Chapter 5139 | Youth Services

Section 5139.01 | Department of youth services - definitions.

• Effective: April 6, 2017
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 319 - 131st General Assembly

(A) As used in this chapter:

(1) "Commitment" means the transfer of the physical custody of a child or youth from the court to the department of youth services.

(2) "Permanent commitment" means a commitment that vests legal custody of a child in the department of youth services.

(3) "Legal custody," insofar as it pertains to the status that is created when a child is permanently committed to the department of youth services, means a legal status in which the department has the following rights and responsibilities: the right to have physical possession of the child; the right and duty to train, protect, and control the child; the responsibility to provide the child with food, clothing, shelter, education, and medical care; and the right to determine where and with whom the child shall live, subject to the minimum periods of, or periods of, institutional care prescribed in sections 2152.13 to 2152.18 of the Revised Code; provided, that these rights and responsibilities are exercised subject to the powers, rights, duties, and responsibilities of the guardian of the person of the child, and subject to any residual parental rights and responsibilities.

(4) Unless the context requires a different meaning, "institution" means a state facility that is created by the general assembly and that is under the management and control of the department of youth services or a private entity with which the department has contracted for the institutional care and custody of felony delinquents.

(5) "Full-time care" means care for twenty-four hours a day for over a period of at least two consecutive weeks.

(6) "Placement" means the conditional release of a child under the terms and conditions that are specified by the department of youth services. The department shall retain legal custody of a child released pursuant to division (C) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code or division (C) of section 5139.06 of the Revised Code until the time that it discharges the child or until the legal custody is terminated as otherwise provided by law.

(7) "Home placement" means the placement of a child in the home of the child's parent or parents or in the home of the guardian of the child's person.

(8) "Discharge" means that the department of youth services' legal custody of a child is terminated.

(9) "Release" means the termination of a child's stay in an institution and the subsequent period during which the child returns to the community under the terms and conditions of supervised release.

(10) "Delinquent child" has the same meaning as in section 2152.02 of the Revised Code.

(11) "Felony delinquent" means any child who is at least ten years of age but less than eighteen years of age and who is adjudicated a delinquent child for having committed an act that if committed by an adult would be a felony. "Felony delinquent" includes any adult who is between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one and who is in the legal custody of the department of youth services for having committed an act that if committed by an adult would be a felony.

(12) "Juvenile traffic offender" has the same meaning as in section 2152.02 of the Revised Code.

(13) "Public safety beds" means all of the following:

(a) Felony delinquents who have been committed to the department of youth services for the commission of an act, other than a violation of section 2911.01 or 2911.11 of the Revised Code, that is a category one offense or a category two offense and who are in the care and custody of an institution or have been diverted from care and custody in an institution and placed in a community corrections facility;

(b) Felony delinquents who, while committed to the department of youth services and in the care and custody of an institution or a community corrections facility, are adjudicated delinquent children for having committed in that institution or community corrections facility an act that if committed by an adult would be a misdemeanor or a felony;

(c) Children who satisfy all of the following:

(i) They are at least ten years of age but less than eighteen years of age.

(ii) They are adjudicated delinquent children for having committed acts that if committed by an adult would be a felony.

(iii) They are committed to the department of youth services by the juvenile court of a county that has had one-tenth of one per cent or less of the statewide adjudications for felony delinquents as averaged for the past four fiscal years.

(iv) They are in the care and custody of an institution or a community corrections facility.

(d) Felony delinquents who, while committed to the department of youth services and in the care and custody of an institution are serving disciplinary time for having committed an act described in division (A)(18)(a), (b), or (c) of this section, and who have been institutionalized or institutionalized in a secure facility for the minimum period of time specified in divisions (A)(1)(b) to (e) of section 2152.16 of the Revised Code.

(e) Felony delinquents who are subject to and serving a three-year period of commitment order imposed by a juvenile court pursuant to divisions (A) and (B) of section 2152.17 of the Revised Code for an act, other than a violation of section 2911.11 of the Revised Code, that would be a category one offense or category two offense if committed by an adult.

(f) Felony delinquents who are described in divisions (A)(13)(a) to (e) of this section, who have been granted a judicial release to court supervision under division (B) or (D) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code or a judicial release to the department of youth services supervision under division (C) or (D) of that section from the commitment to the department of youth services for the act described in divisions (A)(13)(a) to (e) of this section, who have violated the terms and conditions of that release, and who, pursuant to an order of the court of the county in which the particular felony delinquent was placed on release that is issued pursuant to division (E) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code, have been returned to the department for institutionalization or institutionalization in a secure facility.

(g) Felony delinquents who have been committed to the custody of the department of youth services, who have been granted supervised release from the commitment pursuant to section 5139.51 of the Revised Code, who have violated the terms and conditions of that supervised release, and who, pursuant to an order of the court of the county in which the particular child was placed on supervised release issued pursuant to division (F) of section 5139.52 of the Revised Code, have had the supervised release revoked and have been returned to the department for institutionalization. A felony delinquent described in this division shall be a public safety bed only for the time during which the felony delinquent is institutionalized as a result of the revocation subsequent to the initial ninety-day period of institutionalization required by division (F) of section 5139.52 of the Revised Code.

(14) Unless the context requires a different meaning, "community corrections facility" means a county or multicounty rehabilitation center for felony delinquents who have been committed to the department of youth services and diverted from care and custody in an institution and placed in the rehabilitation center pursuant to division (E) of section 5139.36 of the Revised Code.

(15) "Secure facility" means any facility that is designed and operated to ensure that all of its entrances and exits are under the exclusive control of its staff and to ensure that, because of that exclusive control, no child who has been institutionalized in the facility may leave the facility without permission or supervision.

(16) "Community residential program" means a program that satisfies both of the following:

(a) It is housed in a building or other structure that has no associated major restraining construction, including, but not limited to, a security fence.

(b) It provides twenty-four-hour care, supervision, and programs for felony delinquents who are in residence.

(17) "Category one offense" and "category two offense" have the same meanings as in section 2152.02 of the Revised Code.

(18) "Disciplinary time" means additional time that the department of youth services requires a felony delinquent to serve in an institution, that delays the felony delinquent's planned release, and that the department imposes upon the felony delinquent following the conduct of an internal due process hearing for having committed any of the following acts while committed to the department and in the care and custody of an institution:

(a) An act that if committed by an adult would be a felony;

(b) An act that if committed by an adult would be a misdemeanor;

(c) An act that is not described in division (A)(18)(a) or (b) of this section and that violates an institutional rule of conduct of the department.

(19) "Unruly child" has the same meaning as in section 2151.022 of the Revised Code.

(20) "Revocation" means the act of revoking a child's supervised release for a violation of a term or condition of the child's supervised release in accordance with section 5139.52 of the Revised Code.

(21) "Release authority" means the release authority of the department of youth services that is established by section 5139.50 of the Revised Code.

(22) "Supervised release" means the event of the release of a child under this chapter from an institution and the period after that release during which the child is supervised and assisted by an employee of the department of youth services under specific terms and conditions for reintegration of the child into the community.

(23) "Victim" means the person identified in a police report, complaint, or information as the victim of an act that would have been a criminal offense if committed by an adult and that provided the basis for adjudication proceedings resulting in a child's commitment to the legal custody of the department of youth services.

(24) "Victim's representative" means a member of the victim's family or another person whom the victim or another authorized person designates in writing, pursuant to section 5139.56 of the Revised Code, to represent the victim with respect to proceedings of the release authority of the department of youth services and with respect to other matters specified in that section.

(25) "Member of the victim's family" means a spouse, child, stepchild, sibling, parent, stepparent, grandparent, other relative, or legal guardian of a child but does not include a person charged with, convicted of, or adjudicated a delinquent child for committing a criminal or delinquent act against the victim or another criminal or delinquent act arising out of the same conduct, criminal or delinquent episode, or plan as the criminal or delinquent act committed against the victim.

(26) "Judicial release to court supervision" means a release of a child from institutional care or institutional care in a secure facility that is granted by a court pursuant to division (B) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code during the period specified in that division or that is granted by a court to court supervision pursuant to division (D) of that section during the period specified in that division.

(27) "Judicial release to department of youth services supervision" means a release of a child from institutional care or institutional care in a secure facility that is granted by a court pursuant to division (C) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code during the period specified in that division or that is granted to department supervision by a court pursuant to division (D) of that section during the period specified in that division.

(28) "Juvenile justice system" includes all of the functions of the juvenile courts, the department of youth services, any public or private agency whose purposes include the prevention of delinquency or the diversion, adjudication, detention, or rehabilitation of delinquent children, and any of the functions of the criminal justice system that are applicable to children.

(29) "Metropolitan county criminal justice services agency" means an agency that is established pursuant to division (A) of section 5502.64 of the Revised Code.

(30) "Administrative planning district" means a district that is established pursuant to division (A) or (B) of section 5502.66 of the Revised Code.

