.15 of the Revised Code, when local moneys are insufficient to meet the need for such services due to the successive failure within a two-year period of three or more proposed levies for the services;

(7) Contracts with providers of residential services to maintain persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities in their programs and avoid institutionalization.

(C) If the trust fund contains more than ten million dollars on the first day of July the director shall use one million dollars for payments under section 5126.18 of the Revised Code, two million dollars for subsidies to county boards for supported living, and one million dollars for subsidies to county boards for early childhood services and adult services provided under section 5126.05 of the Revised Code. Distributions of funds under this division shall be made prior to August 31 of the state fiscal year in which the funds are available. The funds shall be allocated to a county board in an amount equal to the same percentage of the total amount allocated to the county board the immediately preceding state fiscal year.

(D) In addition to making grants under division (A) of this section, the director may use money available in the trust fund for the same purposes that rules adopted under section 5123.0413 of the Revised Code provide for money in the state MR/DD risk fund and the state insurance against MR/DD risk fund, both created under that section, to be used.

Effective Date: 12-13-2001; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

As used in this section and sections 5126.21 to 5126.29 of the Revised Code:

(A) “Service employee” means a person employed by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities in a position which may require evidence of registration under section 5126.25 of the Revised Code but for which a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university is not required, and includes employees in the positions listed in division (C) of section 5126.22 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) “Professional employee” means both of the following:

(a) A person employed by a board in a position for which either a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university or a license or certificate issued under Title XLVII of the Revised Code is a minimum requirement;

(b) A person employed by a board as a conditional status service and support administrator.

(2) “Professional employee” includes employees in the positions listed in division (B) of section 5126.22 of the Revised Code.

(C) “Management employee” means a person employed by a board in a position having supervisory or managerial responsibilities and duties, and includes employees in the positions listed in division (A) of section 5126.22 of the Revised Code.

(D) “Limited contract” means a contract of limited duration which is renewable at the discretion of the superintendent.

(E) “Continuing contract” means a contract of employment that was issued prior to June 24, 1988, to a classified employee under which the employee has completed the employee’s probationary period and under which the employee retains employment until the employee retires or resigns, is removed pursuant to section 5126.23 of the Revised Code, or is laid off.

(F) “Supervisory responsibilities and duties” includes the authority to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees of the board; to responsibly direct them; to adjust their grievances; or to effectively recommend such action, if the exercise of that authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature but requires the use of independent judgment.

(G) “Managerial responsibilities and duties” includes formulating policy on behalf of the board, responsibly directing the implementation of policy, assisting in the preparation for the conduct of collective negotiations, administering collectively negotiated agreements, or having a major role in personnel administration.

(H) “Investigative agent” means an individual who conducts investigations under section 5126.313 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-06-2001; 04-14-2006

A person may be employed by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities as a conditional status service and support administrator only if either of the following is true:

(A) The person has at least an appropriate associate degree;

(B) The person meets both of the following requirements:

(1) The person was employed by the county board and performed service and support administration duties on June 30, 2005;

(2) The person holds a high school diploma or a general educational development certificate of high school equivalence.

Effective Date: 04-14-2006

As used in this section, “management employee” does not include the superintendent of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

(A)(1) Each management employee of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall hold a limited contract for a period of not less than one year and not more than five years, except that a management employee hired after the beginning of a program year may be employed under a limited contract expiring at the end of the program year. The board shall approve all contracts of employment for management employees that are for a term of more than one year. A management employee shall receive notice of the superintendent’s intention not to rehire the employee at least ninety days prior to the expiration of the contract. If the superintendent fails to notify a management employee, the employee shall be reemployed under a limited contract of one year at the same salary plus any authorized salary increases.

(2) During the term of a contract a management employee’s salary may be increased, but shall not be reduced unless the reduction is part of a uniform plan affecting all employees of the board.

(B) All management employees may be removed, suspended, or demoted for cause pursuant to section 5126.23 of the Revised Code.

(C) All management employees shall receive employee benefits that shall include sick leave, vacation leave, holiday pay, and such other benefits as are established by the board. Sections 124.38 and 325.19 of the Revised Code do not apply to management employees.

(D) The superintendent of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall notify all management employees of the board of their salary no later than thirty days before the first day of the new contract year.

(E) All management employees of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities who were given continuing contract status prior to the effective date of this section have continuing contract status so long as they maintain employment with the board.

(F) All management employees who were probationary employees on the effective date of this section shall, upon completion of their probationary period, be granted continuing contract status if retained in employment.

(G) Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall establish a lay-off policy to be followed if it determines a reduction in the number of management employees is necessary.

Effective Date: 03-16-1989

(A) Employees who hold the following positions in a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities are management employees:

assistant superintendent

director of business

director of personnel

adult services director

workshop director

habilitation manager

director of residential services

principal (director of children services)

program or service supervisor

plant manager

production manager

service and support administration supervisor

investigative agent

confidential employees as defined in section 4117.01 of the Revised Code

positions designated by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities as having managerial or supervisory responsibilities and duties

positions designated by the county board in accordance with division (D) of this section.

(B) Employees who hold the following positions in a board are professional employees:

personnel certified pursuant to Chapter 3319. of the Revised Code

early intervention specialist

physical development specialist

habilitation specialist

work adjustment specialist

placement specialist

vocational evaluator

psychologist

occupational therapist

speech and language pathologist

recreation specialist

behavior management specialist

physical therapist

supportive home services specialist

licensed practical nurse or registered nurse

rehabilitation counselor

doctor of medicine and surgery or of osteopathic medicine and surgery

dentist

service and support administrator

conditional status service and support administrator

social worker

any position that is not a management position and for which the standards for certification established by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities under section 5126.25 of the Revised Code require a bachelor’s or higher degree

professional positions designated by the director

professional positions designated by the county board in accordance with division (D) of this section.

(C) Employees who hold positions in a board that are neither management positions nor professional positions are service employees. Service employee positions include:

workshop specialist

workshop specialist assistant

contract procurement specialist

community employment specialist

any assistant to a professional employee certified to provide, or supervise the provision of, adult services or service and support administration

service positions designated by the director

service positions designated by a county board in accordance with division (D) of this section.

(D) A county board may designate a position only if the position does not include directly providing, or supervising employees who directly provide, service or instruction to individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities.

(E) If a county board desires to have a position established that is not specifically listed in this section that includes directly providing, or supervising employees who directly provide, services or instruction to individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities, the board shall submit to the director a written description of the position and request that the director designate the position as a management, professional, or service position under this section. The director shall consider each request submitted under this division and respond within thirty days. If the director approves the request, the director shall designate the position as a management, professional, or service position.

(F) A county board shall not terminate its employment of any management, professional, or service employee solely because a position is added to or eliminated from those positions listed in this section or because a position is designated or no longer designated by the director or a county board.

Effective Date: 06-06-2001

Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall employ at least one investigative agent or contract with a person or government entity, including another county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities or a regional council established under section 5126.13 of the Revised Code, for the services of an investigative agent. Neither a county board nor a person or government entity with which a county board contracts for the services of an investigative agent shall assign any duties to an investigative agent other than conducting investigations under section 5126.313 of the Revised Code.

All investigative agents shall be trained in civil and criminal investigatory practices. The person responsible for supervising the work of the investigative agents shall report directly to a county board’s superintendent regarding the investigative agents.

No investigative agent shall do anything that interferes with the investigative agent’s objectivity in conducting investigations under section 5126.313 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 12-13-2001

(A) As used in this section, “employee” means a management employee or superintendent of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

(B) An employee may be removed, suspended, or demoted in accordance with this section for violation of written rules set forth by the board or for incompetency, inefficiency, dishonesty, drunkenness, immoral conduct, insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public, neglect of duty, or other acts of misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance.

(C) Prior to the removal, suspension, or demotion of an employee pursuant to this section, the employee shall be notified in writing of the charges against him. Except as otherwise provided in division (H) of this section, not later than thirty days after receiving such notification, a predisciplinary conference shall be held to provide the employee an opportunity to refute the charges against him. At least seventy-two hours prior to the conference, the employee shall be given a copy of the charges against him.

If the removal, suspension, or demotion action is directed against a management employee, the conference shall be held by the superintendent or a person he designates, and the superintendent shall notify the management employee within fifteen days after the conference of the decision made with respect to the charges. If the removal, suspension, or demotion action is directed against a superintendent, the conference shall be held by the members of the board or their designees, and the board shall notify the superintendent within fifteen days after the conference of its decision with respect to the charges.

(D) Within fifteen days after receiving notification of the results of the predisciplinary conference, an employee may file with the board a written demand for a hearing before the board or before a referee, and the board shall set a time for the hearing which shall be within thirty days from the date of receipt of the written demand, and the board shall give the employee at least twenty days notice in writing of the time and place of the hearing.

(E) If a referee is demanded by an employee or a county board, the hearing shall be conducted by a referee selected in accordance with division (F) of this section; otherwise, it shall be conducted by a majority of the members of the board and shall be confined to the charges enumerated at the predisciplinary conference.

