Section 109.42 | Compilation of laws relative to victim's rights.

• Effective: October 3, 2023
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 16 (GA 135), House Bill 33 (GA 135)

(A) The attorney general shall prepare and make available a compilation of all constitutional provisions and statutes relative to victim's rights in which the attorney general lists and explains the constitutional provisions and statutes in the form of a victim's bill of rights. The attorney general shall make the compilation available to all sheriffs, marshals, municipal corporation and township police departments, constables, and other law enforcement agencies, to all prosecuting attorneys, city directors of law, village solicitors, and other similar chief legal officers of municipal corporations, and to organizations that represent or provide services for victims of crime. The victim's bill of rights set forth in the compilation shall contain a description of all of the rights of victims that are provided for in the Ohio Constitution, or in Chapter 2930. or any other section of the Revised Code and shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) The right of a victim and a victim's representative, if applicable, to attend a proceeding before a grand jury, in a juvenile delinquency case, or in a criminal case without being discharged from the victim's or victim's representative's employment, having the victim's or victim's representative's employment terminated, having the victim's or victim's representative's pay decreased or withheld, or otherwise being punished, penalized, or threatened as a result of time lost from regular employment because of the victim's or victim's representative's attendance at the proceeding, as set forth in section 2151.211, 2930.18, 2939.121, or 2945.451 of the Revised Code;

(2) The potential availability pursuant to section 2151.359 or 2152.61 of the Revised Code of a forfeited recognizance to pay damages caused by a child when the delinquency of the child or child's violation of probation or community control is found to be proximately caused by the failure of the child's parent or guardian to subject the child to reasonable parental authority or to faithfully discharge the conditions of probation or community control;

(3) The availability of awards of reparations pursuant to sections 2743.51 to 2743.72 of the Revised Code for injuries caused by criminal offenses;

(4) The opportunity to obtain a court order, pursuant to section 2945.04 of the Revised Code, to prevent or stop the commission of the offense of intimidation of a crime victim or witness or an offense against the person or property of the complainant, or of the complainant's ward or child;

(5) The right of the victim and the victim's representative pursuant to the Ohio Constitution and sections 2151.38, 2929.20, 2930.10, 2930.16, and 2930.17 of the Revised Code to receive notice of a pending motion for judicial release or other early release of the person who committed the offense against the victim, to make a statement orally, in writing, or both at the court hearing on the motion, and to be notified of the court's decision on the motion;

(6) The right of the victim and the victim's representative, if applicable, pursuant to the Ohio Constitution and section 2930.16, 2967.12, 2967.26, 2967.271, or 5139.56 of the Revised Code to receive notice of any pending commutation, pardon, parole, transitional control, discharge, other form of authorized release, post-release control, or supervised release for the person who committed the offense against the victim or any application for release of that person and to send a written statement relative to the victimization and the pending action to the adult parole authority or the release authority of the department of youth services;

(7) The right of the victim to bring a civil action pursuant to sections 2969.01 to 2969.06 of the Revised Code to obtain money from the offender's profit fund;

(8) The right, pursuant to section 3109.09 of the Revised Code, to maintain a civil action to recover compensatory damages not exceeding ten thousand dollars and costs from the parent of a minor who willfully damages property through the commission of an act that would be a theft offense, as defined in section 2913.01 of the Revised Code, if committed by an adult;

(9) The right, pursuant to section 3109.10 of the Revised Code, to maintain a civil action to recover compensatory damages not exceeding ten thousand dollars and costs from the parent of a minor who willfully and maliciously assaults a person;

(10) The right of the victim, pursuant to section 2152.20, 2152.203, 2929.18, 2929.28, or 2929.281 of the Revised Code, to receive restitution from an offender or a delinquent child;

(11) The right of a victim of domestic violence, including domestic violence in a dating relationship as defined in section 3113.31 of the Revised Code, to seek the issuance of a civil protection order pursuant to that section, the right of a victim of a violation of section 2903.14, 2909.06, 2909.07, 2911.12, 2911.211, or 2919.22 of the Revised Code, a violation of a substantially similar municipal ordinance, or an offense of violence who is a family or household member of the offender at the time of the offense to seek the issuance of a temporary protection order pursuant to section 2919.26 of the Revised Code, and the right of both types of victims to be accompanied by a victim advocate during court proceedings;

(12) The right of a victim of a sexually oriented offense or of a child-victim oriented offense that is committed by a person who is convicted of, pleads guilty to, or is adjudicated a delinquent child for committing the offense and who is in a category specified in division (B) of section 2950.10 of the Revised Code to receive, pursuant to that section, notice that the person has registered with a sheriff under section 2950.04, 2950.041, or 2950.05 of the Revised Code and notice of the person's name, the person's residence that is registered, and the offender's school, institution of higher education, or place of employment address or addresses that are registered, the person's photograph, and a summary of the manner in which the victim must make a request to receive the notice. As used in this division, "sexually oriented offense" and "child-victim oriented offense" have the same meanings as in section 2950.01 of the Revised Code.