(31) "Criminal justice coordinating council" means a criminal justice services agency that is established pursuant to division (D) of section 5502.66 of the Revised Code.

(32) "Comprehensive plan" means a document that coordinates, evaluates, and otherwise assists, on an annual or multi-year basis, all of the functions of the juvenile justice systems of the state or a specified area of the state, that conforms to the priorities of the state with respect to juvenile justice systems, and that conforms with the requirements of all federal criminal justice acts. These functions include, but are not limited to, all of the following:

(a) Delinquency;

(b) Identification, detection, apprehension, and detention of persons charged with delinquent acts;

(c) Assistance to crime victims or witnesses, except that the comprehensive plan does not include the functions of the attorney general pursuant to sections 109.91 and 109.92 of the Revised Code;

(d) Adjudication or diversion of persons charged with delinquent acts;

(e) Custodial treatment of delinquent children;

(f) Institutional and noninstitutional rehabilitation of delinquent children.

(B) There is hereby created the department of youth services. The governor shall appoint the director of the department with the advice and consent of the senate. The director shall hold office during the term of the appointing governor but subject to removal at the pleasure of the governor. Except as otherwise authorized in section 108.05 of the Revised Code, the director shall devote the director's entire time to the duties of the director's office and shall hold no other office or position of trust or profit during the director's term of office.

The director is the chief executive and administrative officer of the department and has all the powers of a department head set forth in Chapter 121. of the Revised Code. The director may adopt rules for the government of the department, the conduct of its officers and employees, the performance of its business, and the custody, use, and preservation of the department's records, papers, books, documents, and property. The director shall be an appointing authority within the meaning of Chapter 124. of the Revised Code. Whenever this or any other chapter or section of the Revised Code imposes a duty on or requires an action of the department, the duty or action shall be performed by the director or, upon the director's order, in the name of the department.

Section 5139.02 | Appointment of managing officers.

• Effective: March 23, 2016
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 56 - 131st General Assembly

(A)(1) As used in this section, "managing officer" means a deputy director, an assistant deputy director, a superintendent, a regional administrator, a deputy superintendent, or the superintendent of schools of the department of youth services, a member of the release authority, the chief of staff to the release authority, and the victims administrator of the office of victim services.

(2) Each division established by the director of youth services shall consist of managing officers and other employees, including those employed in institutions and regions as necessary to perform the functions assigned to them. The director or appropriate deputy director or managing officer of the department shall supervise the work of each division and determine general policies governing the exercise of powers vested in the department and assigned to each division. The appropriate managing officer or deputy director is responsible to the director for the organization, direction, and supervision of the work of the division or unit and for the exercise of the powers and the performance of the duties of the department assigned to it and, with the director's approval, may establish bureaus or other administrative units within the department.

(B) The director shall appoint all managing officers, who shall be in the unclassified civil service. The director may appoint a person who holds a certified position in the classified service within the department to a position as a managing officer within the department. A person appointed pursuant to this division to a position as a managing officer shall retain the right to resume the position and status held by the person in the classified service immediately prior to the person's appointment as managing officer, regardless of the number of positions the person held in the unclassified service. A managing officer's right to resume a position in the classified service may only be exercised when the director demotes the managing officer to a pay range lower than the managing officer's current pay range or revokes the managing officer's appointment to the position of managing officer. A person who holds a position in the classified service and who is appointed to the position of managing officer on or after January 1, 2016, shall have the right to resume a position in the classified service under this division only within five years after the effective date of the person's appointment as managing officer. A managing officer forfeits the right to resume a position in the classified service when the managing officer is removed from the position of managing officer due to incompetence, inefficiency, dishonesty, drunkenness, immoral conduct, insubordination, discourteous treatment of the public, neglect of duty, violation of this chapter or Chapter 124. of the Revised Code, the rules of the director of youth services or the director of administrative services, any other failure of good behavior, any other acts of misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance in office, or conviction of a felony while employed in the civil service. A managing officer also forfeits the right to resume a position in the classified service upon transfer to a different agency.

Reinstatement to a position in the classified service shall be to the position held in the classified service immediately prior to appointment as managing officer, or to another position certified by the director of administrative services as being substantially equal to that position. If the position the person previously held in the classified service immediately prior to appointment as a managing officer has been placed in the unclassified service or is otherwise unavailable, the person shall be appointed to a position in the classified service within the department that the director of administrative services certifies is comparable in compensation to the position the person previously held in the classified service. Service as a managing officer shall be counted as service in the position in the classified service held by the person immediately prior to the person's appointment as a managing officer. If a person is reinstated to a position in the classified service under this division, the person shall be returned to the pay range and step to which the person had been assigned at the time of the appointment as managing officer. Longevity, where applicable, shall be calculated pursuant to the provisions of section 124.181 of the Revised Code.

(C) Each person appointed as a managing officer shall have received special training and shall have experience in the type of work that the person's division is required to perform. Each managing officer, under the supervision of the director, has entire charge of the division, institution, unit, or region for which the managing officer is appointed and, with the director's approval, shall appoint necessary employees and may remove them for cause.

(D) The director may designate one or more deputy directors to sign any personnel actions on the director's behalf. The director shall make a designation in a writing signed by the director, and the designation shall remain in effect until the director revokes or supersedes it with a new designation.

Section 5139.03 | Control and management of state institutions or facilities.

• Effective: September 29, 2015
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 64 - 131st General Assembly

(A) The department of youth services shall control and manage all state institutions or facilities established or created for the training or rehabilitation of delinquent children committed to the department, except where the control and management of an institution or facility is vested by law in another agency. The department shall employ, in addition to other personnel authorized under Chapter 5139. of the Revised Code, sufficient personnel to maintain food service and buildings and grounds operations.

(B) The department of youth services shall, insofar as practicable, purchase foods and other commodities incident to food service operations from the department of mental health and addiction services. The department of youth services may enter into agreements with the department of mental health and addiction services providing for assistance and consultation in the construction of, or major modifications to, capital facilities of the department of youth services.

(C) The directors of mental health and addiction services and of youth services shall enter into written agreements to implement this section. Such directors may, from time to time, amend any agreements entered into under this section for the purposes of making more efficient use of personnel, taking advantage of economies in quantity purchasing, or for any other purpose which is mutually advantageous to both the department of youth services and the department of mental health and addiction services.

Section 5139.04 | Powers and duties of department.

• Effective: July 1, 2013
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 59 - 130th General Assembly

The department of youth services shall do all of the following:

(A) Support service districts through a central administrative office that shall have as its administrative head a deputy director who shall be appointed by the director of the department. When a vacancy occurs in the office of that deputy director, an assistant deputy director shall act as that deputy director until the vacancy is filled. The position of deputy director and assistant deputy director described in this division shall be in the unclassified civil service of the state.

(B) Receive custody of all children committed to it under Chapter 2152. of the Revised Code, cause a study to be made of those children, and issue any orders, as it considers best suited to the needs of any of those children and the interest of the public, for the treatment of each of those children;

(C) Obtain personnel necessary for the performance of its duties;

(D) Adopt rules that regulate its organization and operation, that implement sections 5139.34 and 5139.41 to 5139.43 of the Revised Code, and that pertain to the administration of other sections of this chapter;

(E) Submit reports of its operations to the governor and the general assembly by the thirty-first day of January of each odd-numbered year;

(F) Conduct a program of research in diagnosis, training, and treatment of delinquent children to evaluate the effectiveness of the department's services and to develop more adequate methods;

(G) Develop a standard form for the disposition investigation report that a juvenile court is required pursuant to section 2152.18 of the Revised Code to complete and provide to the department when the court commits a child to the legal custody of the department;

(H) Provide the state public defender the reasonable access authorized under division (I) of section 120.06 of the Revised Code in order to fulfill the department's constitutional obligation to provide juveniles who have been committed to the department's care access to the courts.

(I) Do all other acts necessary or desirable to carry out this chapter.

Section 5139.05 | Order to commit.

• Effective: September 15, 2014
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 483 - 130th General Assembly

(A) The juvenile court may commit any child to the department of youth services as authorized in Chapter 2152. of the Revised Code, provided that any child so committed shall be at least ten years of age at the time of the child's delinquent act, and, if the child is ten or eleven years of age, the delinquent act is a violation of section 2909.03 of the Revised Code or would be aggravated murder, murder, or a first or second degree felony offense of violence if committed by an adult. Any order to commit a child to an institution under the control and management of the department shall have the effect of ordering that the child be committed to the department and assigned to an institution or placed in a community corrections facility in accordance with division (E) of section 5139.36 of the Revised Code as follows:

(1) For an indefinite term consisting of the prescribed minimum period specified by the court under division (A)(1) of section 2152.16 of the Revised Code and a maximum period not to exceed the child's attainment of twenty-one years of age, if the child was committed pursuant to section 2152.16 of the Revised Code;

(2) Until the child's attainment of twenty-one years of age, if the child was committed for aggravated murder or murder pursuant to section 2152.16 of the Revised Code;

(3) For a period of commitment that shall be in addition to, and shall be served consecutively with and prior to, a period of commitment described in division (A)(1) or (2) of this section, if the child was committed pursuant to section 2152.17 of the Revised Code;

(4) If the child is ten or eleven years of age, to an institution, a residential care facility, a residential facility, or a facility licensed by the department of job and family services that the department of youth services considers best designated for the training and rehabilitation of the child and protection of the public. The child shall be housed separately from children who are twelve years of age or older until the child is released or discharged or until the child attains twelve years of age, whichever occurs first. Upon the child's attainment of twelve years of age, if the child has not been released or discharged, the department is not required to house the child separately.