(F) Referees for the hearings required by this section shall be selected from the list of names compiled by the superintendent of public instruction pursuant to section 3319.161 of the Revised Code. Upon receipt of notice that a referee has been demanded by an employee or a county board, the superintendent of public instruction shall immediately designate three persons from such list, from whom the referee for the hearing shall be chosen, and he shall immediately notify the designees, the county board, and the employee. If within five days of receipt of the notice, the county board and employee are unable to agree upon one of the designees to serve as referee, the superintendent of public instruction shall appoint one of the designees to serve as referee. The appointment of the referee shall be entered in the minutes of the county board. The referee appointed shall be paid his usual and customary fee for attending the hearing which shall be paid from the general fund of the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

(G) The board shall provide for a complete stenographic record of the proceedings, and a copy of the record shall be furnished to the employee.

Both parties may be present at the hearing, be represented by counsel, require witnesses to be under oath, cross-examine witnesses, take a record of the proceedings, and require the presence of witnesses in their behalf upon subpoena to be issued by the county board. If any person fails to comply with a subpoena, a judge of the court of common pleas of the county in which the person resides, upon application of any interested party, shall compel attendance of the person by attachment proceedings as for contempt. Any member of the board or the referee may administer oaths to witnesses. After a hearing by a referee, the referee shall file his report within ten days after the termination of the hearing. After consideration of the referee’s report, the board, by a majority vote, may accept or reject the referee’s recommendation. After a hearing by the board, the board, by majority vote, may enter its determination upon its minutes. If the decision, after hearing, is in favor of the employee, the charges and the record of the hearing shall be physically expunged from minutes and, if the employee has suffered any loss of salary by reason of being suspended, he shall be paid his full salary for the period of such suspension.

Any employee affected by a determination of the board under this division may appeal to the court of common pleas of the county in which the board is located within thirty days after receipt of notice of the entry of such determination. The appeal shall be an original action in the court and shall be commenced by the filing of a complaint against the board, in which complaint the facts shall be alleged upon which the employee relies for a reversal or modification of such determination. Upon service or waiver of summons in that appeal, the board immediately shall transmit to the clerk of the court for filing a transcript of the original papers filed with the board, a certified copy of the minutes of the board into which the determination was entered, and a certified transcript of all evidence adduced at the hearing or hearings before the board or a certified transcript of all evidence adduced at the hearing or hearings before the referee, whereupon the cause shall be at issue without further pleading and shall be advanced and heard without delay. The court shall examine the transcript and record of the hearing and shall hold such additional hearings as it considers advisable, at which it may consider other evidence in addition to the transcript and record.

Upon final hearing, the court shall grant or deny the relief prayed for in the complaint as may be proper in accordance with the evidence adduced in the hearing. Such an action is a special proceeding, and either the employee or the board may appeal from the decision of the court of common pleas pursuant to the rules of appellate procedure and, to the extent not in conflict with those rules, Chapter 2505. of the Revised Code.

(H) Notwithstanding divisions (C) to (G) of this section, a county board and an employee may agree to submit issues regarding the employee’s removal, suspension, or demotion to binding arbitration. The terms of the submission, including the method of selecting the arbitrator or arbitrators and the responsibility for compensating the arbitrator, shall be provided for in the arbitration agreement. The arbitrator shall be selected within fifteen days of the execution of the agreement. Chapter 2711. of the Revised Code governs the arbitration proceedings.

Effective Date: 03-16-1989

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “License” means an educator license issued by the state board of education under section 3319.22 of the Revised Code or a certificate issued by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

(2) “Teacher” means a person employed by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities in a position that requires a license.

(3) “Nonteaching employee” means a person employed by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities in a position that does not require a license.

(4) “Years of service” includes all service described in division (A) of section 3317.13 of the Revised Code.

(B) Subject to rules established by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall annually adopt separate salary schedules for teachers and nonteaching employees.

(C) The teachers’ salary schedule shall provide for increments based on training and years of service. The board may establish its own service requirements provided no teacher receives less than the salary the teacher would be paid under section 3317.13 of the Revised Code if the teacher were employed by a school district board of education and provided full credit for a minimum of five years of actual teaching and military experience as defined in division (A) of such section is given to each teacher.

Each teacher who has completed training that would qualify the teacher for a higher salary bracket pursuant to this section shall file by the fifteenth day of September with the fiscal officer of the board, satisfactory evidence of the completion of such additional training. The fiscal officer shall then immediately place the teacher, pursuant to this section, in the proper salary bracket in accordance with training and years of service. No teacher shall be paid less than the salary to which the teacher would be entitled under section 3317.13 of the Revised Code if the teacher were employed by a school district board of education.

The superintendent of each county board, on or before the fifteenth day of October of each year, shall certify to the state board of education the name of each teacher employed, on an annual salary, in each special education program operated pursuant to section 3323.09 of the Revised Code during the first full school week of October. The superintendent further shall certify, for each teacher, the number of years of training completed at a recognized college, the degrees earned from a college recognized by the state board, the type of license held, the number of months employed by the board, the annual salary, and other information that the state board may request.

(D) The nonteaching employees’ salary schedule established by the board shall be based on training, experience, and qualifications with initial salaries no less than salaries in effect on July 1, 1985. Each board shall prepare and may amend from time to time, specifications descriptive of duties, responsibilities, requirements, and desirable qualifications of the classifications of employees required to perform the duties specified in the salary schedule. All nonteaching employees shall be notified of the position classification to which they are assigned and the salary for the classification. The compensation of all nonteaching employees working for a particular board shall be uniform for like positions except as compensation would be affected by salary increments based upon length of service.

On the fifteenth day of October of each year the nonteaching employees’ salary schedule and list of job classifications and salaries in effect on that date shall be filed by each board with the superintendent of public instruction. If such salary schedule and classification plan is not filed, the superintendent of public instruction shall order the board to file such schedule and list forthwith. If this condition is not corrected within ten days after receipt of the order from the superintendent, no money shall be distributed to the district under Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code until the superintendent has satisfactory evidence of the board’s full compliance with such order.

Effective Date: 10-29-1996

(A) The director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing uniform standards and procedures for the certification of persons for employment by county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities as superintendents, management employees, and professional employees and uniform standards and procedures for the registration of persons for employment by county boards as registered service employees. As part of the rules, the director may establish continuing education and professional training requirements for renewal of certificates and evidence of registration and shall establish such requirements for renewal of an investigative agent certificate. In the rules, the director shall establish certification standards for employment in the position of investigative agent that require an individual to have or obtain no less than an associate degree from an accredited college or university or have or obtain comparable experience or training. The director shall not adopt rules that require any service employee to have or obtain a bachelor’s or higher degree.

The director shall adopt the rules in a manner that provides for the issuance of certificates and evidence of registration according to categories, levels, and grades. The rules shall describe each category, level, and grade.

The rules adopted under this division shall apply to persons employed or seeking employment in a position that includes directly providing, or supervising persons who directly provide, services or instruction to or on behalf of individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities, except that the rules shall not apply to persons who hold a valid license issued under Chapter 3319. of the Revised Code and perform no duties other than teaching or supervision of a teaching program or persons who hold a valid license or certificate issued under Title XLVII of the Revised Code and perform only those duties governed by the license or certificate. The rules shall specify the positions that require certification or registration. The rules shall specify that the position of investigative agent requires certification.

(B) The director shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code establishing standards for approval of courses of study to prepare persons to meet certification requirements. The director shall approve courses of study meeting the standards and provide for the inspection of the courses to ensure the maintenance of satisfactory training procedures. The director shall approve courses of study only if given by a state university or college as defined in section 3345.32 of the Revised Code, a state university or college of another state, or an institution that has received a certificate of authorization to confer degrees from the board of regents pursuant to Chapter 1713. of the Revised Code or from a comparable agency of another state.

(C) Each applicant for a certificate for employment or evidence of registration for employment by a county board shall apply to the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities on forms that the director of the department shall prescribe and provide. The application shall be accompanied by the application fee established in rules adopted under this section.

(D) The director shall issue a certificate for employment to each applicant who meets the standards for certification established under this section and shall issue evidence of registration for employment to each applicant who meets the standards for registration established under this section. Each certificate or evidence of registration shall state the category, level, and grade for which it is issued.

The director shall issue, renew, deny, suspend, or revoke certificates and evidence of registration in accordance with rules adopted under this section. The director shall deny, suspend, or revoke a certificate or evidence of registration if the director finds, pursuant to an adjudication conducted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, that the applicant for or holder of the certificate or evidence of registration is guilty of intemperate, immoral, or other conduct unbecoming to the applicant’s or holder’s position, or is guilty of incompetence or negligence within the scope of the applicant’s or holder’s duties. The director shall deny or revoke a certificate or evidence of registration if the director finds, pursuant to an adjudication conducted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, that the applicant for or holder of the certificate or evidence of registration has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the offenses described in division (E) of section 5126.28 of the Revised Code, unless the individual meets standards for rehabilitation that the director establishes in the rules adopted under that section. Evidence supporting such allegations shall be presented to the director in writing and the director shall provide prompt notice of the allegations to the person who is the subject of the allegations. A denial, suspension, or revocation may be appealed in accordance with procedures the director shall establish in the rules adopted under this section.

(E)(1) A person holding a valid certificate under this section on the effective date of any rules adopted under this section that increase certification standards shall have such period as the rules prescribe, but not less than one year after the effective date of the rules, to meet the new certification standards.

