173.27 Criminal records check of ombudsman applicants.
173.27 Criminal records check of ombudsman applicants.
(A) As used in this section:
(1) “Applicant” means a person who is under final consideration for employment with the office of the state long-term care ombudsperson program in a full-time, part-time, or temporary position that involves providing ombudsperson services to residents and recipients. “Applicant” includes, but is not limited to, a person who is under final consideration for employment as the state long-term care ombudsperson or the head of a regional long-term care ombudsperson program. “Applicant” does not include a person who provides ombudsperson services to residents and recipients as a volunteer without receiving or expecting to receive any form of remuneration other than reimbursement for actual expenses.
(2) “Criminal records check” has the same meaning as in section 109.572 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1) The state long-term care ombudsperson or the ombudsperson’s designee shall request that the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation conduct a criminal records check with respect to each applicant. However, if the applicant is under final consideration for employment as the state long-term care ombudsperson, the director of aging shall request that the superintendent conduct the criminal records check. If an applicant for whom a criminal records check request is required under this division does not present proof of having been a resident of this state for the five-year period immediately prior to the date the criminal records check is requested or provide evidence that within that five-year period the superintendent has requested information about the applicant from the federal bureau of investigation in a criminal records check, the ombudsperson, designee, or director shall request that the superintendent obtain information from the federal bureau of investigation as part of the criminal records check of the applicant. Even if an applicant for whom a criminal records check request is required under this division presents proof of having been a resident of this state for the five-year period, the ombudsperson, designee, or director may request that the superintendent include information from the federal bureau of investigation in the criminal records check.
(2) A person required by division (B)(1) of this section to request a criminal records check shall do both of the following:
(a) Provide to each applicant for whom a criminal records check request is required under that division a copy of the form prescribed pursuant to division (C)(1) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code and a standard fingerprint impression sheet prescribed pursuant to division (C)(2) of that section, and obtain the completed form and impression sheet from the applicant;
(b) Forward the completed form and impression sheet to the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation.
(3) An applicant provided the form and fingerprint impression sheet under division (B)(2)(a) of this section who fails to complete the form or provide fingerprint impressions shall not be employed in any position for which a criminal records check is required by this section.
(C)(1) Except as provided in rules adopted by the director of aging in accordance with division (F) of this section and subject to division (C)(2) of this section, the office of the state long-term care ombudsperson may not employ a person in a position that involves providing ombudsperson services to residents and recipients if the person has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the following:
(a) A violation of section 2903.01, 2903.02, 2903.03, 2903.04, 2903.11, 2903.12, 2903.13, 2903.16, 2903.21, 2903.34, 2905.01, 2905.02, 2905.11, 2905.12, 2907.02, 2907.03, 2907.05, 2907.06, 2907.07, 2907.08, 2907.09, 2907.12, 2907.25, 2907.31, 2907.32, 2907.321, 2907.322, 2907.323, 2911.01, 2911.02, 2911.11, 2911.12, 2911.13, 2913.02, 2913.03, 2913.04, 2913.11, 2913.21, 2913.31, 2913.40, 2913.43, 2913.47, 2913.51, 2919.25, 2921.36, 2923.12, 2923.13, 2923.161, 2925.02, 2925.03, 2925.11, 2925.13, 2925.22, 2925.23, or 3716.11 of the Revised Code.
(b) A violation of an existing or former law of this state, any other state, or the United States that is substantially equivalent to any of the offenses listed in division (C)(1)(a) of this section.
(2)(a) The office of the state long-term care ombudsperson program may employ conditionally an applicant for whom a criminal records check request is required under division (B) of this section prior to obtaining the results of a criminal records check regarding the individual, provided that the state long-term care ombudsperson, ombudsperson’s designee, or director of aging shall request a criminal records check regarding the individual in accordance with division (B)(1) of this section not later than five business days after the individual begins conditional employment.
(b) The office of the state long-term care ombudsperson program shall terminate the employment of an individual employed conditionally under division (C)(2)(a) of this section if the results of the criminal records check request under division (B) of this section, other than the results of any request for information from the federal bureau of investigation, are not obtained within the period ending sixty days after the date the request is made. Regardless of when the results of the criminal records check are obtained, if the results indicate that the individual has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the offenses listed or described in division (C)(1) of this section, the office shall terminate the individual’s employment unless the office chooses to employ the individual pursuant to division (F) of this section. Termination of employment under this division shall be considered just cause for discharge for purposes of division (D)(2) of section 4141.29 of the Revised Code if the individual makes any attempt to deceive the office about the individual’s criminal record.
(D)(1) The office of the state long-term care ombudsperson program 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 conducted pursuant to a request made under division (B) of this section.
(2) The office of the state long-term care ombudsperson program may charge an applicant a fee not exceeding the amount the office pays under division (D)(1) of this section. The office may collect a fee only if the office notifies the applicant at the time of initial application for employment of the amount of the fee.
(E) The report of any criminal records check conducted pursuant to a request made under this section is not a public record for the purposes of section 149.43 of the Revised Code and shall not be made available to any person other than the following:
(1) The individual who is the subject of the criminal records check or the individual’s representative;
(2) The state long-term care ombudsperson, ombudsperson’s designee, director of aging, or the ombudsperson, designee, or director’s representative;
(3) If the state long-term care ombudsperson designates the head or other employee of a regional long-term care ombudsperson program to request a criminal records check under this section, a representative of the office of the state long-term care ombudsperson program who is responsible for monitoring the regional program’s compliance with this section;
(4) A court, hearing officer, or other necessary individual involved in a case dealing with a denial of employment of the applicant or dealing with employment or unemployment benefits of the applicant.
(F) The director of aging shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement this section. The rules shall specify circumstances under which the office of the state long-term care ombudsperson program may employ a person who has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense listed or described in division (C)(1) of this section but meets personal character standards set by the director.
(G) The office of the state long-term care ombudsperson program shall inform each person, at the time of initial application for a position that involves providing ombudsperson services to residents and recipients, that the person is required to provide a set of fingerprint impressions and that a criminal records check is required to be conducted if the person comes under final consideration for employment.
(H) In a tort or other civil action for damages that is brought as the result of an injury, death, or loss to person or property caused by an individual who the office of the state long-term care ombudsperson program employs in a position that involves providing ombudsperson services to residents and recipients, all of the following shall apply:
(1) If the office employed the individual in good faith and reasonable reliance on the report of a criminal records check requested under this section, the office shall not be found negligent solely because of its reliance on the report, even if the information in the report is determined later to have been incomplete or inaccurate.
(2) If the office employed the individual in good faith on a conditional basis pursuant to division (C)(2) of this section, the office shall not be found negligent solely because it employed the individual prior to receiving the report of a criminal records check requested under this section.
(3) If the office in good faith employed the individual according to the personal character standards established in rules adopted under division (F) of this section, the office shall not be found negligent solely because the individual prior to being employed had been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense listed or described in division (C)(1) of this section.
Effective Date: 06-05-2006; 06-30-2006