(B)(1) Except as otherwise provided in section 5139.54 of the Revised Code, the release authority of the department of youth services, in accordance with section 5139.51 of the Revised Code and at any time after the end of the minimum period specified under division (A)(1) of section 2152.16 of the Revised Code, may grant the release from custody of any child committed to the department.

The order committing a child to the department of youth services shall state that the child has been adjudicated a delinquent child and state the minimum period. The jurisdiction of the court terminates at the end of the minimum period except as follows:

(a) In relation to judicial release procedures, supervision, and violations;

(b) With respect to functions of the court related to the revocation of supervised release that are specified in sections 5139.51 and 5139.52 of the Revised Code;

(c) In relation to its duties relating to serious youthful offender dispositional sentences under sections 2152.13 and 2152.14 of the Revised Code.

(2) When a child has been committed to the department under section 2152.16 of the Revised Code, the department shall retain legal custody of the child until one of the following:

(a) The department discharges the child to the exclusive management, control, and custody of the child's parent or the guardian of the child's person or, if the child is eighteen years of age or older, discharges the child.

(b) The committing court, upon its own motion, upon petition of the parent, guardian of the person, or next friend of a child, or upon petition of the department, terminates the department's legal custody of the child.

(c) The committing court grants the child a judicial release to court supervision under section 2152.22 of the Revised Code.

(d) The department's legal custody of the child is terminated automatically by the child attaining twenty-one years of age.

(e) If the child is subject to a serious youthful offender dispositional sentence, the adult portion of that dispositional sentence is imposed under section 2152.14 of the Revised Code.

(C) When a child is committed to the department of youth services, the department may assign the child to a hospital for mental, physical, and other examination, inquiry, or treatment for the period of time that is necessary. The department may remove any child in its custody to a hospital for observation, and a complete report of every observation at the hospital shall be made in writing and shall include a record of observation, treatment, and medical history and a recommendation for future treatment, custody, and maintenance. The department shall thereupon order the placement and treatment that it determines to be most conducive to the purposes of Chapters 2151. and 5139. of the Revised Code. The committing court and all public authorities shall make available to the department all pertinent data in their possession with respect to the case.

(D) Records maintained by the department of youth services pertaining to the children in its custody shall be accessible only to department employees, except by consent of the department, upon the order of the judge of a court of record, or as provided in divisions (D)(1) and (2) of this section. These records shall not be considered "public records," as defined in section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

(1) Except as otherwise provided by a law of this state or the United States, the department of youth services may release records that are maintained by the department of youth services and that pertain to children in its custody to the department of rehabilitation and correction regarding persons who are under the jurisdiction of the department of rehabilitation and correction and who have previously been committed to the department of youth services. The department of rehabilitation and correction may use those records for the limited purpose of carrying out the duties of the department of rehabilitation and correction. Records released by the department of youth services to the department of rehabilitation and correction shall remain confidential and shall not be considered public records as defined in section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

(2) The department of youth services shall provide to the superintendent of the school district in which a child discharged or released from the custody of the department is entitled to attend school under section 3313.64 or 3313.65 of the Revised Code the records described in divisions (D)(4)(a) to (d) of section 2152.18 of the Revised Code. Subject to the provisions of section 3319.321 of the Revised Code and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C. 1232g, as amended, the records released to the superintendent shall remain confidential and shall not be considered public records as defined in section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

(E)(1) When a child is committed to the department of youth services, the department, orally or in writing, shall notify the parent, guardian, or custodian of a child that the parent, guardian, or custodian may request at any time from the superintendent of the institution in which the child is located any of the information described in divisions (E)(1)(a), (b), (c), and (d) of this section. The parent, guardian, or custodian may provide the department with the name, address, and telephone number of the parent, guardian, or custodian, and, until the department is notified of a change of name, address, or telephone number, the department shall use the name, address, and telephone number provided by the parent, guardian, or custodian to provide notices or answer inquiries concerning the following information:

(a) When the department of youth services makes a permanent assignment of the child to a facility, the department, orally or in writing and on or before the third business day after the day the permanent assignment is made, shall notify the parent, guardian, or custodian of the child of the name of the facility to which the child has been permanently assigned.

If a parent, guardian, or custodian of a child who is committed to the department of youth services requests, orally or in writing, the department to provide the parent, guardian, or custodian with the name of the facility in which the child is currently located, the department, orally or in writing and on or before the next business day after the day on which the request is made, shall provide the name of that facility to the parent, guardian, or custodian.

(b) If a parent, guardian, or custodian of a child who is committed to the department of youth services, orally or in writing, asks the superintendent of the institution in which the child is located whether the child is being disciplined by the personnel of the institution, what disciplinary measure the personnel of the institution are using for the child, or why the child is being disciplined, the superintendent or the superintendent's designee, on or before the next business day after the day on which the request is made, shall provide the parent, guardian, or custodian with written or oral responses to the questions.

(c) If a parent, guardian, or custodian of a child who is committed to the department of youth services, orally or in writing, asks the superintendent of the institution in which the child is held whether the child is receiving any medication from personnel of the institution, what type of medication the child is receiving, or what condition of the child the medication is intended to treat, the superintendent or the superintendent's designee, on or before the next business day after the day on which the request is made, shall provide the parent, guardian, or custodian with oral or written responses to the questions.

(d) When a major incident occurs with respect to a child who is committed to the department of youth services, the department, as soon as reasonably possible after the major incident occurs, shall notify the parent, guardian, or custodian of the child that a major incident has occurred with respect to the child and of all the details of that incident that the department has ascertained.

(2) The failure of the department of youth services to provide any notification required by or answer any requests made pursuant to division (E) of this section does not create a cause of action against the state.

(F) The department of youth services, as a means of punishment while the child is in its custody, shall not prohibit a child who is committed to the department from seeing that child's parent, guardian, or custodian during standard visitation periods allowed by the department of youth services unless the superintendent of the institution in which the child is held determines that permitting that child to visit with the child's parent, guardian, or custodian would create a safety risk to that child, that child's parents, guardian, or custodian, the personnel of the institution, or other children held in that institution.

(G) As used in this section:

(1) "Permanent assignment" means the assignment or transfer for an extended period of time of a child who is committed to the department of youth services to a facility in which the child will receive training or participate in activities that are directed toward the child's successful rehabilitation. "Permanent assignment" does not include the transfer of a child to a facility for judicial release hearings pursuant to section 2152.22 of the Revised Code or for any other temporary assignment or transfer to a facility.

(2) "Major incident" means the escape or attempted escape of a child who has been committed to the department of youth services from the facility to which the child is assigned; the return to the custody of the department of a child who has escaped or otherwise fled the custody and control of the department without authorization; the allegation of any sexual activity with a child committed to the department; physical injury to a child committed to the department as a result of alleged abuse by department staff; an accident resulting in injury to a child committed to the department that requires medical care or treatment outside the institution in which the child is located; the discovery of a controlled substance upon the person or in the property of a child committed to the department; a suicide attempt by a child committed to the department; a suicide attempt by a child committed to the department that results in injury to the child requiring emergency medical services outside the institution in which the child is located; the death of a child committed to the department; an injury to a visitor at an institution under the control of the department that is caused by a child committed to the department; and the commission or suspected commission of an act by a child committed to the department that would be an offense if committed by an adult.

(3) "Sexual activity" has the same meaning as in section 2907.01 of the Revised Code.

(4) "Controlled substance" has the same meaning as in section 3719.01 of the Revised Code.

(5) "Residential care facility" and "residential facility" have the same meanings as in section 2151.011 of the Revised Code.

Section 5139.06 | Disposition of child.

• Effective: October 12, 2016
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 158 - 131st General Assembly

(A) When a child has been committed to the department of youth services, the department shall do both of the following:

(1) Place the child in an appropriate institution under the condition that it considers best designed for the training and rehabilitation of the child and the protection of the public, provided that the institutional placement shall be consistent with the order committing the child to its custody;

(2) Maintain the child in institutional care or institutional care in a secure facility for the required period of institutionalization in a manner consistent with division (A)(1) of section 2152.16 and divisions (A) to (F) of section 2152.17 of the Revised Code, whichever are applicable, and with section 5139.38 or division (B), (C), or (D) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code.