A person who is registered under this section on the effective date of any rule that changes the standards adopted under this section shall have such period as the rules prescribe, but not less than one year, to meet the new registration standards.

(2) If an applicant for a certificate for employment has not completed the courses of instruction necessary to meet the department’s standards for certification, the department shall inform the applicant of the courses the applicant must successfully complete to meet the standards and shall specify the time within which the applicant must complete the courses. The department shall grant the applicant at least one year to complete the courses and shall not require the applicant to complete more than four courses in any one year. The applicant is not subject to any changes regarding the courses required for certification that are made after the department informs the applicant of the courses the applicant must complete, unless the applicant does not successfully complete the courses within the time specified by the department.

(F) A person who holds a certificate or evidence of registration, other than one designated as temporary, is qualified to be employed according to that certificate or evidence of registration by any county board.

(G) The director shall monitor county boards to ensure that their employees who must be certified or registered are appropriately certified or registered and performing those functions they are authorized to perform under their certificate or evidence of registration.

(H) A county board superintendent or the superintendent’s designee may certify to the director that county board employees who are required to meet continuing education or professional training requirements as a condition of renewal of certificates or evidence of registration have met the requirements. The superintendent or the superintendent’s designee shall maintain in appropriate personnel files evidence acceptable to the director that the employees have met the requirements and permit representatives of the department access to the evidence on request.

(I) All fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the program fee fund created under section 5123.033 of the Revised Code.

(J) Employees of entities that contract with county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to operate programs and services for individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities are subject to the certification and registration requirements established under section 5123.082 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 06-06-2001; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

On receipt of a notice pursuant to section 3123.43 of the Revised Code, the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall comply with sections 3123.41 to 3123.50 of the Revised Code and any applicable rules adopted under section 3123.63 of the Revised Code with respect to a certificate or evidence of registration issued pursuant to this chapter.

Effective Date: 03-22-2001

Notwithstanding sections 5123.082, 5126.25, and 5126.26 of the Revised Code, the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may authorize county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to establish and administer in their counties programs for the certification and registration of persons for employment by the boards. A certificate or evidence of registration issued by a board participating in programs under this section shall have the same force and effect as a certificate or evidence of registration issued by the department under section 5123.082 or 5126.25 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 09-22-2000

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Conduct unbecoming to the teaching profession” shall be as described in rules adopted by the state board of education.

(2) “Intervention in lieu of conviction” means intervention in lieu of conviction under section 2951.041 of the Revised Code.

(3) “License” has the same meaning as in section 3319.31 of the Revised Code.

(4) “Pre-trial diversion program” means a pre-trial diversion program under section 2935.36 of the Revised Code or a similar diversion program under rules of a court.

(B) The superintendent of each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities or the president of the board, if division (C) of this section applies, shall promptly submit to the superintendent of public instruction the information prescribed in division (D) of this section when any of the following conditions applies to an employee of the board who holds a license issued by the state board of education:

(1) The superintendent or president knows that the employee has pleaded guilty to, has been found guilty by a jury or court of, has been convicted of, has been found to be eligible for intervention in lieu of conviction for, or has agreed to participate in a pre-trial diversion program for an offense described in division (B)(2) or (C) of section 3319.31 or division (B)(1) of section 3319.39 of the Revised Code.

(2) The board has initiated termination or nonrenewal proceedings against, has terminated, or has not renewed the contract of the employee because the board has reasonably determined that the employee has committed an act unbecoming to the teaching profession or an offense described in division (B)(2) or (C) of section 3319.31 or division (B)(1) of section 3319.39 of the Revised Code.

(3) The employee has resigned under threat of termination or nonrenewal as described in division (B)(2) of this section.

(4) The employee has resigned because of or in the course of an investigation by the board regarding whether the employee has committed an act unbecoming to the teaching profession or an offense described in division (B)(2) or (C) of section 3319.31 or division (B)(1) of section 3319.39 of the Revised Code.

(C) If the employee to whom any of the conditions prescribed in divisions (B)(1) to (4) of this section applies is the superintendent of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, the president of the board shall make the report required under this section.

(D) If a report is required under this section, the superintendent or president shall submit to the superintendent of public instruction the name and social security number of the employee about whom information is required and a factual statement regarding any of the conditions prescribed in divisions (B)(1) to (4) of this section that applies to the employee.

(E) A determination made by the board as described in division (B)(2) of this section or a termination, nonrenewal, resignation, or other separation described in divisions (B)(2) to (4) of this section does not create a presumption of the commission or lack of the commission by the employee of an act unbecoming to the teaching profession or an offense described in division (B)(2) or (C) of section 3319.31 or division (B)(1) of section 3319.39 of the Revised Code.

(F) No individual required to submit a report under division (B) of this section shall knowingly fail to comply with that division.

(G) An individual who provides information to the superintendent of public instruction in accordance with this section in good faith shall be immune from any civil liability that otherwise might be incurred or imposed for injury, death, or loss to person or property as a result of the provision of that information.

Effective Date: 03-30-2007; 2008 HB428 09-12-2008

The superintendent of each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall require that the reports of any investigation by the board of an employee regarding whether the employee has committed an act or offense for which the superintendent is required to make a report to the superintendent of public instruction under section 5126.253 of the Revised Code be kept in the employee’s personnel file. If, after an investigation under division (A) of section 3319.311 of the Revised Code, the superintendent of public instruction determines that the results of that investigation do not warrant initiating action under section 3319.31 of the Revised Code, the superintendent of the county board shall require the reports of the board’s investigation to be moved from the employee’s personnel file to a separate public file.

Effective Date: 03-30-2007; 2008 HB428 09-12-2008

Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code, the provisions of sections 5126.253 and 5126.254 of the Revised Code prevail over any conflicting provisions of a collective bargaining agreement or contract for employment entered into after the effective date of this section.

Effective Date: 03-30-2007

Except as otherwise provided in this section and section 5126.27 of the Revised Code, no person shall be employed or compensated by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities if he does not hold the certificate, evidence of registration, or license required for the position under the rules of the department or the department of education, but the superintendent of a county board may employ, and the board shall compensate, a person pending the issuance of an initial certificate or registration if he meets the requirements for certification or registration, he has applied for certification or registration, and the application has not been denied. A person’s employment shall be terminated if a required license, certificate, or registration is denied, permanently revoked, or not renewed.

Effective Date: 05-04-1992

(A) A county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall allow a professional employee hired by the board prior to July 17, 1990, who does not meet the standards for certification established under section 5126.25 of the Revised Code for the position he holds on July 17, 1990, to elect to do one of the following:

(1) Accept a position with the board, if such a position is available, for which he meets the certification standards;

(2) Remain in the position he holds on July 17, 1990, and comply with the provisions of a professional development plan prescribed by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities under division (B) of this section.

If the employee accepts a position under division (A)(1) of this section, his compensation shall be not less than the compensation he received in the position he held on July 17, 1990.

(B) If an employee elects the option described in division (A)(2) of this section, the board shall notify the department. The director shall issue a temporary certificate to the employee for the position he holds and develop a professional development plan for him. The temporary certificate shall be valid only during the period required for completion of the professional development plan and only while the employee is employed by the board by which he was employed on July 17, 1990. The plan shall specify the coursework the employee must successfully complete and any other requirements for certification and the schedule for completion of the plan, except:

(1) The plan shall not require that the employee complete more than six semester hours, or the equivalent, of coursework in any twelve-month period;

(2) All coursework must be completed at an accredited college or university recognized by the department;

(3) The plan shall not require the employee to complete more than sixty semester hours, or the equivalent, of coursework, or to obtain a bachelor’s or higher degree if a greater number of hours of coursework would be required to do so.

Notwithstanding any standards for certification established by the director under section 5126.25 of the Revised Code, if the employee successfully completes the professional development plan within the time specified, the director shall grant him the appropriate certificate for the position he holds.

Effective Date: 05-04-1992

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Applicant” means a person who is under final consideration for appointment or employment in a position with a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, including, but not limited to, a person who is being transferred to the county board and an employee who is being recalled or reemployed after a layoff.

(2) “Criminal records check” has the same meaning as in section 109.572 of the Revised Code.

(3) “Minor drug possession offense” has the same meaning as in section 2925.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) The superintendent of a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall request the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation to conduct a criminal records check with respect to any applicant who has applied to the board for employment in any position, except that a county board superintendent is not required to request a criminal records check for an employee of the board who is being considered for a different position or is returning after a leave of absence or seasonal break in employment, as long as the superintendent has no reason to believe that the employee has committed any of the offenses listed or described in division (E) of this section.

If the applicant does not present proof that the applicant has been a resident of this state for the five-year period immediately prior to the date upon which the criminal records check is requested, the county board superintendent shall request that the superintendent of the bureau obtain information from the federal bureau of investigation as a part of the criminal records check for the applicant. If the applicant presents proof that the applicant has been a resident of this state for that five-year period, the county board superintendent may request that the superintendent of the bureau include information from the federal bureau of investigation in the criminal records check. For purposes of this division, an applicant may provide proof of residency in this state by presenting, with a notarized statement asserting that the applicant has been a resident of this state for that five-year period, a valid driver’s license, notification of registration as an elector, a copy of an officially filed federal or state tax form identifying the applicant’s permanent residence, or any other document the superintendent considers acceptable.

