FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
December 19, 2024

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Dan Tierney: 614-644-0957
Lisa Peterson: 614-644-0957

Governor DeWine Signs Bills Into Law

(COLUMBUS, Ohio)—Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed the following bills into law: 

• Senate Bill 6, sponsored by the late State Senator Kirk Schuring (R-Canton), amends and enacts sections of the Revised Code regarding environmental, social, and corporate governance policies with respect to the state retirement systems, Bureau of Workers' Compensation, and state institutions of higher education.
• Senate Bill 100, sponsored by State Senators Nathan Manning (R-North Ridgeville) and Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood), generally prohibits a person from knowingly installing a tracking device or application on another person's property without the other person's consent or failing to remove or ensure removal of such a device or application from another person's property if the other person gave consent and subsequently revokes it, to authorize collecting oral fluid as evidence in suspected OVI cases, and to increase fines for repeatedly selling tobacco products to minors and to apply the public nuisance law to places where such sales occur.
• Senate Bill 154, sponsored by State Senator Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson), includes Space Force in the definition of the armed forces, armed services, and uniformed services of the United States.
• Senate Bill 196, sponsored by State Senator Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson), amends sections of the Revised Code regarding the authority of advanced practice registered nurses.
• Senate Bill 257, sponsored by State Senators Brian Chavez (R-Marietta) and Terry Johnson (R-McDermott), makes active duty members of the uniformed services eligible to participate in the homeownership savings linked deposit program and regarding Ohio National Guard Scholarship Program repayment interest.
• House Bill 5, sponsored by State Representatives Sharon Ray (R-Wadsworth) and Rachel Baker (D-Cincinnati), modernizes adoption laws. 
• House Bill 28, sponsored by State Representative Latyna Humphrey (D-Columbus), designates March as "Triple Negative Breast Cancer Awareness Month."
• House Bill 70, sponsored by State Representatives Sarah Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula) and Jennifer Gross (R-West Chester), requires schools to adopt a policy regarding the administration of over-the-counter drugs.
• House Bill 78, sponsored by State Representatives Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) and Joe Miller (D-Amherst), amends sections of the Revised Code regarding State Teachers Retirement System Board member eligibility.
• House Bill 81, sponsored by State Representatives Monica Robb Blasdel (R-Columbiana) and Don Jones (R-Freeport), makes multiple memorial designations.
• House Bill 111, sponsored by State Representatives Jeff LaRe (R-Violet Twp.) and Kevin Miller (R-Newark), increases the sentencing range for third degree felony domestic violence and to create a presumption in favor of a prison term for the offense.
• House Bill 184, sponsored by State Representatives Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) and Sean Brennan (D-Parma), amends sections of the Revised Code regarding charitable solicitations. 
• House Bill 234, sponsored by State Representatives Josh Williams (R-Sylvania Twp.) and Elgin Rogers Jr. (D-Toledo), revises the law relating to the suspension of a local official charged with a felony, to prohibit a court imposing a sentence on an offender for a felony or misdemeanor from considering whether the offender who entered an Alford plea shows genuine remorse for the offense, and to make changes to sealing and expungement eligibility.
• House Bill 236, sponsored by State Representatives Melanie Miller (R-Ashland) and Beth Lear (R-Galena), prohibits a congregate care setting from denying a patient or resident access to an advocate during public health emergencies and to name this act the Never Alone Act.
• House Bill 239, sponsored by State Representatives Sarah Fowler Arthur (R-Ashtabula) and Bill Dean (R-Xenia), establishes requirements relative to the registration, titling, and use of replica motor vehicles.
• House Bill 256, sponsored by State Representatives Kevin Miller (R-Newark) and Rodney Creech (R-West Alexandria), requires the Department of Natural Resources to inquire about organ donation under specified circumstances.
• House Bill 289, sponsored by State Representatives Monica Robb Blasdel (R-Columbiana) and D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron), provides that if a Tier I or Tier II sex offender/child-victim offender fails to comply with duties under the SORN law, the period of time that the offender has a duty to comply is tolled during the time of the failure, to require a sex offender/child-victim offender to register a fixed residence address or provide a detailed description of the places at which the offender or delinquent child intends to stay under the SORN Law, to require the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, under specified circumstances, to notify the sheriff of a receiving county when an offender who is required to register as a sex offender will be transported to that county upon release, and to repeal procedures relating to a subpoena of victims' records.
• House Bill 303, sponsored by State Representatives Thomas Hall (R-Madison Twp.) and Nick Santucci (R-Howland Twp.), establishes a process for the revision of training subjects for EMS personnel and to revise the law governing medication aides.
• House Bill 308, sponsored by State Representatives Dick Stein (R-Norwalk) and Sean Brennan (D-Parma), increases the term of the standard oil and gas lease for state land, to make changes to the Ohio Broadband Pole Replacement and Undergrounding Program, to expand the purposes for which money derived from certain disposal fees on construction and demolition debris may be used by a board of health, and to include energy generated by nuclear reaction as green energy.
• House Bill 338, sponsored by State Representatives Andrea White (R-Kettering) and Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake), allows child support orders to be issued, modified, or extended for children over 18 with a disability, to change the status of the judge of the Lebanon Municipal Court from part-time to full-time, and to clarify disbursement of funds related to computerization fees.
• House Bill 503, sponsored by State Representatives Bob Peterson (R-Sabina) and Don Jones (R-Freeport), prohibit certain activities regarding garbage-fed swine, feral swine, and wild boar and to revise a definition in the Agricultural Commodity Handlers Law.

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