(B) When a child has been committed to the department of youth services and has not been institutionalized or institutionalized in a secure facility for the prescribed minimum period of time, including, but not limited to, a prescribed period of time under division (A)(1)(a) of section 2152.16 of the Revised Code, the department, the child, or the child's parent may request the court that committed the child to order a judicial release to court supervision or a judicial release to department of youth services supervision in accordance with division (B), (C), or (D) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code, and the child may be released from institutionalization or institutionalization in a secure facility in accordance with the applicable division. A child in those circumstances shall not be released from institutionalization or institutionalization in a secure facility except in accordance with section 2152.22 or 5139.38 of the Revised Code. When a child is released pursuant to a judicial release to court supervision under division (B) or (D) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code, the department shall comply with division (B)(3) of that section and, if the court requests, shall send the committing court a report on the child's progress in the institution and recommendations for conditions of supervision by the court after release. When a child is released pursuant to a judicial release to department of youth services supervision under division (C) or (D) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code, the department shall comply with division (C)(3) of that section relative to the child and shall send the committing court and the juvenile court of the county in which the child is placed a copy of the treatment and rehabilitation plan described in that division and the conditions that it fixed. The court of the county in which the child is placed may adopt the conditions as an order of the court and may add any additional consistent conditions it considers appropriate, provided that the court may not add any condition that decreases the level or degree of supervision specified by the department in its plan, that substantially increases the financial burden of supervision that will be experienced by the department, or that alters the placement specified by the department in its plan. Any violations of the conditions of the child's judicial release or early release shall be handled pursuant to division (E) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code.

(C) When a child has been committed to the department of youth services, the department may do any of the following:

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter, Chapter 2151., or Chapter 2152. of the Revised Code that prescribe required periods of institutionalization, transfer the child to any other state institution, whenever it appears that the child by reason of mental illness or developmental disability ought to be in another state institution. Before transferring a child to any other state institution, the department shall include in the minutes a record of the order of transfer and the reason for the transfer and, at least seven days prior to the transfer, shall send a certified copy of the order to the person shown by its record to have had the care or custody of the child immediately prior to the child's commitment. Except as provided in division (C)(2) of this section, no person shall be transferred from a benevolent institution to a correctional institution or to a facility or institution operated by the department of youth services.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter, Chapter 2151., or Chapter 2152. of the Revised Code that prescribe required periods of institutionalization, transfer the child under section 5120.162 of the Revised Code to a correctional medical center established by the department of rehabilitation and correction, whenever the child has an illness, physical condition, or other medical problem and it appears that the child would benefit from diagnosis or treatment at the center for that illness, condition, or problem. Before transferring a child to a center, the department of youth services shall include in the minutes a record of the order of transfer and the reason for the transfer and, except in emergency situations, at least seven days prior to the transfer, shall send a certified copy of the order to the person shown by its records to have had the care or custody of the child immediately prior to the child's commitment. If the transfer of the child occurs in an emergency situation, as soon as possible after the decision is made to make the transfer, the department of youth services shall send a certified copy of the order to the person shown by its records to have had the care or custody of the child immediately prior to the child's commitment. A transfer under this division shall be in accordance with the terms of the agreement the department of youth services enters into with the department of rehabilitation and correction under section 5120.162 of the Revised Code and shall continue only as long as the child reasonably appears to receive benefit from diagnosis or treatment at the center for an illness, physical condition, or other medical problem.

(3) Revoke or modify any order of the department except an order of discharge as often as conditions indicate it to be desirable;

(4) If the child was committed pursuant to division (A)(1)(b), (c), (d), or (e) of section 2152.16 of the Revised Code and has been institutionalized or institutionalized in a secure facility for the prescribed minimum periods of time under the division pursuant to which the commitment was made, assign the child to a family home, a group care facility, or other place maintained under public or private auspices, within or without this state, for necessary treatment and rehabilitation, the costs of which may be paid by the department, provided that the department shall notify the committing court, in writing, of the place and terms of the assignment at least fifteen days prior to the scheduled date of the assignment;

(5) Release the child from an institution in accordance with sections 5139.51 to 5139.54 of the Revised Code in the circumstances described in those sections.

(D) The department of youth services shall notify the committing court of any order transferring the physical location of any child committed to it in accordance with section 5139.35 of the Revised Code. Upon the discharge from its custody and control, the department may petition the court for an order terminating its custody and control.

Section 5139.07 | Rehabilitation.

• Effective: March 22, 2001
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 115, Senate Bill 179 - 123rd General Assembly

(A)(1)(a) As a means of correcting the socially harmful tendencies of a child committed to it, the department of youth services may require a child to participate in vocational, physical, and corrective training and activities, and the conduct and modes of life that seem best adapted to rehabilitate the child and fit the child for return to full liberty without danger to the public welfare.

(b) Except as otherwise provided, the department shall require any child committed to it who has not attained a diploma or certificate of high school equivalence, to participate in courses leading toward a high school diploma or an Ohio certificate of high school equivalence. This requirement does not apply to a child in an assessment program or treatment intervention program prescribed by the department.

(c) The department may monetarily compensate the child for the activities described in this section by transferring the wages of the child for those activities to the appropriate youth benefit fund created under section 5139.86 of the Revised Code.

(d) This section does not permit the department to release a child committed to it from institutional care or institutional care in a secure facility, whichever is applicable, other than in accordance with sections 2152.22, 5139.06, 5139.38, and 5139.50 to 5139.54 of the Revised Code.

(2) The failure of the department of youth services to provide, pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section, an opportunity for any child committed to it to participate in courses that lead to a high school diploma or an Ohio certificate of high school equivalence, does not give rise to a claim for damages against the department.

(B) The department may require a child committed to it to return to the child's home or to be placed in a foster care placement if it is authorized to make a placement of that nature under sections 2152.22, 5139.06, 5139.38, and 5139.50 to 5139.54 of the Revised Code. Any placement of that nature shall be made in accordance with those sections. The legal residence of a child so placed by the department is the place in which the child is residing in accordance with a department order of placement. The school district responsible for payment of tuition on behalf of the child so placed shall be determined pursuant to section 3313.64 or 3313.65 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.

Section 5139.08 | Agreements with other state agencies.

• Effective: October 12, 2016
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 158 - 131st General Assembly

The department of youth services may enter into an agreement with the director of rehabilitation and correction pursuant to which the department of youth services, in accordance with division (C)(2) of section 5139.06 and section 5120.162 of the Revised Code, may transfer to a correctional medical center established by the department of rehabilitation and correction, children who are within its custody for diagnosis or treatment of an illness, physical condition, or other medical problem. The department of youth services may enter into any other agreements with the director of job and family services, the director of mental health and addiction services, the director of developmental disabilities, the director of rehabilitation and correction, with the courts having probation officers or other public officials, and with private agencies or institutions for separate care or special treatment of children subject to the control of the department of youth services. The department of youth services may, upon the request of a juvenile court not having a regular probation officer, provide probation services for such court.

Upon request by the department of youth services, any public agency or group care facility established or administered by the state for the care and treatment of children and youth shall, consistent with its functions, accept and care for any child whose custody is vested in the department in the same manner as it would be required to do if custody had been vested by a court in such agency or group care facility. If the department has reasonable grounds to believe that any child or youth whose custody is vested in it is mentally ill or has an intellectual disability, the department may file an affidavit under section 5122.11 or 5123.76 of the Revised Code. The department's affidavit for admission of a child or youth to such institution shall be filed with the probate court of the county from which the child was committed to the department. Such court may request the probate court of the county in which the child is held to conduct the hearing on the application, in which case the court making such request shall bear the expenses of the proceeding. If the department files such an affidavit, the child or youth may be kept in such institution until a final decision on the affidavit is made by the appropriate court.

Section 5139.09 | Periodic re-examination of children.

• Effective: November 24, 1981
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 440 - 114th General Assembly

The department of youth services shall make periodic reexamination of all children under its control for the purpose of determining whether existing orders in individual cases should be modified or continued in force. These examinations shall be made with respect to every child at least once annually.

Section 5139.10 | Final discharges ends control by department.

• Effective: November 24, 1981
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 440 - 114th General Assembly

Unless the child has already received a final discharge, the control by the department of youth services of a child committed as a delinquent shall cease when the child reaches the age of twenty-one years.

Section 5139.101 | Transitional services program.

• Effective: April 4, 2023
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 288 - 134th General Assembly

(A) The department of youth services, in coordination with any other agencies deemed necessary, may develop a program to assist a youth leaving the supervision, control, and custody of the department at twenty-one years of age. The program shall provide supportive services for specific educational or rehabilitative purposes, under conditions agreed upon by both the department and the youth and terminable by either. Services shall cease not later than when the youth reaches twenty-two years of age and shall not be construed as extending control of a child beyond discharge as described in section 5139.10 of the Revised Code.