(C) The county board superintendent shall provide to each applicant a copy of the form prescribed pursuant to division (C)(1) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code, provide to each applicant a standard impression sheet to obtain fingerprint impressions prescribed pursuant to division (C)(2) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code, obtain the completed form and impression sheet from each applicant, and forward the completed form and impression sheet to the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation at the time the criminal records check is requested.

Any applicant who receives pursuant to this division a copy of the form prescribed pursuant to division (C)(1) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code and a copy of an impression sheet prescribed pursuant to division (C)(2) of that section and who is requested to complete the form and provide a set of fingerprint impressions shall complete the form or provide all the information necessary to complete the form and shall provide the impression sheet with the impressions of the applicant’s fingerprints. If an applicant, upon request, fails to provide the information necessary to complete the form or fails to provide impressions of the applicant’s fingerprints, the county board superintendent shall not employ that applicant.

(D) A county board superintendent may request any other state or federal agency to supply the board with a written report regarding the criminal record of each applicant. With regard to an applicant who becomes a board employee, if the employee holds an occupational or professional license or other credentials, the superintendent may request that the state or federal agency that regulates the employee’s occupation or profession supply the board with a written report of any information pertaining to the employee’s criminal record that the agency obtains in the course of conducting an investigation or in the process of renewing the employee’s license or other credentials.

(E) Except as provided in division (K)(2) of this section and in rules adopted by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities in accordance with division (M) of this section, no county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall employ a person to fill a position with the board who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the following:

(1) A violation of section 2903.01, 2903.02, 2903.03, 2903.04, 2903.11, 2903.12, 2903.13, 2903.16, 2903.21, 2903.34, 2903.341, 2905.01, 2905.02, 2905.05, 2907.02, 2907.03, 2907.04, 2907.05, 2907.06, 2907.07, 2907.08, 2907.09, 2907.21, 2907.22, 2907.23, 2907.25, 2907.31, 2907.32, 2907.321, 2907.322, 2907.323, 2911.01, 2911.02, 2911.11, 2911.12, 2919.12, 2919.22, 2919.24, 2919.25, 2923.12, 2923.13, 2923.161, 2925.02, 2925.03, 2925.04, 2925.05, 2925.06, or 3716.11 of the Revised Code, a violation of section 2905.04 of the Revised Code as it existed prior to July 1, 1996, a violation of section 2919.23 of the Revised Code that would have been a violation of section 2905.04 of the Revised Code as it existed prior to July 1, 1996, had the violation occurred prior to that date, a violation of section 2925.11 of the Revised Code that is not a minor drug possession offense, or felonious sexual penetration in violation of former section 2907.12 of the Revised Code;

(2) A felony contained in the Revised Code that is not listed in this division, if the felony bears a direct and substantial relationship to the duties and responsibilities of the position being filled;

(3) Any offense contained in the Revised Code constituting a misdemeanor of the first degree on the first offense and a felony on a subsequent offense, if the offense bears a direct and substantial relationship to the position being filled and the nature of the services being provided by the county board;

(4) A violation of an existing or former municipal ordinance or law of this state, any other state, or the United States, if the offense is substantially equivalent to any of the offenses listed or described in division (E)(1), (2), or (3) of this section.

(F) Prior to employing an applicant, the county board superintendent shall require the applicant to submit a statement with the applicant’s signature attesting that the applicant has not been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the offenses listed or described in division (E) of this section. The superintendent also shall require the applicant to sign an agreement under which the applicant agrees to notify the superintendent within fourteen calendar days if, while employed by the board, the applicant is ever formally charged with, convicted of, or pleads guilty to any of the offenses listed or described in division (E) of this section. The agreement shall inform the applicant that failure to report formal charges, a conviction, or a guilty plea may result in being dismissed from employment.

(G) A county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall pay to the bureau of criminal identification and investigation the fee prescribed pursuant to division (C)(3) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code for each criminal records check requested and conducted pursuant to this section.

(H)(1) Any report obtained pursuant to this section is not a public record for purposes of section 149.43 of the Revised Code and shall not be made available to any person, other than the applicant who is the subject of the records check or criminal records check or the applicant’s representative, the board requesting the records check or criminal records check or its representative, the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, and any court, hearing officer, or other necessary individual involved in a case dealing with the denial of employment to the applicant or the denial, suspension, or revocation of a certificate or evidence of registration under section 5126.25 of the Revised Code.

(2) An individual for whom a county board superintendent has obtained reports under this section may submit a written request to the county board to have copies of the reports sent to any state agency, entity of local government, or private entity. The individual shall specify in the request the agencies or entities to which the copies are to be sent. On receiving the request, the county board shall send copies of the reports to the agencies or entities specified.

A county board may request that a state agency, entity of local government, or private entity send copies to the board of any report regarding a records check or criminal records check that the agency or entity possesses, if the county board obtains the written consent of the individual who is the subject of the report.

(I) Each county board superintendent shall request the registrar of motor vehicles to supply the superintendent with a certified abstract regarding the record of convictions for violations of motor vehicle laws of each applicant who will be required by the applicant’s employment to transport individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities or to operate the board’s vehicles for any other purpose. For each abstract provided under this section, the board shall pay the amount specified in section 4509.05 of the Revised Code.

(J) The county board superintendent shall provide each applicant with a copy of any report or abstract obtained about the applicant under this section. At the request of the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, the superintendent also shall provide the director with a copy of a report or abstract obtained under this section.

(K)(1) The county board superintendent shall inform each person, at the time of the person’s initial application for employment, that the person is required to provide a set of impressions of the person’s fingerprints and that a criminal records check is required to be conducted and satisfactorily completed in accordance with section 109.572 of the Revised Code if the person comes under final consideration for appointment or employment as a precondition to employment in a position.

(2) A board may employ an applicant pending receipt of reports requested under this section. The board shall terminate employment of any such applicant if it is determined from the reports that the applicant failed to inform the county board that the applicant had been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the offenses listed or described in division (E) of this section.

(L) The board may charge an applicant a fee for costs it incurs in obtaining reports, abstracts, or fingerprint impressions under this section. A fee charged under this division shall not exceed the amount of the fees the board pays under divisions (G) and (I) of this section. If a fee is charged under this division, the board shall notify the applicant of the amount of the fee at the time of the applicant’s initial application for employment and that, unless the fee is paid, the board will not consider the applicant for employment.

(M) The department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement this section and section 5126.281 of the Revised Code, including rules specifying circumstances under which a county board or contracting entity may hire a person who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense listed or described in division (E) of this section but who meets standards in regard to rehabilitation set by the department. The rules may not authorize a county board or contracting entity to hire an individual who is included in the registry established under section 5123.52 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-30-2004

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Contracting entity” means an entity under contract with a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities for the provision of specialized services to individuals with mental retardation or a developmental disability.

(2) “Direct services position” means an employment position in which the employee has physical contact with, the opportunity to be alone with, or exercises supervision or control over one or more individuals with mental retardation or a developmental disability.

(3) “Specialized services” means any program or service designed and operated to serve primarily individuals with mental retardation or a developmental disability, including a program or service provided by an entity licensed or certified by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. If there is a question as to whether a contracting entity is providing specialized services, the contracting entity may request that the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities make a determination. The director’s determination is final.

(B)(1) Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this section, each contracting entity shall conduct background investigations in the same manner county boards conduct investigations under section 5126.28 of the Revised Code of all persons under final consideration for employment with the contracting entity in a direct services position. On request, the county board shall assist a contracting entity in obtaining reports from the bureau of criminal identification and investigation or any other state or federal agency and in obtaining abstracts from the registrar of motor vehicles.

(2) A contracting entity is not required to request a criminal records check for either of the following:

(a) An employee of the entity who is in a direct services position and being considered for a different direct services position or is returning after a leave of absence or seasonal break in employment, as long as the contracting entity has no reason to believe that the employee has committed any of the offenses listed or described in division (E) of section 5126.28 of the Revised Code;

(b) A person who will provide only respite care under a family support services program established under section 5126.11 of the Revised Code, if the person is selected by a family member of the individual with mental retardation or a developmental disability who is to receive the respite care.

(C) No contracting entity shall place a person in a direct services position if the person has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any offense listed or described in division (E) of section 5126.28 of the Revised Code, unless the person meets the standards for rehabilitation established by rules adopted under section 5126.28 of the Revised Code.

(D) A contracting entity may place a person in a direct services position pending receipt of information concerning the person’s background investigation from the bureau of criminal identification and investigation, the registrar of motor vehicles, or any other state or federal agency if the person submits to the contracting entity a statement with the person’s signature that the person has not been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the offenses listed or described in division (E) of section 5126.28 of the Revised Code. No contracting entity shall fail to terminate the placement of such person if the contracting entity is informed that the person has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the offenses listed or described in division (E) of section 5126.28 of the Revised Code.

