Rule 1501-8-03 | Valid reasons for accessing confidential personal information.
Pursuant to the requirements of division (B)(2) of section 1347.15 of the Revised Code, this rule contains a list of valid reasons, directly related to the Ohio department of natural resources' exercise of its powers or duties, for which only employees of the department may access confidential personal information (CPI) regardless of whether the personal information system is a manual system or computer system:
(A) Performing the following functions constitute valid reasons for authorized employees of the department to access confidential personal information:
(1) Responding to a public records request;
(2) Responding to a request from an individual for the list of CPI the department maintains on that individual;
(3) Administering a constitutional provision or duty;
(4) Administering a statutory provision or duty;
(5) Administering an administrative rule provision or duty;
(6) Complying with any state or federal program requirements;
(7) Processing or payment of claims or otherwise administering a program with individual participants or beneficiaries;
(8) Auditing purposes;
(9) Licensure [or permit, eligibility, filing, etc.] processes;
(10) Investigation or law enforcement purposes;
(11) Administrative hearings;
(12) Litigation, complying with an order of the court, or subpoena;
(13) Human resource matters (e.g., hiring, promotion, demotion, discharge, salary/compensation issues, leave requests/issues, time card approvals/issues);
(14) Complying with an executive order or policy;
(15) Complying with a department policy or a state administrative policy issued by the department of administrative services, the office of budget and management or other similar state agency; or
(16) Complying with a collective bargaining agreement provision.
(B) To the extent that the general processes described in paragraph (A) of this rule do not cover the following circumstances, for the purpose of carrying out specific duties of the department, authorized employees would also have valid reasons for accessing CPI in these following circumstances:
(1) The office of human resources and the office of labor relations:
Providing professional and technical service to department staff and the general public regarding employee benefits, compensation, labor relations, equal employment opportunity, employee development and training.
(2) The division of parks and watercraft:
Managing the boater registration program. Employees of the division of watercraft may review CPI of individuals who are applying for or renewing a boat registration issued by the department for the purpose of managing the boat registration program.
(3) The division of wildlife:
Managing the recreational license and permit program. Division of wildlife and licensing system vendors may review CPI of individuals who hold or are applying for recreational licenses or permits issued by the department for the purpose of managing the recreational license and permit program.
(4) Department law enforcement units:
(a) Cooperating with state, county, federal, and local governments to gather and analyze information in order to protect against, respond to, and recover from catastrophic incidents, including but not limited to, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and biological incidents;
(b) Cooperating with homeland security planning and responses for the department; and
(c) Enforcing state and local laws.
(5) The office of external audits:
Providing auditing services to the department and associated boards and commissions.
Last updated July 16, 2021 at 9:23 AM
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