(B) The services provided by the program shall be offered to the youth prior to the youth's discharge date, but a youth may request and the department shall consider any such request for the services described up to ninety days after the youth's effective date of discharge, even if the youth has previously declined services.

Last updated March 10, 2023 at 4:00 PM

Section 5139.11 | Prevention and control of juvenile delinquency.

• Effective: September 29, 2011
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 153 - 129th General Assembly

The department of youth services shall do all of the following:

(A) Through a program of education, promotion, and organization, form groups of local citizens and assist these groups in conducting activities aimed at the prevention and control of juvenile delinquency, making use of local people and resources for the following purposes:

(1) Combatting local conditions known to contribute to juvenile delinquency;

(2) Developing recreational and other programs for youth work;

(3) Providing adult sponsors for delinquent children cases;

(4) Dealing with other related problems of the locality.

(B) Advise local, state, and federal officials, public and private agencies, and lay groups on the needs for and possible methods of the reduction and prevention of juvenile delinquency and the treatment of delinquent children;

(C) Consult with the schools and courts of this state on the development of programs for the reduction and prevention of delinquency and the treatment of delinquents;

(D) Cooperate with other agencies whose services deal with the care and treatment of delinquent children to the end that delinquent children who are state wards may be assisted whenever possible to a successful adjustment outside of institutional care;

(E) Cooperate with other agencies in surveying, developing, and utilizing the recreational resources of a community as a means of combatting the problem of juvenile delinquency and effectuating rehabilitation;

(F) Hold district and state conferences from time to time in order to acquaint the public with current problems of juvenile delinquency and develop a sense of civic responsibility toward the prevention of juvenile delinquency;

(G) Assemble and distribute information relating to juvenile delinquency and report on studies relating to community conditions that affect the problem of juvenile delinquency;

(H) Assist any community within the state by conducting a comprehensive survey of the community's available public and private resources, and recommend methods of establishing a community program for combatting juvenile delinquency and crime, but no survey of that type shall be conducted unless local individuals and groups request it through their local authorities, and no request of that type shall be interpreted as binding the community to following the recommendations made as a result of the request;

(I) Evaluate the rehabilitation of children committed to the department and prepare and submit periodic reports to the committing court for the following purposes:

(1) Evaluating the effectiveness of institutional treatment;

(2) Making recommendations for judicial release under section 2152.22 of the Revised Code if appropriate and recommending conditions for judicial release;

(3) Reviewing the placement of children and recommending alternative placements where appropriate.

(J) Coordinate dates for hearings to be conducted under section 2152.22 of the Revised Code and assist in the transfer and release of children from institutionalization to the custody of the committing court;

(K)(1) Coordinate and assist juvenile justice systems by doing the following:

(a) Performing juvenile justice system planning in the state, including any planning that is required by any federal law;

(b) Collecting, analyzing, and correlating information and data concerning the juvenile justice system in the state;

(c) Cooperating with and providing technical assistance to state departments, administrative planning districts, metropolitan county criminal justice services agencies, criminal justice coordinating councils, and agencies, offices, and departments of the juvenile justice system in the state, and other appropriate organizations and persons;

(d) Encouraging and assisting agencies, offices, and departments of the juvenile justice system in the state and other appropriate organizations and persons to solve problems that relate to the duties of the department;

(e) Administering within the state any juvenile justice acts and programs that the governor requires the department to administer;

(f) Implementing the state comprehensive plans;

(g) Visiting and inspecting jails, detention facilities, correctional facilities, facilities that may hold juveniles involuntarily, or any other facility that may temporarily house juveniles on a voluntary or involuntary basis for the purpose of compliance pursuant to the "Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974," 88 Stat. 1109, as amended;

(h) Auditing grant activities of agencies, offices, organizations, and persons that are financed in whole or in part by funds granted through the department;

(i) Monitoring or evaluating the performance of juvenile justice system projects and programs in the state that are financed in whole or in part by funds granted through the department;

(j) Applying for, allocating, disbursing, and accounting for grants that are made available pursuant to federal juvenile justice acts, or made available from other federal, state, or private sources, to improve the criminal and juvenile justice systems in the state. All money from federal juvenile justice act grants shall, if the terms under which the money is received require that the money be deposited into an interest bearing fund or account, be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the federal juvenile justice program purposes fund, which is hereby created. All investment earnings shall be credited to the fund.

(k) Contracting with federal, state, and local agencies, foundations, corporations, businesses, and persons when necessary to carry out the duties of the department;

(l) Overseeing the activities of metropolitan county criminal justice services agencies, administrative planning districts, and juvenile justice coordinating councils in the state;

(m) Advising the general assembly and governor on legislation and other significant matters that pertain to the improvement and reform of the juvenile justice system in the state;

(n) Preparing and recommending legislation to the general assembly and governor for the improvement of the juvenile justice system in the state;

(o) Assisting, advising, and making any reports that are required by the governor, attorney general, or general assembly;

(p) Adopting rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code.

(2) Division (K)(1) of this section does not limit the discretion or authority of the attorney general with respect to crime victim assistance and criminal and juvenile justice programs.

(3) Nothing in division (K)(1) of this section is intended to diminish or alter the status of the office of the attorney general as a criminal justice services agency.

(4) The governor may appoint any advisory committees to assist the department that the governor considers appropriate or that are required under any state or federal law.

Section 5139.12 | Reporting abuse of delinquent child.

• Effective: October 12, 2016
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 158 - 131st General Assembly

Any person who is required, pursuant to division (A) of section 2151.421 of the Revised Code, to report the person's knowledge of or reasonable cause to suspect abuse or neglect or threat of abuse or neglect of a child under eighteen years of age or a person with a developmental disability or physical impairment under twenty-one years of age, or any person who is permitted, pursuant to division (B) of that section, to report or cause such a report to be made and who makes or causes the report to be made, shall direct that report to the state highway patrol if the child is a delinquent child in the custody of an institution. If the state highway patrol determines after receipt of the report that there is probable cause that abuse or neglect or threat of abuse or neglect of the delinquent child occurred, the highway patrol shall report its findings to the department of youth services, to the court that ordered the disposition of the delinquent child for the act that would have been an offense if committed by an adult and for which the delinquent child is in the custody of the department, to the public children services agency in the county in which the child resides or in which the abuse or neglect or threat of abuse or neglect occurred, and to the chairperson and vice-chairperson of the correctional institution inspection committee established by section 103.71 of the Revised Code.

Section 5139.13 | Facilities for treatment and training of children.

• Effective: January 1, 2008
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 10 - 127th General Assembly

(A) The department of youth services shall do all of the following:

(1) Control and manage all institutions for the rehabilitation of delinquent children and youthful offenders that are operated by the state, except where the control and management of an institution is vested by law in another agency;

(2) Provide treatment and training for children committed to the department and assigned by the department to various institutions under its control and management, including, but not limited to, for a child committed to it for an act that is a sexually oriented offense or a child-victim oriented offense, treatment that is appropriate for a child who commits an act that is a sexually oriented offense or a child-victim oriented offense and that is intended to ensure that the child does not commit any subsequent act that is a sexually oriented offense or a child-victim oriented offense;

(3) Establish and maintain appropriate reception centers for the reception of children committed to the department and employ competent persons to have charge of those centers and to conduct investigations;

(4) Establish and maintain any other facilities necessary for the training, treatment, and rehabilitation of children committed to the department.

(B) As used in this section, "sexually oriented offense" and "child-victim oriented offense" have the same meanings as in section 2950.01 of the Revised Code.

Section 5139.131 | Vocational education programs.

• Effective: July 1, 1993
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 152 - 120th General Assembly

The department of youth services may conduct programs for the vocational education of children committed to the department or involved in aftercare services provided by the department, under which services are provided or products are made, and offered, for sale. Any profits made from the selling of such products or services shall be deposited into the industrial and entertainment fund created under section 5139.86 of the Revised Code.

Section 5139.14 | Reentry services by nonprofit faith-based organizations.

• Effective: June 25, 2008
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 113 - 127th General Assembly

(A)(1) The department of youth services shall permit representatives of all nonprofit faith-based, business, professional, civic, educational, and community organizations that are registered with the department to enter institutions that are under the department's control and management for the purpose of providing reentry services to delinquent children in the department's custody. Reentry services may include, but are not limited to, counseling, housing, job-placement, and money-management assistance.

(2) The department shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code for the screening and registration of nonprofit faith-based, business, professional, civic, educational, and community organizations that apply to provide reentry services to delinquent children in institutions under the department's control and management.

(B)(1) The department shall post a department telephone number on the department's official internet web site that nonprofit faith-based, business, professional, civic, educational, and community organizations that wish to provide reentry services to delinquent children may call to obtain information. The internet web site also shall list all of the faith-based, business, professional, civic, educational, and community organizations that are registered with the department under this section.

(2) The department shall actively recruit nonprofit faith-based, business, professional, civic, educational, and community organizations to provide reentry services in institutions under the department's control and management. The department shall recruit nonprofit organizations from all faiths and beliefs.