(E) Prior to employing a person in a direct services position, the contracting entity shall require the person to submit a statement with the applicant’s signature attesting that the applicant has not been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the offenses listed or described in division (E) of section 5126.28 of the Revised Code. The contracting entity also shall require the person to sign an agreement to notify the contracting entity within fourteen calendar days if, while employed by the entity, the person is ever formally charged with, convicted of, or pleads guilty to any of the offenses listed or described in division (E) of section 5126.28 of the Revised Code. The agreement shall inform the person that failure to report formal charges, a conviction, or a guilty plea may result in being dismissed from employment.

(F) A county board may take appropriate action against a contracting entity that violates this section, including terminating the contracting entity’s contract with the board.

Effective Date: 09-22-2000

(A) No professional or management employee in a position that requires a license issued by the state board of education under sections 3319.22 to 3319.31 of the Revised Code or a certificate issued by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities under section 5126.25 of the Revised Code shall terminate the employee’s employment contract with a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities without obtaining the written consent of the board prior to the termination or giving the board written notice of the termination at least thirty days before its effective date.

(B) Upon complaint by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities that a person holding a license issued under sections 3319.22 to 3319.31 of the Revised Code has violated division (A) of this section, the state board of education shall investigate the complaint. If the state board determines that the person did violate division (A) of this section, it may suspend the person’s license for a period of time not exceeding one year as determined by the state board.

(C) Upon complaint by a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities that a person holding a certificate issued under section 5126.25 of the Revised Code has violated division (A) of this section, the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall investigate the complaint. If the director determines that the person did violate division (A) of this section, the director may suspend the person’s certificate for a period of time not exceeding one year as determined by the director.

Effective Date: 10-29-1996

As used in sections 5126.30 to 5126.34 of the Revised Code:

(A) “Adult” means a person eighteen years of age or older with mental retardation or a developmental disability.

(B) “Caretaker” means a person who is responsible for the care of an adult by order of a court, including an order of guardianship, or who assumes the responsibility for the care of an adult as a volunteer, as a family member, by contract, or by the acceptance of payment for care.

(C) “Abuse” has the same meaning as in section 5123.50 of the Revised Code, except that it includes a misappropriation, as defined in that section.

(D) “Neglect” has the same meaning as in section 5123.50 of the Revised Code.

(E) “Exploitation” means the unlawful or improper act of a caretaker using an adult or an adult’s resources for monetary or personal benefit, profit, or gain, including misappropriation, as defined in section 5123.50 of the Revised Code, of an adult’s resources.

(F) “Working day” means Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, except when that day is a holiday as defined in section 1.14 of the Revised Code.

(G) “Incapacitated” means lacking understanding or capacity, with or without the assistance of a caretaker, to make and carry out decisions regarding food, clothing, shelter, health care, or other necessities, but does not include mere refusal to consent to the provision of services.

(H) “Emergency protective services” means protective services furnished to a person with mental retardation or a developmental disability to prevent immediate physical harm.

(I) “Protective services” means services provided by the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to an adult with mental retardation or a developmental disability for the prevention, correction, or discontinuance of an act of as well as conditions resulting from abuse, neglect, or exploitation.

(J) “Protective service plan” means an individualized plan developed by the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to prevent the further abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an adult with mental retardation or a developmental disability.

(K) “Substantial risk” has the same meaning as in section 2901.01 of the Revised Code.

(L) “Party” means all of the following:

(1) An adult who is the subject of a probate proceeding under sections 5126.30 to 5126.33 of the Revised Code;

(2) A caretaker, unless otherwise ordered by the probate court;

(3) Any other person designated as a party by the probate court including but not limited to, the adult’s spouse, custodian, guardian, or parent.

(M) “Board” means a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

Effective Date: 01-30-2004; 2005 SB10 09-05-2005

(A) A county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall review reports of abuse and neglect made under section 5123.61 of the Revised Code and reports referred to it under section 5101.611 of the Revised Code to determine whether the person who is the subject of the report is an adult with mental retardation or a developmental disability in need of services to deal with the abuse or neglect. The board shall give notice of each report to the registry office of the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities established pursuant to section 5123.61 of the Revised Code on the first working day after receipt of the report. If the report alleges that there is a substantial risk to the adult of immediate physical harm or death, the board shall initiate review within twenty-four hours of its receipt of the report. If the board determines that the person is sixty years of age or older but does not have mental retardation or a developmental disability, it shall refer the case to the county department of job and family services. If the board determines that the person is an adult with mental retardation or a developmental disability, it shall continue its review of the case.

(B) For each review over which the board retains responsibility under division (A) of this section, it shall do all of the following:

(1) Give both written and oral notice of the purpose of the review to the adult and, if any, to the adult’s legal counsel or caretaker, in simple and clear language;

(2) Visit the adult, in the adult’s residence if possible, and explain the notice given under division (B)(1) of this section;

(3) Request from the registry office any prior reports concerning the adult or other principals in the case;

(4) Consult, if feasible, with the person who made the report under section 5101.61 or 5123.61 of the Revised Code and with any agencies or persons who have information about the alleged abuse or neglect;

(5) Cooperate fully with the law enforcement agency responsible for investigating the report and for filing any resulting criminal charges and, on request, turn over evidence to the agency;

(6) Determine whether the adult needs services, and prepare a written report stating reasons for the determination. No adult shall be determined to be abused, neglected, or in need of services for the sole reason that, in lieu of medical treatment, the adult relies on or is being furnished spiritual treatment through prayer alone in accordance with the tenets and practices of a church or religious denomination of which the adult is a member or adherent.

(C) The board shall arrange for the provision of services for the prevention, correction or discontinuance of abuse or neglect or of a condition resulting from abuse or neglect for any adult who has been determined to need the services and consents to receive them. These services may include, but are not limited to, service and support administration, fiscal management, medical, mental health, home health care, homemaker, legal, and residential services and the provision of temporary accommodations and necessities such as food and clothing. The services do not include acting as a guardian, trustee, or protector as defined in section 5123.55 of the Revised Code. If the provision of residential services would require expenditures by the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, the board shall obtain the approval of the department prior to arranging the residential services.

To arrange services, the board shall:

(1) Develop an individualized service plan identifying the types of services required for the adult, the goals for the services, and the persons or agencies that will provide them;

(2) In accordance with rules established by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, obtain the consent of the adult or the adult’s guardian to the provision of any of these services and obtain the signature of the adult or guardian on the individual service plan. An adult who has been found incompetent under Chapter 2111. of the Revised Code may consent to services. If the board is unable to obtain consent, it may seek, if the adult is incapacitated, a court order pursuant to section 5126.33 of the Revised Code authorizing the board to arrange these services.

(D) The board shall ensure that the adult receives the services arranged by the board from the provider and shall have the services terminated if the adult withdraws consent.

(E) On completion of a review, the board shall submit a written report to the registry office established under section 5123.61 of the Revised Code. If the report includes a finding that a person with mental retardation or a developmental disability is a victim of action or inaction that may constitute a crime under federal law or the law of this state, the board shall submit the report to the law enforcement agency responsible for investigating the report. Reports prepared under this section are not public records as defined in section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 03-31-2003

(A) Notwithstanding the requirement of section 5126.31 of the Revised Code that a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities review reports of abuse and neglect, one of the following government entities, at the request of the county board or the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, shall review the report instead of the county board if circumstances specified in rules adopted under division (B) of this section exist:

(1) Another county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities;

(2) The department;

(3) A regional council of government established pursuant to Chapter 167. of the Revised Code;

(4) Any other government entity authorized to investigate reports of abuse and neglect.

(B) The director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code specifying circumstances under which it is inappropriate for a county board to review reports of abuse and neglect.

Effective Date: 06-06-2001

Effective Date: 03-31-2003

(A) After reviewing a report of abuse or neglect under section 5126.31 of the Revised Code or a report of a major unusual incident made in accordance with rules adopted under section 5123.612 of the Revised Code, a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall conduct an investigation if circumstances specified in rules adopted under division (B) of this section exist. If the circumstances specified in the rules exist, the county board shall conduct the investigation in the manner specified by the rules.

(B) The director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code specifying circumstances under which a county board shall conduct investigations under division (A) of this section and the manner in which the county board shall conduct the investigation.

Effective Date: 06-06-2001

If during the course of the review conducted under section 5126.31 of the Revised Code or the investigation conducted under section 5126.313 of the Revised Code, any person denies or obstructs the board’s access to the residence of the adult who is the subject of the review or investigation, the board may file a petition with the probate court of the county in which the residence is located for a temporary restraining order, in accordance with Civil Rule 65, to prevent the denial or obstruction of access. If the court finds reasonable cause to believe that the adult is abused or neglected and that access to the adult’s residence has been denied or obstructed, the court shall issue a temporary order restraining the interference or obstruction. After the order has been obtained, at the request of the board, an officer of the law enforcement agency investigating the report shall accompany representatives of the board to the adult’s residence.

If a person refuses to allow or interferes with the provision of services described in division (C) of section 5126.31 of the Revised Code to an adult who has consented to them, the county board may file a petition with the probate court of the county in which the adult resides for appropriate injunctive relief in accordance with Civil Rule 65.

