2006 Ohio Revised Code - 2953.31. Definitions.

§ 2953.31. Definitions.
 

As used in sections 2953.31 to 2953.36 of the Revised Code: 

(A) "First offender" means anyone who has been convicted of an offense in this state or any other jurisdiction and who previously or subsequently has not been convicted of the same or a different offense in this state or any other jurisdiction. When two or more convictions result from or are connected with the same act or result from offenses committed at the same time, they shall be counted as one conviction. When two or three convictions result from the same indictment, information, or complaint, from the same plea of guilty, or from the same official proceeding, and result from related criminal acts that were committed within a three-month period but do not result from the same act or from offenses committed at the same time, they shall be counted as one conviction, provided that a court may decide as provided in division (C) (1) (a) of section 2953.32 of the Revised Code that it is not in the public interest for the two or three convictions to be counted as one conviction. 

For purposes of, and except as otherwise provided in, this division, a conviction for a minor misdemeanor, for a violation of any section in Chapter 4507., 4510., 4511., 4513., or 4549. of the Revised Code, or for a violation of a municipal ordinance that is substantially similar to any section in those chapters is not a previous or subsequent conviction. However, a conviction for a violation of section 4511.19, 4511.251, 4549.02, 4549.021, 4549.03, 4549.042, or 4549.62 or sections 4549.41 to 4549.46 of the Revised Code, for a violation of section 4510.11 or 4510.14 of the Revised Code that is based upon the offender's operation of a vehicle during a suspension imposed under section 4511.191 or 4511.196 of the Revised Code, for a violation of a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, for a felony violation of Title XLV of the Revised Code, or for a violation of a substantially equivalent former law of this state or former municipal ordinance shall be considered a previous or subsequent conviction. 

(B) "Prosecutor" means the county prosecuting attorney, city director of law, village solicitor, or similar chief legal officer, who has the authority to prosecute a criminal case in the court in which the case is filed. 

(C) "Bail forfeiture" means the forfeiture of bail by a defendant who is arrested for the commission of a misdemeanor, other than a defendant in a traffic case as defined in Traffic Rule 2, if the forfeiture is pursuant to an agreement with the court and prosecutor in the case. 

(D) "Official records" has the same meaning as in division (D) of section 2953.51 of the Revised Code. 

(E) "Official proceeding" has the same meaning as in section 2921.01 of the Revised Code. 

(F) "Community control sanction" has the same meaning as in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code. 

(G) "Post-release control" and "post-release control sanction" have the same meanings as in section 2967.01 of the Revised Code. 
 

HISTORY: 135 v S 5 (Eff 1-1-74); 140 v H 227 (Eff 9-26-84); 142 v H 175 (Eff 6-29-88); 143 v S 49 (Eff 11-3-89); 143 v S 382 (Eff 12-31-90); 146 v H 274 (Eff 8-8-96); 148 v S 13. Eff 3-23-2000; 149 v H 490, § 1, eff. 1-1-04.
 

The effective date is set by section 4 of H.B. 490. 

The provisions of § 5 of S.B. 123 (149 v  - ), as amended by § 3 of H.B. 163 (150 v  - ), read as follows: 

SECTION 5. (A) Notwithstanding division (B) of section 1.58 of the Revised Code, the provisions of the Revised Code amended or enacted in Sections 1 and 2 of Am. Sub. S.B. 123 of the 124th General Assembly shall apply only in relation to conduct and offenses committed on or after January 1, 2004. Conduct and offenses committed prior to January 1, 2004, shall be governed by the law in effect on the date the conduct or offense was committed. * * * 

The provisions of § 7 of S.B. 123 (149 v  - ) read as follows: 

SECTION 7. (A) If, on or after March 31, 1999, a person filed an application in a court that requested the sealing of a conviction record under sections 2953.31 to 2953.36 of the Revised Code, if at the time the application was filed section 2953.36 did not make sections 2953.31 to 2953.35 of the Revised Code inapplicable to the conviction that was the subject of the application, if the person withdrew the application prior to March 31, 2001, and if the person refiles an application in the appropriate court within ninety days after the effective date of this section that requests the sealing of the same conviction record under sections 2953.31 to 2953.36 of the Revised Code, all of the following apply: 

(1) Divisions (C), (D), and (E) of section 2953.36 of the Revised Code, as they have existed since March 23, 2000, do not apply regarding the application or the determination of whether it should be accepted or granted, and the court may accept and grant the application regardless of whether the conviction that is the subject of the application is a conviction to which any of those divisions, but for the operation of this division, makes sections 2953.31 to 2953.35 of the Revised Code inapplicable. 

(2) Except as provided in division (A)(1) of this section, the provisions of sections 2953.31 to 2953.36 of the Revised Code that are in effect at the time of the refiling of the application apply regarding the application and the determination of whether it should be granted. 

(B) This section shall expire one year after this act becomes law. 

 

Effect of Amendments

S.B. 123, Acts 2002, effective January 1, 2004, in the last paragraph of (A), deleted "a conviction" preceding "for a violation" twice, inserted "4507., 4510" and rewrote the last sentence. 

H.B. 490, Acts 2002, effective January 1, 2004, added (F) and (G).