(C) Annually, the department shall issue a written report on the department's progress in implementing the recommendations of the correctional faith-based initiatives task force. The department shall provide a copy of the written report to each member of the correctional institution inspection committee created under section 103.71 of the Revised Code.

(D) The department shall not endorse or sponsor any faith-based reentry program or endorse any specific religious message. The department may not require any child in its custody to participate in a faith-based program.

Section 5139.16 | Accepting gifts and bequests.

• Effective: November 24, 1981
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 440 - 114th General Assembly

The department of youth services may accept, hold, and use, for the benefit of the department or the children committed to it, any gift, donation, bequest, or devise, and may agree to and perform all conditions of the gift, donation, bequest, or devise, not contrary to law.

Section 5139.18 | Supervision of children released from institutions.

• Effective: September 30, 2011
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 86 - 129th General Assembly

(A) Except with respect to children who are granted a judicial release to court supervision pursuant to division (B) or (D) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code, the department of youth services is responsible for locating homes or jobs for children released from its institutions, for supervision of children released from its institutions, and for providing or arranging for the provision to those children of appropriate services that are required to facilitate their satisfactory community adjustment. Regional administrators through their staff of parole officers shall supervise children paroled or released to community supervision in a manner that insures as nearly as possible the children's rehabilitation and that provides maximum protection to the general public.

(B) The department of youth services shall exercise general supervision over all children who have been released on placement from any of its institutions other than children who are granted a judicial release to court supervision pursuant to division (B) or (D) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code. The director of youth services, with the consent and approval of the board of county commissioners of any county, may contract with the public children services agency of that county, the department of probation of that county established pursuant to section 2301.27 of the Revised Code, or the probation department or service established pursuant to sections 2151.01 to 2151.54 of the Revised Code for the provision of direct supervision and control over and the provision of supportive assistance to all children who have been released on placement into that county from any of its institutions, or, with the consent of the juvenile judge or the administrative judge of the juvenile court of any county, contract with any other public agency, institution, or organization that is qualified to provide the care and supervision that is required under the terms and conditions of the child's treatment plan for the provision of direct supervision and control over and the provision of supportive assistance to all children who have been released on placement into that county from any of its institutions.

(C) A juvenile parole officer shall furnish to a child placed on community control under the parole officer's supervision a statement of the conditions of parole and shall instruct the child regarding them. The parole officer shall keep informed concerning the conduct and condition of a child under the parole officer's supervision and shall report on the child's conduct to the judge as the judge directs. A parole officer shall use all suitable methods to aid a child on community control and to improve the child's conduct and condition. A parole officer shall keep full and accurate records of work done for children under the parole officer's supervision.

(D) In accordance with division (D) of section 2151.14 of the Revised Code, a court may issue an order requiring boards of education, governing bodies of chartered nonpublic schools, public children services agencies, private child placing agencies, probation departments, law enforcement agencies, and prosecuting attorneys that have records related to the child in question to provide copies of one or more specified records, or specified information in one or more specified records, that the individual or entity has with respect to the child to the department of youth services when the department has custody of the child or is performing any services for the child that are required by the juvenile court or by statute, and the department requests the records in accordance with division (D)(3)(a) of section 2151.14 of the Revised Code.

(E) Whenever any placement official has reasonable cause to believe that any child released by a court pursuant to section 2152.22 of the Revised Code has violated the conditions of the child's placement, the official may request, in writing, from the committing court or transferee court a custodial order, and, upon reasonable and probable cause, the court may order any sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, or police officer to apprehend the child. A child so apprehended may be confined in the detention facility of the county in which the child is apprehended until further order of the court. If a child who was released on supervised release by the release authority of the department of youth services or a child who was granted a judicial release to department of youth services supervision violates the conditions of the supervised release or judicial release, section 5139.52 of the Revised Code applies with respect to that child.

Section 5139.19 | Managing officers of institutions.

• Effective: July 1, 1983
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 291 - 115th General Assembly

Subject to the rules of the department of youth services, each institution and community regional office under the jurisdiction of the department shall be under the control of a managing officer to be known as a superintendent or by other appropriate title. Such managing officer shall be appointed by the director of the department and shall be in the unclassified service and serve at the pleasure of the director. Each managing officer appointed under this section may, subject to the approval of the director, appoint an assistant managing officer and deputy managing officers, all of whom shall be in the unclassified civil service. Subject to Chapter 124. of the Revised Code, the director shall appoint the necessary employees and may remove such employees for cause.

Section 5139.191 | Apprehending juvenile escapees.

• Effective: January 1, 2002
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 179 - 123rd General Assembly

Any sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable, officer of state or local police, or employee of the department of youth services shall apprehend any child who has escaped from an institution under the jurisdiction of the department and return the child. The written request of the superintendent of the institution from which the child has escaped shall be sufficient cause to authorize the apprehension and return of the child to the institution. Such request shall state the name and description of the child, that the child is under the jurisdiction of the department of youth services, and that the superintendent has personal knowledge that the child has escaped. A child so apprehended may be confined in the detention facility of the county in which the child is apprehended until removed to the proper institution.

Section 5139.20 | Emergency overcrowding conditions.

• Effective: September 30, 2011
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 86 - 129th General Assembly

(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Revised Code that sets forth the minimum periods or period for which a child committed to the department of youth services is to be institutionalized or institutionalized in a secure facility or the procedures for the judicial release to court supervision or judicial release to department of youth services supervision, the department may grant emergency releases to children confined in state juvenile institutions if the governor, upon request of the director of the department authorizes the director, in writing, to issue a declaration that an emergency overcrowding condition exists in all of the institutions in which males are confined, or in all of the institutions in which females are confined, that are under the control of the department. If the governor authorizes the issuance of a declaration, the director may issue the declaration. If the director issues the declaration, the director shall file a copy of it with the secretary of state, which copy shall be a public record. Upon the filing of the copy, the department is authorized to grant emergency releases to children within its custody subject to division (B) of this section. The authority to grant the emergency releases shall continue until the expiration of thirty days from the day on which the declaration was filed. The director shall not issue a declaration that an emergency overcrowding condition exists unless the director determines that no other method of alleviating the overcrowding condition is available.

(B)(1) If the department is authorized under division (A) of this section to grant emergency releases to children within its custody, the department shall determine which, if any, children to release under that authority only in accordance with this division and divisions (C), (D), and (E) of this section. The department, in determining which, if any, children to release, initially shall classify each child within its custody according to the degree of offense that the act for which the child is serving the period of institutionalization would have been if committed by an adult. The department then shall scrutinize individual children for emergency release, based upon their degree of offense, in accordance with the categories and the order of consideration set forth in division (B)(2) of this section. After scrutiny of all children within the particular category under consideration, the department shall designate individual children within that category to whom it wishes to grant an emergency release.

(2) The categories of children in the custody of the department that may be considered for emergency release under this section, and the order in which the categories shall be considered, are as follows:

(a) Initially, only children who are not serving a period of institutionalization for an act that would have been aggravated murder, murder, or a felony of the first, second, third, or fourth degree if committed by an adult or for an act that was committed before July 1, 1996, and that would have been an aggravated felony of the first, second, or third degree if committed by an adult may be considered.

(b) When all children in the category described in division (B)(2)(a) of this section have been scrutinized and all children in that category who have been designated for emergency release under division (B)(1) of this section have been so released, then all children who are not serving a period of institutionalization for an act that would have been aggravated murder, murder, or a felony of the first or second degree if committed by an adult or for an act that was committed before July 1, 1996, and that would have been an aggravated felony of the first or second degree if committed by an adult may be considered.

(c) When all children in the categories described in divisions (B)(2)(a) and (b) of this section have been scrutinized and all children in those categories who have been designated for emergency release under division (B)(1) of this section have been released, then all children who are not serving a term of institutionalization for an act that would have been aggravated murder, murder, or a felony of the first degree if committed by an adult or for an act that was committed before July 1, 1996, and that would have been an aggravated felony of the first or second degree if committed by an adult may be considered.

(d) In no case shall the department consider for emergency release any child who is serving a term of institutionalization for an act that would have been aggravated murder, murder, or a felony of the first degree if committed by an adult or for an act that was committed before July 1, 1996, and that would have been an aggravated felony of the first degree if committed by an adult, and in no case shall the department grant an emergency release to any such child pursuant to this section.

(C) An emergency release granted pursuant to this section shall consist of one of the following:

(1) A supervised release under terms and conditions that the department believes conducive to law-abiding conduct;

(2) A discharge of the child from the custody and control of the department if the department is satisfied that the discharge is consistent with the welfare of the individual and protection of the public;

(3) An assignment to a family home, a group care facility, or other place maintained under public or private auspices, within or without this state, for necessary treatment or rehabilitation, the costs of which may be paid by the department.