Effective Date: 06-06-2001

(A) A county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may file a complaint with the probate court of the county in which an adult with mental retardation or a developmental disability resides for an order authorizing the board to arrange services described in division (C) of section 5126.31 of the Revised Code for that adult if the adult is eligible to receive services or support under section 5126.041 of the Revised Code and the board has been unable to secure consent. The complaint shall include:

(1) The name, age, and address of the adult;

(2) Facts describing the nature of the abuse, neglect, or exploitation and supporting the board’s belief that services are needed;

(3) The types of services proposed by the board, as set forth in the protective service plan described in division (J) of section 5126.30 of the Revised Code and filed with the complaint;

(4) Facts showing the board’s attempts to obtain the consent of the adult or the adult’s guardian to the services.

(B) The board shall give the adult notice of the filing of the complaint and in simple and clear language shall inform the adult of the adult’s rights in the hearing under division (C) of this section and explain the consequences of a court order. This notice shall be personally served upon all parties, and also shall be given to the adult’s legal counsel, if any, and the legal rights service. The notice shall be given at least twenty-four hours prior to the hearing, although the court may waive this requirement upon a showing that there is a substantial risk that the adult will suffer immediate physical harm in the twenty-four hour period and that the board has made reasonable attempts to give the notice required by this division.

(C) Upon the filing of a complaint for an order under this section, the court shall hold a hearing at least twenty-four hours and no later than seventy-two hours after the notice under division (B) of this section has been given unless the court has waived the notice. All parties shall have the right to be present at the hearing, present evidence, and examine and cross-examine witnesses. The Ohio Rules of Evidence shall apply to a hearing conducted pursuant to this division. The adult shall be represented by counsel unless the court finds that the adult has made a voluntary, informed, and knowing waiver of the right to counsel. If the adult is indigent, the court shall appoint counsel to represent the adult. The board shall be represented by the county prosecutor or an attorney designated by the board.

(D)(1) The court shall issue an order authorizing the board to arrange the protective services if it finds, on the basis of clear and convincing evidence, all of the following:

(a) The adult has been abused, neglected, or exploited;

(b) The adult is incapacitated;

(c) There is a substantial risk to the adult of immediate physical harm or death;

(d) The adult is in need of the services;

(e) No person authorized by law or court order to give consent for the adult is available or willing to consent to the services.

(2) The board shall develop a detailed protective service plan describing the services that the board will provide, or arrange for the provision of, to the adult to prevent further abuse, neglect, or exploitation. The board shall submit the plan to the court for approval. The protective service plan may be changed only by court order.

(3) In formulating the order, the court shall consider the individual protective service plan and shall specifically designate the services that are necessary to deal with the abuse, neglect, or exploitation or condition resulting from abuse, neglect, or exploitation and that are available locally, and authorize the board to arrange for these services only. The court shall limit the provision of these services to a period not exceeding six months, renewable for an additional six-month period on a showing by the board that continuation of the order is necessary.

(E) If the court finds that all other options for meeting the adult’s needs have been exhausted, it may order that the adult be removed from the adult’s place of residence and placed in another residential setting. Before issuing that order, the court shall consider the adult’s choice of residence and shall determine that the new residential setting is the least restrictive alternative available for meeting the adult’s needs and is a place where the adult can obtain the necessary requirements for daily living in safety. The court shall not order an adult to a hospital or public hospital as defined in section 5122.01 or a state institution as defined in section 5123.01 of the Revised Code.

(F) The court shall not authorize a change in an adult’s placement ordered under division (E) of this section unless it finds compelling reasons to justify a change. The parties to whom notice was given in division (B) of this section shall be given notice of a proposed change at least five working days prior to the change.

(G) The adult, the board, or any other person who received notice of the petition may file a motion for modification of the court order at any time.

(H) The county board shall pay court costs incurred in proceedings brought pursuant to this section. The adult shall not be required to pay for court-ordered services.

(I)(1) After the filing of a complaint for an order under this section, the court, prior to the final disposition, may enter any temporary order that the court finds necessary to protect the adult with mental retardation or a developmental disability from abuse, neglect, or exploitation including, but not limited to, the following:

(a) A temporary protection order;

(b) An order requiring the evaluation of the adult;

(c) An order requiring a party to vacate the adult’s place of residence or legal settlement, provided that, subject to division (K)(1)(d) of this section, no operator of a residential facility licensed by the department may be removed under this division;

(d) In the circumstances described in, and in accordance with the procedures set forth in, section 5123.191 of the Revised Code, an order of the type described in that section that appoints a receiver to take possession of and operate a residential facility licensed by the department.

(2) The court may grant an ex parte order pursuant to this division on its own motion or if a party files a written motion or makes an oral motion requesting the issuance of the order and stating the reasons for it if it appears to the court that the best interest and the welfare of the adult require that the court issue the order immediately. The court, if acting on its own motion, or the person requesting the granting of an ex parte order, to the extent possible, shall give notice of its intent or of the request to all parties, the adult’s legal counsel, if any, and the legal rights service. If the court issues an ex parte order, the court shall hold a hearing to review the order within seventy-two hours after it is issued or before the end of the next day after the day on which it is issued, whichever occurs first. The court shall give written notice of the hearing to all parties to the action.

Effective Date: 01-30-2004

(A) A probate court, through a probate judge or magistrate, may issue by telephone an ex parte emergency order authorizing any of the actions described in division (B) of this section if all of the following are the case:

(1) The court receives notice from the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, or an authorized employee of the board, that the board or employee believes an emergency order is needed as described in this section.

(2) The adult who is the subject of the notice is eligible to receive services or support under section 5126.041 of the Revised Code.

(3) There is reasonable cause to believe that the adult is incapacitated.

(4) There is reasonable cause to believe that there is a substantial risk to the adult of immediate physical harm or death.

(B) An order issued under this section may authorize the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to do any of the following:

(1) Provide, or arrange for the provision of, emergency protective services for the adult;

(2) Remove the adult from the adult’s place of residence or legal settlement;

(3) Remove the adult from the place where the abuse, neglect, or exploitation occurred.

(C) A court shall not issue an order under this section to remove an adult from a place described in division (B)(2) or (3) of this section until the court is satisfied that reasonable efforts have been made to notify the adult and any person with whom the adult resides of the proposed removal and the reasons for it, except that, the court may issue an order prior to giving the notice if one of the following is the case:

(1) Notification could jeopardize the physical or emotional safety of the adult.

(2) The notification could result in the adult being removed from the court’s jurisdiction.

(D) An order issued under this section shall be in effect for not longer than twenty-four hours, except that if the day following the day on which the order is issued is a weekend-day or legal holiday, the order shall remain in effect until the next business day.

(E)(1) Except as provided in division (E)(2) of this section, not later than twenty-four hours after an order is issued under this section, the county board or employee that provided notice to the probate court shall file a complaint with the court in accordance with division (A) of section 5126.33 of the Revised Code.

(2) If the day following the day on which the order was issued is a weekend-day or a holiday, the county board or employee shall file the complaint with the probate court on the next business day.

(3) Except as provided in section 5126.332 of the Revised Code, proceedings on the complaint filed pursuant to this division shall be conducted in accordance with section 5126.33 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-30-2004

(A) If an order is issued pursuant to section 5126.331 of the Revised Code, the court shall hold a hearing not later than twenty-four hours after the issuance to determine whether there is probable cause for the order, except that if the day following the day on which the order is issued is a weekend-day or legal holiday, the court shall hold the hearing on the next business day.

(B) At the hearing, the court:

(1) Shall consider the adult’s choice of residence and determine whether protective services are the least restrictive alternative available for meeting the adult’s needs;

(2) May issue temporary orders to protect the adult from immediate physical harm, including, but not limited to, temporary protection orders, evaluations, and orders requiring a party to vacate the adult’s place of residence or legal settlement;

(3) May order emergency protective services.

(C) A temporary order issued pursuant to division (B)(2) of this section is effective for thirty days. The court may renew the order for an additional thirty-day period.

Effective Date: 01-30-2004

Any person who has reason to believe that there is a substantial risk to an adult with mental retardation or a developmental disability of immediate physical harm or death and that the responsible county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities has failed to seek an order pursuant to section 5126.33 or 5126.331 of the Revised Code may notify the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. Within twenty-four hours of receipt of such notice, the department shall cause an investigation to be conducted regarding the notice. The department shall provide assistance to the county board to provide for the health and safety of the adult as permitted by law.

Effective Date: 01-30-2004

Each county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall provide comprehensive, formal training for county board employees and other persons authorized to implement sections 5126.30 to 5126.34 of the Revised Code.

The department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt rules establishing minimum standards for the training provided by county boards pursuant to this section. The training provided by the county boards shall meet the minimum standards prescribed by the rules.

Effective Date: 03-31-2003

Effective Date: 12-31-2003

Effective Date: 12-31-2003

Effective Date: 12-31-2003

Effective Date: 12-31-2003

Effective Date: 12-31-2003

Effective Date: 12-31-2003

Effective Date: 12-31-2003

Effective Date: 12-13-2003

(A) As used in this section, “health-related activities,” “prescribed medication,” and “tube feeding” have the same meanings as in section 5123.41 of the Revised Code.

(B) In accordance with sections 5123.42 and 5123.651 of the Revised Code, an employee of a county board of mental retardation or developmental disabilities or an entity under contract with the board who is not specifically authorized by other provisions of the Revised Code to administer prescribed medications, perform health-related activities, perform tube feedings, or provide assistance in the self-administration of prescribed medications may do so pursuant to the authority granted under those sections.