(13) The right of a victim of certain sexually violent offenses committed by an offender who also is convicted of or pleads guilty to a sexually violent predator specification and who is sentenced to a prison term pursuant to division (A)(3) of section 2971.03 of the Revised Code, of a victim of a violation of division (A)(1)(b) of section 2907.02 of the Revised Code committed on or after January 2, 2007, by an offender who is sentenced for the violation pursuant to division (B)(1)(a), (b), or (c) of section 2971.03 of the Revised Code, of a victim of an attempted rape committed on or after January 2, 2007, by an offender who also is convicted of or pleads guilty to a specification of the type described in section 2941.1418, 2941.1419, or 2941.1420 of the Revised Code and is sentenced for the violation pursuant to division (B)(2)(a), (b), or (c) of section 2971.03 of the Revised Code, and of a victim of an offense that is described in division (B)(3)(a), (b), (c), or (d) of section 2971.03 of the Revised Code and is committed by an offender who is sentenced pursuant to one of those divisions to receive, pursuant to section 2930.16 of the Revised Code, notice of a hearing to determine whether to modify the requirement that the offender serve the entire prison term in a state correctional facility, whether to continue, revise, or revoke any existing modification of that requirement, or whether to terminate the prison term. As used in this division, "sexually violent offense" and "sexually violent predator specification" have the same meanings as in section 2971.01 of the Revised Code.

(14) The right of a victim of a sexually oriented offense to information regarding the status of the sexual assault examination kit collected from the victim pursuant to section 109.68 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1)(a) A prosecuting attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, city director of law, assistant city director of law, village solicitor, assistant village solicitor, or similar chief legal officer of a municipal corporation or an assistant of any of those officers who prosecutes an offense committed in this state, upon first contact with the victim of the offense, the victim's family, or the victim's dependents, shall give the victim, the victim's family, or the victim's dependents a copy of the victim's rights request form created under section 2930.04 of the Revised Code, or a similar form that, at a minimum, contains all the required information listed in that section, and the compilation prepared pursuant to division (A) of this section and explain, upon request, the information in the form and compilation to the victim, the victim's family, or the victim's dependents. The victim may receive either through the online version of the compilation published to the attorney general's web site, or as a paper copy, upon request.

(b) A law enforcement agency that investigates a criminal offense or delinquent act committed in this state shall give the victim of the criminal offense or delinquent act, the victim's family, or the victim's dependents a copy of the form and compilation prepared pursuant to division (A) of this section at one of the following times:

(i) Upon first contact with the victim, the victim's family, or the victim's dependents, a peace officer from the law enforcement agency investigating the criminal offense or delinquent act against the victim shall determine whether the victim has access to the internet and whether the victim would prefer to access the victim's rights compilation online or if the victim requires a paper copy. The peace officer may give the victim a paper copy upon first contact, if requested, or the peace officer may provide the victim with the attorney general's telephone number to access the compilation at a later time. The attorney general shall provide a web site address at which a printable version of the victim's rights compilation that can be downloaded and printed locally may be found. The attorney general shall provide limited paper copies of the victim's rights compilation upon request to law enforcement agencies that order copies directly from the attorney general and to law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to provide to victims who do not have internet access or who would prefer a paper copy. The attorney general shall create a page within the attorney general's web site that is easy to access and navigate that contains the entire content of the victim's rights compilation and a link to the web site address at which a printable version of the victim's rights compilation may be found.

(ii) If the circumstances of the criminal offense or delinquent act and the condition of the victim, the victim's family, or the victim's dependents indicate that the victim, the victim's family, or the victim's dependents will not be able to understand the significance of the form and compilation upon first contact with the agency, and if the agency anticipates that it will have an additional contact with the victim, the victim's family, or the victim's dependents, upon the agency's second contact with the victim, the victim's family, or the victim's dependents.

If the agency does not give the victim, the victim's family, or the victim's dependents a copy of the form and compilation upon first contact with them and does not have a second contact with the victim, the victim's family, or the victim's dependents, the agency shall mail a copy of the form and compilation to the victim, the victim's family, or the victim's dependents at their last known address.

(c)(i) The attorney general shall create an information card that contains all of the following:

(I) An outline list of victim's rights contained in the Ohio Constitution and Revised Code;

(II) A reference to the victim's rights request form;

(III) The attorney general's crime victim's services office telephone number, electronic mailing address, web site address, and contact address, and a description of how to access victim's rights information;

(IV) The Ohio crime victim's justice center's telephone number, electronic mailing address, and contact address, and the web site address for accessing the center's victim's rights toolkit.

(ii) Upon first contact with the victim, the law enforcement agency shall provide the victim with the information card.

(2) A law enforcement agency, a prosecuting attorney or assistant prosecuting attorney, or a city director of law, assistant city director of law, village solicitor, assistant village solicitor, or similar chief legal officer of a municipal corporation that distributes a copy of the form and compilation prepared pursuant to division (A) of this section shall not be required to distribute a copy of an information card or other printed material provided by the clerk of the court of claims pursuant to section 2743.71 of the Revised Code but may provide the compilation along with the information cards or other printed materials provided by the clerk of the court of claims under section 2743.71 of the Revised Code.

(C) The cost of printing and distributing the form and compilation prepared pursuant to division (A) of this section shall be paid out of the reparations fund, created pursuant to section 2743.191 of the Revised Code, in accordance with division (D) of that section.

(D) As used in this section:

(1) "Criminal offense," "delinquent act," and "victim's representative" have the same meanings as in section 2930.01 of the Revised Code;

(2) "Victim advocate" has the same meaning as in section 2919.26 of the Revised Code.

The Legislative Service Commission presents the text of this section as a composite of the section as amended by multiple acts of the General Assembly. This presentation recognizes the principle stated in R.C. 1.52(B) that amendments are to be harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation.

Last updated September 11, 2023 at 9:52 AM

Available Versions of this Section

• September 30, 2011 – House Bill 86 - 129th General Assembly
• March 22, 2019 – Amended by Senate Bill 201 (GA 132), House Bill 1 (GA 132)
• April 6, 2023 – Amended by Senate Bill 288 (GA 134), House Bill 343 (GA 134)
• October 3, 2023 – Amended by Senate Bill 16 (GA 135), House Bill 33 (GA 135)