(D) If a child is granted an emergency release pursuant to this section, the child thereafter shall be considered to have been institutionalized or institutionalized in a secure facility for the prescribed minimum period of time under division (A)(1)(b), (c), (d), or (e) of section 2152.16 of the Revised Code, or all definite periods of commitment imposed under division (A), (B), (C), or (D) of section 2152.17 of the Revised Code plus the prescribed minimum period of time imposed under division (A)(1)(b), (c), (d), or (e) of section 2152.16 of the Revised Code, whichever is applicable. The department shall retain legal custody of a child so released until it discharges the child or until its custody is terminated as otherwise provided by law.

(E)(1) If a child is granted an emergency release so that the child is released on supervised release or assigned to a family home, group care facility, or other place for treatment or rehabilitation, the department shall prepare a written treatment and rehabilitation plan for the child in accordance with division (F) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code, which shall include the conditions of the child's release or assignment, and shall send the committing court and the juvenile court of the county in which the child is placed a copy of the plan and the conditions that it fixed. The court of the county in which the child is placed may adopt the conditions as an order of the court and may add any additional consistent conditions it considers appropriate. If a child is released on supervised release or is assigned subject to specified conditions and the court of the county in which the child is placed has reason to believe that the child's deportment is not in accordance with any post-release conditions established by the court in its journal entry, the court of the county in which the child is placed, in its discretion, may schedule a time for a hearing on whether the child violated any of the post-release conditions. If that court conducts a hearing and determines at the hearing that the child violated any of the post-release conditions established in its journal entry, the court, if it determines that the violation of the conditions was a serious violation, may order the child to be returned to the department of youth services for institutionalization or, in any case, may make any other disposition of the child authorized by law that the court considers proper. If the court of the county in which the child is placed orders the child to be returned to a department of youth services institution, the child shall remain institutionalized for a minimum period of three months.

(2) The department also shall file a written progress report with the committing court regarding each child granted an emergency release pursuant to this section at least once every thirty days unless specifically directed otherwise by the court. The report shall include the information required of reports described in division (G) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code.

Section 5139.21 | Prohibited acts.

• Effective: November 24, 1981
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 440 - 114th General Assembly

No person shall influence or attempt to influence any child under supervision of the department of youth services, to leave the institution or home in which he was placed, his home, or place of employment or to violate any of the conditions upon which he was released under supervision.

Section 5139.22 | Transportation costs.

• Effective: July 1, 1993
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 152 - 120th General Assembly

Each county shall bear all of the expenses incident to the transportation of a child committed to the department of youth services by the juvenile court of that county from that county to the institution to which the department has assigned the child and shall bear the fees and costs allowed in similar cases. The fees, costs, and expenses shall be paid from the county treasury upon itemized vouchers certified to by the judge of the juvenile court.

Section 5139.23 | Leasing capital facilities.

• Effective: July 1, 2014
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 497 - 130th General Assembly

The department of youth services shall lease capital facilities constructed, reconstructed, or improved, which facilities are financed by the treasurer of state pursuant to section 307.021 and Chapter 154. of the Revised Code, for the use of the department, and may enter into any other agreements with the Ohio public facilities commission, the department of administrative services, or any other authorized state agency ancillary to the construction, reconstruction, improvement, financing, leasing, or operation of such facilities, including, but not limited to agreements required by the applicable bond proceedings authorized by Chapter 154. of the Revised Code. Rentals from such leases shall constitute available receipts as defined in section 154.24 of the Revised Code and may be pledged for the payment of bond service charges as provided in that section.

Section 5139.25 | Designating names of institutions.

• Effective: November 24, 1981
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 440 - 114th General Assembly

The department of youth services may designate the institutions under its management and control, present and future, by appropriate respective names, regardless of present statutory designation.

Section 5139.251 | Rules for searching visitors.

• Effective: March 31, 2003
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 510 - 124th General Assembly

(A) As used in this section:

(1) "Body cavity search" and "strip search" have the same meanings as in section 5120.421 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Deadly weapon" and "dangerous ordnance" have the same meanings as in section 2923.11 of the Revised Code.

(3) "Drug of abuse" has the same meaning as in section 3719.011 of the Revised Code.

(4) "Intoxicating liquor" has the same meaning as in section 4301.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) For purposes of determining whether visitors to an institution under the control of the department of youth services are knowingly conveying, or attempting to convey, onto the grounds of the institution any deadly weapon, dangerous ordnance, drug of abuse, intoxicating liquor, or electronic communications device in violation of section 2921.36 of the Revised Code, the department may adopt rules, pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, that are consistent with this section.

(C) For the purposes described in division (B) of this section, visitors who are entering or have entered an institution under the control of the department of youth services may be searched by the use of a magnetometer or similar device, by a pat-down of the visitor's person that is conducted by a person of the same sex as that of the visitor, and by an examination of the contents of pockets, bags, purses, packages, and other containers proposed to be conveyed or already conveyed onto the grounds of the institution. Searches of visitors authorized by this division may be conducted without cause, but shall be conducted uniformly or by automatic random selection. Discriminatory or arbitrary selection searches of visitors are prohibited under this division.

(D) For the purposes described in division (B) of this section, visitors who are entering or have entered an institution under the control of the department of youth services may be searched by a strip or body cavity search, but only under the circumstances described in this division. In order for a strip or body cavity search to be conducted of a visitor, the highest officer present in the institution shall expressly authorize the search on the basis of a reasonable suspicion, based on specific objective facts and reasonable inferences drawn from those facts in the light of experience, that a visitor proposed to be so searched possesses, and intends to convey or already has conveyed, a deadly weapon, dangerous ordnance, drug of abuse, intoxicating liquor, or electronic communication device onto the grounds of the institution in violation of section 2921.36 of the Revised Code.

Except as otherwise provided in this division, prior to the conduct of the strip or body cavity search, the highest officer present in the institution shall cause the visitor to be provided with a written statement that sets forth the specific objective facts upon which the proposed search is based. In the case of an emergency under which time constraints make it impossible to prepare the written statement before the conduct of the proposed search, the highest officer in the institution instead shall cause the visitor to be orally informed of the specific objective facts upon which the proposed search is based prior to its conduct, and shall cause the preparation of the written statement and its provision to the visitor within twenty-four hours after the conduct of the search. Both the highest officer present in the institution and the visitor shall retain a copy of a written statement provided in accordance with this division.

Any strip or body cavity search conducted pursuant to this division shall be conducted in a private setting by a person of the same sex as that of the visitor. Any body cavity search conducted under this division additionally shall be conducted by medical personnel.

This division does not preclude, and shall not be construed as precluding, a less intrusive search as authorized by division (C) of this section when reasonable suspicion as described in this division exists for a strip or body cavity search.

Section 5139.26 | Acquiring and disposing of land or property.

• Effective: November 24, 1981
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 440 - 114th General Assembly

The department of youth services, with the approval of the governor and the attorney general, may buy, sell, lease, or exchange portions of land or property, real or personal, under the management and control of the department, or enter into contracts relative thereto, or grant easements or licenses for the use thereof, when such purchase, sale, lease, exchange, contract, easement, or license is advantageous to the state. An action may be brought to enforce any agreement authorized by this section. Revenues received from agreements entered into under this section shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the general fund.

Section 5139.27 | Financial assistance rules.

• Effective: October 12, 2016
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 158 - 131st General Assembly

The department of youth services shall adopt rules prescribing the minimum standards of construction for a school, forestry camp, or other facility established under section 2151.65 of the Revised Code for which financial assistance may be granted to assist in defraying the cost of the construction of the school, forestry camp, or other facility. If an application for that financial assistance is filed with the department under section 2151.651 of the Revised Code, and the department finds that the application is in proper form and the specifications for the construction of the school, forestry camp, or other facility meet the minimum standards set forth in the rules adopted by the department, the department may, from moneys available to it for granting financial assistance for the construction of schools, forestry camps, or other facilities established under section 2151.65 of the Revised Code, grant financial assistance to the county making the application, subject to the approval of the controlling board, in an amount not to exceed one-half of the county's share of the cost of construction of the school, forestry camp, or other facility but not to exceed six thousand five hundred dollars for each bed unit provided for in the school, forestry camp, or other facility. As used in this section, "construction" means the building and the initial equipping of new structures and, to the extent provided for in rules adopted by the department, the acquisition, remodeling, and initial equipping of existing structures, excluding architect's fees and the cost of land acquisition.

A county that receives financial assistance under this section shall not be obligated to repay the assistance to the state unless the school, forestry camp, or other facility for which the assistance is granted is used within the ten-year period immediately following its establishment for other than the purpose of rehabilitating children between the ages of twelve to eighteen years, other than psychotic children or children with intellectual disabilities, who are designated delinquent children, as defined in section 2152.02 of the Revised Code, or unruly, as defined in section 2151.022 of the Revised Code, by order of a juvenile court. If the department of youth services finds that the school, forestry camp, or other facility is used for other than that purpose within that ten-year period, the county shall be obligated to repay the assistance to the state and, through its board of county commissioners, may enter into an agreement with the director of budget and management for the discharge of that obligation over a period not to exceed ten years in duration. Whenever a county is obligated to repay that assistance to the state and its board of county commissioners fails to enter into or fails to comply with an agreement for the discharge of that obligation, the tax commissioner, pursuant to section 5747.54 of the Revised Code, shall withhold from distribution to the county from the local government fund an amount sufficient to discharge the county from that obligation to the state.