Effective Date: 03-31-2003

Effective Date: 03-13-1997

(A) Sections 5126.40 to 5126.47 of the Revised Code do not apply to medicaid-funded supported living.

(B) As used in sections 5126.40 to 5126.47 of the Revised Code, “provider” means a person or government entity certified by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to provide supported living for individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

(C) On and after July 1, 1995, each county board shall plan and develop supported living for individuals with mental retardation and developmental disabilities who are residents of the county in accordance with sections 5126.41 to 5126.47 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 11-11-1994; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

The county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall identify residents of the county for whom supported living is to be provided. Identification of the residents shall be made in accordance with the priorities set under section 5126.04 of the Revised Code and the waiting list policies developed under section 5126.042 of the Revised Code. The board shall assist the residents in identifying their individual service needs.

To arrange supported living for an individual, the board shall assist the individual in developing an individual service plan. In developing the plan, the individual shall choose a residence that is appropriate according to local standards; the individuals, if any, with whom the individual will live in the residence; the services the individual needs to live in the individual’s residence of choice; and the providers from which the services will be received. The choices available to an individual shall be based on available resources.

The board shall obtain the consent of the individual or the individual’s guardian and the signature of the individual or guardian on the individual service plan. The county board shall ensure that the individual receives from the provider the services contracted for under section 5126.45 of the Revised Code.

An individual service plan for supported living shall be effective for a period of time agreed to by the county board and the individual. In determinating that period, the county board and the individual shall consider the nature of the services to be provided and the manner in which they are customarily provided.

Effective Date: 03-13-1997

(A) A county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall establish an advisory council composed of board members or employees of the board, providers, individuals receiving supported living, and advocates for individuals receiving supported living to provide on-going communication among all persons concerned with supported living.

(B) The board shall develop procedures for the resolution of grievances between the board and providers or between the board and an entity with which it has a shared funding agreement.

(C) The board shall develop and implement a provider selection system. Each system shall enable an individual to choose to continue receiving supported living from the same providers, to select additional providers, or to choose alternative providers. Annually, the board shall review its provider selection system to determine whether it has been implemented in a manner that allows individuals fair and equitable access to providers.

In developing a provider selection system, the county board shall create a pool of providers for individuals to use in choosing their providers of supported living. The pool shall be created by placing in the pool all providers on record with the board or by placing in the pool all providers approved by the board through soliciting requests for proposals for supported living contracts. In either case, only providers that are certified by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may be placed in the pool.

If the board places all providers on record in the pool, the board shall review the pool at least annually to determine whether each provider has continued interest in being a provider and has maintained its certification by the department. At any time, an interested and certified provider may make a request to the board that it be added to the pool, and the board shall add the provider to the pool not later than seven days after receiving the request.

If the board solicits requests for proposals for inclusion of providers in the pool, the board shall develop standards for selecting the providers to be included. Requests for proposals shall be solicited at least annually. When requests are solicited, the board shall cause legal notices to be published at least once each week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper with general circulation within the county. The board’s formal request for proposals shall include a description of any applicable contract terms, the standards that are used to select providers for inclusion in the pool, and the process the board uses to resolve disputes arising from the selection process. The board shall accept requests from any entity interested in being a provider of supported living for individuals served by the board. Requests shall be approved or denied according to the standards developed by the board. Providers that previously have been placed in the pool are not required to resubmit a request for proposal to be included in the pool, unless the board’s standards have been changed.

In assisting an individual in choosing a provider, the county board shall provide the individual with uniform and consistent information pertaining to each provider in the pool. An individual may choose to receive supported living from a provider that is not included in the pool, if the provider is certified by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

Effective Date: 11-11-1994; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

(A) After receiving notice from the department of mental retardation and developmental disabilities of the amount of state funds to be distributed to it for planning, developing, contracting for, and providing supported living, the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall arrange for supported living on behalf of and with the consent of individuals based on their individual service plans developed under section 5126.41 of the Revised Code. With the state distribution and any other money designated by the board for supported living, the board shall arrange for supported living in one or more of the following ways:

(1) By contracting under section 5126.45 of the Revised Code with providers selected by the individual to be served;

(2) By entering into shared funding agreements with state agencies, local public agencies, or political subdivisions at rates negotiated by the board;

(3) By providing direct payment or vouchers to be used to purchase supported living, pursuant to a written contract in an amount determined by the board, to the individual or a person providing the individual with protective services as defined in section 5123.55 of the Revised Code.

(B) The board may arrange for supported living only with providers that are certified by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

When no certified provider is willing and able to provide supported living for an individual in accordance with the terms of the individual service plan for that individual, a county board may provide supported living directly if it is certified by the director of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to provide supported living.

A county board may, for a period not to exceed ninety days, contract for or provide supported living without meeting the requirements of this section for an individual it determines to be in emergency need of supported living. Thereafter, the individual shall choose providers in accordance with sections 5126.41 and 5126.42 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 03-13-1997; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

Effective Date: 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

Effective Date: 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

(A) A contract between a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities and a provider of supported living shall be in writing and shall be based on the individual service plan developed by the individual under section 5126.41 of the Revised Code. The plan may be submitted as an addendum to the contract. An individual receiving services pursuant to a contract shall be considered a third-party beneficiary to the contract.

(B) The contract shall be negotiated between the provider and the county board. The terms of the contract shall include at least the following:

(1) The contract period and conditions for renewal;

(2) The services to be provided pursuant to the individual service plan;

(3) The rights and responsibilities of all parties to the contract;

(4) The methods that will be used to evaluate the services delivered by the provider;

(5) Procedures for contract modification that ensure all parties affected by the modification are involved and agree;

(6) A process for resolving conflicts between individuals receiving services, the county board, and the provider, as applicable;

(7) Procedures for the retention of applicable records;

(8) Provisions for contract termination by any party involved that include requirements for an appropriate notice of intent to terminate the contract;

(9) Methods to be used to document services provided;

(10) Procedures for submitting reports required by the county board as a condition of receiving payment under the contract;

(11) The method and schedule the board will use to make payments to the provider and whether periodic payment adjustments will be made to the provider;

(12) Provisions for conducting fiscal reconciliations for payments made through methods other than a fee-for-service arrangement.

(C) Payments to the provider under a supported living contract must be determined by the board to be reasonable in accordance with policies and procedures developed by the board. Goods or services provided without charge to the provider shall not be included as expenditures of the provider.

(D) The board shall establish procedures for reconciling expenditures and payments, other than those made under a fee-for-service arrangement, for the prior contract year when a contract is not renewed and shall reconcile expenditures and payments in accordance with these procedures.

(E) A provider or an entity with which the board has entered into a shared funding agreement may appeal a negotiated contract or proposed shared funding rate to the county board using the procedures established by the board under section 5126.42 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 11-11-1994; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

Effective Date: 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

(A) No county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall be obligated to use any money other than money in the community mental retardation and developmental disabilities residential services fund to furnish residential services.

(B) Except with respect to a child required to be provided services pursuant to section 121.38 of the Revised Code, no court or other entity of state or local government shall order or otherwise require a county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities to use money from local sources for residential services for an individual with mental retardation or developmental disabilities or to arrange for residential services for such an individual unless a vacancy exists in an appropriate residential setting within the county.

Effective Date: 08-08-1996

A county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may, pursuant to a resolution adopted by an affirmative vote of the majority of its members, establish, by agreement with one or more other county boards of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, a residential services consortium to jointly provide residential services and supported living. The agreement shall designate one board to assume the fiscal responsibilities for the consortium. The county auditor of the designated county shall establish a community mental retardation and developmental disabilities residential services fund for the consortium. Each board that is a member of the consortium shall cause to be deposited in the fund any state or federal money received for community residential services the county board has agreed to contribute to the consortium.

Effective Date: 11-11-1994; 2007 HB119 06-30-2007

The county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities may adopt a resolution requesting the board of county commissioners to implement a residential facility linked deposit program under sections 5126.51 to 5126.62 of the Revised Code if the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities finds all of the following:

(A) There is a shortage of residential facilities in the county for individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities.

(B) Eligible organizations, otherwise willing and able to develop residential facilities in the county, have been unable to do so because of high interest rates.

(C) Placement of residential facility linked deposits will assist in financing the development of residential facilities in the county that otherwise would not be developed because of high interest rates.

The board shall transmit a certified copy of the resolution to the board of county commissioners.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

If the board of county commissioners adopts a resolution under sections 135.801 and 135.802 of the Revised Code implementing a residential facility linked deposit program, the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt a resolution that does all of the following:

(A) Establishes standards for its review of applications and its approval or disapproval of proposed residential facilities under section 5126.55 of the Revised Code;

(B) Prescribes the form of applications under section 5126.54 of the Revised Code;

(C) Establishes standards for approval or disapproval of applications for linked deposit loans under section 5126.58 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

As used in sections 5126.51 to 5126.62 of the Revised Code:

(A) “Develop” or “development,” in contexts not referring to developmental disabilities, means construction or rehabilitation.

(B) “Eligible lending institution” means a financial institution that meets all of the following requirements:

(1) Is eligible to make commercial loans;

(2) Has an office located within the territorial limits of the county;

(3) Is an institution into which the county’s investing authority may deposit the public moneys of the county;

(4) Holds itself out as participating in the residential facility linked deposit program.

(C) “Eligible organization” means either of the following:

(1) A nonprofit corporation that has as its primary activity the development or operation of a residential facility;

(2) A nonprofit corporation certified under section 5123.192 of the Revised Code.

(D) “Investing authority” has the same meaning as in section 135.31 of the Revised Code.

(E) “Residential facility” has the same meaning as in section 5123.19 of the Revised Code and also includes a residence where a nonprofit corporation certified under section 5123.192 of the Revised Code provides or proposes to provide supported living for individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities.

(F) “Residential facility linked deposit program” means the linked deposit program provided for in sections 5126.51 to 5126.62 of the Revised Code. A “residential facility linked deposit” is a deposit of public moneys of the county under, and for the purposes of, the residential facility linked deposit program. A “residential facility linked deposit loan” is a loan under, and for the purposes of, the residential facility linked deposit program.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

The general assembly finds that individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities residing in the state face a shortage of suitable residential facilities; that loans to finance the development of suitable residential facilities are subject to high interest rates; that eligible organizations, otherwise willing and able to develop suitable residential facilities, are unable to do so because of the high interest rates; and, consequently, that the shortage of suitable residential facilities is likely to continue and worsen.

The residential facility linked deposit program, when implemented in a county, is intended to provide low-cost funds for lending purposes that will effectively reduce high interest rates and materially contribute to remedying the shortage of suitable residential facilities for individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities who reside in the county.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

The residential facility linked deposit program is not operative in a county unless the board of county commissioners has adopted a resolution under sections 135.801 and 135.802 of the Revised Code implementing the program in the county.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

An eligible organization that seeks a residential facility linked deposit loan to finance all or part of the development of a residential facility shall obtain approval of the proposed project from the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities of the county in which the facility will be developed. The application shall be in the form prescribed by the board and include all of the following:

(A) The organization’s name, business address, and telephone number;

(B) The name of an officer or employee of the organization who may be contacted with regard to the application;

(C) A description of the residential facility and a timetable showing the time at which each phase of its development is expected to be completed;

(D) The amount of the loan to be applied for;

(E) Any other information the board considers necessary to successfully review the application.

Whoever knowingly makes a false statement on an application is guilty of the offense of falsification under section 2921.13 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

The county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall review each application filed under section 5126.54 of the Revised Code and adopt a resolution approving or disapproving development of the proposed residential facility. The board shall not approve development of the proposed residential facility unless it finds, based upon the application and its evaluation of the applicant, that development of the residential facility is consistent with its plan and priorities, under section 5126.05 of the Revised Code, for the provision of residential facilities for individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities residing in the county.

The resolution shall include specific findings of fact justifying the approval or disapproval.

The board shall transmit a certified copy of the resolution to the applicant and to the board of county commissioners.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

On receiving a resolution under section 5126.55 of the Revised Code approving development of a residential facility, an eligible organization may apply to an eligible lending institution, in the form prescribed by the institution, for a residential facility linked deposit loan to finance all or part of the development of the residential facility. The eligible organization shall include with its application both of the following:

(A) A copy of the resolution adopted under section 5126.55 of the Revised Code;

(B) A resolution, adopted by the organization’s board of trustees, certifying that if the organization’s application for a residential facility linked deposit loan is approved and accepted, the organization will use the loan solely to finance all or part of the cost of developing the residential facility as approved in the resolution adopted under section 5126.55 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

In reviewing an application for a residential facility linked deposit loan, the eligible lending institution shall apply the same lending standards as it customarily applies to applications for loans for the development of residential property. The lending institution shall either approve or disapprove an application for a residential facility linked deposit loan within a reasonable time, in accordance with commercial practice.

If the lending institution approves an application, it shall prepare and transmit each of the following to the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities:

(A) A certification that it is an eligible lending institution;

(B) A statement that it has approved a residential facility linked deposit loan to the eligible organization and the amount of the loan;

(C) A copy of the eligible organization’s loan application and a copy of the resolution of the eligible organization’s board of trustees included with the loan application;

(D) Any other information the board of county commissioners requires in the resolution adopted under sections 135.801 and 135.802 of the Revised Code.

If the lending institution does not approve an application for a residential facility linked deposit loan, it shall promptly notify the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities of such disapproval.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

The county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities shall adopt a resolution approving or disapproving an eligible organization’s application for a residential facility linked deposit loan. The board shall disapprove an application unless it finds, based on the application and its evaluation of the applicant, each of the following:

(A) The applicant has fully complied with sections 5126.54 and 5126.56 of the Revised Code.

(B) Development of the residential facility will materially contribute to alleviating the shortage of residential facilities in the county for individuals with mental retardation or developmental disabilities.

(C) The applicant is ready to proceed with development of the residential facility, but is unable to do so because of high interest rates.

(D) The board of county commissioners has certified that public moneys of the county are currently available for placement of the residential facility linked deposit necessary to provide low-cost financing to the applicant.

(E) Placement of the residential facility linked deposit, considered in the aggregate with all other residential facility linked deposits under the county’s residential facility linked deposit program, will not cause the total amount of the county’s residential facility linked deposits to exceed an amount equal to ten per cent of the operating budget of the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities for the current year. If placement of the residential facility linked deposit would cause the total amount of the county’s residential facility linked deposits to exceed the maximum established by this division, the board may accept the application but limit the amount of the residential facility linked deposit accordingly.

The resolution shall include specific findings of fact justifying acceptance or rejection of the application. If the board accepts the application, it shall specify the amount of the residential facility linked deposit in the resolution.

The board shall transmit a certified copy of the resolution to the applicant, the eligible lending institution, and the county’s investing authority.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

On acceptance of a residential facility linked deposit loan by the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, the county’s investing authority shall enter into a residential facility linked deposit agreement with the eligible lending institution. The agreement shall include all of the following terms:

(A) An agreement by the investing authority to place certificates of deposit with the eligible lending institution, in the amount of the residential facility linked deposit specified in the resolution, at an interest rate of up to five per cent per year below current annual market rates, for a term considered appropriate by the investing authority, not to exceed five years, and to renew the certificates of deposit for up to four additional terms, each additional term not to exceed five years;

(B) An agreement by the eligible lending institution to lend the value of the certificates of deposit placed with the institution to the eligible organization at an annual interest rate that is the same number of percentage points below the annual borrowing rate currently applicable to similar loans as the annual interest rate agreed to for certificates of deposit placed pursuant to division (A) of this section is below current annual market rates;

(C) An agreement by the eligible lending institution to pay interest on the certificates of deposit at times determined by the investing authority;

(D) The form in which the eligible lending institution is to make the certification required by section 5126.60 of the Revised Code;

(E) Any other terms necessary to carry out the purpose of sections 5126.51 to 5126.62 of the Revised Code.

The agreement may contain terms specifying the period of time during which the eligible lending institution is to lend funds upon placement of the residential facility linked deposit.

The investing authority shall determine current market rates under the agreement.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

On placement of a residential facility linked deposit pursuant to the residential facility linked deposit agreement under section 5126.59 of the Revised Code, the eligible lending institution shall lend the value of the residential facility linked deposit in accordance with the agreement. The loan shall be at an annual interest rate that is the same number of percentage points below the annual borrowing rate currently applicable to similar loans as the annual interest rate agreed to for certificates of deposit placed pursuant to division (A) of section 5126.59 of the Revised Code is below current annual market rates.

On complying with the agreement as provided in this section, the eligible lending institution shall transmit to the county investing authority, in the form prescribed by the residential facility linked deposit agreement, a certification of its compliance.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

The county investing authority shall monitor the compliance with sections 5126.51 to 5126.62 of the Revised Code of eligible lending institutions and eligible organizations receiving residential facility linked deposits and loans.

The investing authority shall annually report to the board of county commissioners and county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities with regard to the operation of the county’s residential facility linked deposit program. The report shall list the eligible organizations receiving residential facility linked deposit loans under the residential facility linked deposit program.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

The county, board of county commissioners, county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, and county investing authority are not liable to any eligible lending institution in any manner for payment of the principal or interest on a loan to an eligible organization. Delay in payment or default on the part of an eligible organization does not in any manner affect the residential facility linked deposit agreement between the county investing authority and the eligible lending institution.

Effective Date: 07-17-1990

(A) Whoever violates division (B) of section 5126.044 of the Revised Code is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.

(B) Whoever violates division (F) of section 5126.253 of the Revised Code shall be punished as follows:

(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(2) of this section, the person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.

(2) The person is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree if both of the following conditions apply:

(a) The employee who is the subject of the report that the person fails to submit was required to be reported for the commission or alleged commission of an act or offense involving the infliction on a child of any physical or mental wound, injury, disability, or condition of a nature that constitutes abuse or neglect of the child;

(b) During the period between the violation of division (F) of section 5126.253 of the Revised Code and the conviction of or plea of guilty by the person for that violation, the employee who is the subject of the report that the person fails to submit inflicts on any child attending a school district, educational service center, public or nonpublic school, or county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities where the employee works any physical or mental wound, injury, disability, or condition of a nature that constitutes abuse or neglect of the child.

Effective Date: 03-13-1997; 2008 HB428 09-12-2008