Section 5139.271 | Granting financial assistance to counties.

• Effective: August 16, 2016
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 310 - 131st General Assembly

Subject to the approval of the controlling board, the department of youth services may grant and pay financial assistance to defray the county's share of the cost of acquiring or constructing a district detention facility, established under section 2152.41 of the Revised Code, to any county making application under section 2152.43 of the Revised Code if the department finds that the application was made in accordance with its rules and the facility or the specifications for the facility meet minimum standards established by the department. No financial assistance shall be granted for defraying the cost of land.

The department shall adopt rules prescribing the minimum standards of construction and condition of existing structures, established under section 2152.41 of the Revised Code, for which financial assistance is granted under this section. The department may recommend programs of education and training and the qualifications desired for personnel of a district detention facility.

The amount of financial assistance granted to any county shall not exceed sixty per cent of the county's share of the cost of acquisition or construction of the facility.

A county that receives financial assistance under this section shall repay the assistance to the state if the facility for which the assistance is granted is used within the ten-year period immediately following its establishment for purposes other than those contained in section 2152.41 of the Revised Code. A board of county commissioners that uses the facility for any other purpose within that period shall enter into an agreement with the director of budget and management for the discharge of that obligation over a period not to exceed ten years. If a board of county commissioners fails to enter into an agreement for the discharge of that obligation, or fails to comply with the terms of such an agreement, the director shall direct the tax commissioner, pursuant to section 5747.54 of the Revised Code, to withhold from the distribution of the local government fund an amount sufficient to discharge the obligation.

As used in this section:

(A) "Construction" means the building and initial equipping of new structures.

(B) "Acquisition" means "acquisition" as defined in the rules of the department, which may include the purchase, remodeling, and initial equipping of existing structures.

Section 5139.281 | Granting financial assistance to detention facilities.

• Effective: April 7, 2009
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 130 - 127th General Assembly

The department of youth services shall adopt rules prescribing the manner of application for financial assistance under this section for the operation and maintenance of a detention facility provided, or district detention facility established, under section 2151.41 of the Revised Code and prescribing minimum standards of operation, including criteria for programs of education, training, counseling, recreation, health, and safety, and qualifications of personnel with which a facility shall comply as a condition of eligibility for assistance under this section. If the board of county commissioners providing a detention facility or the board of trustees of a district detention facility applies to the department for assistance and if the department finds that the application is in accordance with the rules adopted under this section and that the facility meets the minimum standards adopted under this section, the department may grant assistance to the applicant board for the operation and maintenance of each facility in an amount not to exceed fifty per cent of the approved annual operating cost. The board shall make a separate application for each year for which assistance is requested.

The department shall adopt any necessary rules for the care, treatment, and training in a district detention facility of children found to be delinquent children and committed to the facility by the juvenile court under section 2151.19 of the Revised Code and may approve for this purpose any facility that is found to be in compliance with the rules it adopts.

The department shall fund, at least once every six months, in-service training programs approved by the department for staff members of detention facilities or district detention facilities.

Section 5139.29 | Payment of assistance rules.

• Effective: January 1, 2002
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 94 - 124th General Assembly

The department of youth services shall adopt and promulgate regulations prescribing the method of calculating the amount of and the time and manner for the payment of financial assistance granted under sections 5139.27 and 5139.271 of the Revised Code, for the construction or acquisition of a district detention facility established under section 2152.41 of the Revised Code, or for the construction and maintenance of a school, forestry camp, or other facility established under section 2151.65 of the Revised Code.

Section 5139.30 | Transferring children.

• Effective: November 24, 1981
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 440 - 114th General Assembly

The department of youth services may, by mutual agreement with the governing board of a school, forestry camp, or other facility established under section 2151.65 of the Revised Code, transfer to such school, forestry camp, or other facility any child committed to the department.

Section 5139.31 | Inspections.

• Effective: April 7, 2009
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 130 - 127th General Assembly

The department of youth services may inspect any school, forestry camp, district detention facility, or other facility for which an application for financial assistance has been made to the department under section 2152.43 or 2151.651 of the Revised Code or for which financial assistance has been granted by the department under section 5139.27, 5139.271, or 5139.281 of the Revised Code. The inspection may include, but need not be limited to, examination and evaluation of the physical condition of the school, forestry camp, district detention facility, or other facility, including any equipment used in connection with it; observation and evaluation of the programming and treatment of children admitted to it; examination and analysis and copying of any papers, records, or other documents relating to the qualifications of personnel, the commitment of children to it, and its administration.

Section 5139.32 | Child unable to benefit from programs.

• Effective: January 1, 2002
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 179 - 123rd General Assembly

(A) Whenever a child committed to the department of youth services is unable to benefit from the programs conducted by the department, as found under division (B) of this section, the department forthwith shall release or discharge such child from its jurisdiction and either return the child to the committing court, provided that such court so consents or directs, or otherwise secure for the child an environment more beneficial to the child's future development.

(B) The determination that a child is unable to benefit from the programs conducted by the department shall be made by the committing court on its own motion or upon application by the department or by a parent or the guardian of the person of the child, or, if the child has been institutionalized or institutionalized in a secure facility, whichever is applicable, for the prescribed minimum period set forth in Chapter 2152. of the Revised Code and the child's commitment order, by the department itself.

Section 5139.33 | Grants for county community-based programs and services for adjudicated delinquent children for commission of acts that would be felonies if committed by adult.

• Effective: September 26, 2003
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 95 - 125th General Assembly

(A) The department of youth services shall make grants in accordance with this section to encourage counties to use community-based programs and services for juveniles who are adjudicated delinquent children for the commission of acts that would be felonies if committed by an adult.

(B) Each county seeking a grant under this section shall file an application with the department of youth services. The application shall be filed at the time and in accordance with procedures established by the department in rules adopted under this section. Each application shall be accompanied by a plan designed to reduce the county's commitment percentage, or to enable it to maintain or attain a commitment percentage that is equal to or below the statewide average commitment percentage. A county's commitment percentage is the percentage determined by dividing the number of juveniles the county committed to the department during the year by the number of juveniles who were eligible to be committed. The statewide average commitment percentage is the percentage determined by dividing the number of juveniles in the state committed to the department during the year by the number of juveniles who were eligible to be committed. These percentages shall be determined by the department using the most reliable data available to it.

Each plan shall include a method of ensuring equal access for minority youth to the programs and services for which the grant will be used.

The department shall review each application and plan to ensure that the requirements of this division are satisfied. Any county applying for a grant under this section that received a grant under this section during the preceding year and that failed to meet its commitment goals for that year shall make the changes in its plan that the department requires in order to continue to be eligible for grants under this section.

(C) Subject to division (E) of this section, the amounts appropriated for the purpose of making grants under this section shall be distributed annually on a per capita basis among the counties that have complied with division (B) of this section.

(D) The department shall adopt rules to implement this section. The rules shall include, but are not limited to, procedures and schedules for submitting applications and plans under this section, including procedures allowing joint-county applications and plans; and procedures for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the programs and services financed with grant money, the enhancement of the use of local facilities and services, and the adequacy of the supervision and treatment provided to juveniles by those programs and services.

(E)(1) Three months prior to the implementation of the felony delinquent care and custody program described in section 5139.43 of the Revised Code, each county that is entitled to a grant under this section shall receive its grant money for the fiscal year or the remainder of its grant money for the fiscal year, other than any grant money to which it is entitled and that is set aside by the department of youth services for purposes of division (E)(2) of this section. The grant money so distributed shall be paid in a lump sum.

(2) During the first twelve months that the felony delinquent care and custody program described in section 5139.43 of the Revised Code is implemented in a county, any grant or the remainder of any grant to which a county is entitled and that is payable from the appropriation made to the department of youth services for community sanctions shall be distributed as follows:

(a) In the first quarter of the twelve-month period, the county shall receive one hundred per cent of the quarterly distribution.

(b) In the second quarter of the twelve-month period, the county shall receive seventy-five per cent of the quarterly distribution.

(c) In the third quarter of the twelve-month period, the county shall receive fifty per cent of the quarterly distribution.

(d) In the fourth quarter of the twelve-month period, the county shall receive twenty-five per cent of the quarterly distribution.

(3) Grant moneys received pursuant to divisions (E)(1) and (2) of this section shall be transmitted by the juvenile court of the recipient county to the county treasurer, shall be deposited by the county treasurer into the felony delinquent care and custody fund created pursuant to division (B)(1) of section 5139.43 of the Revised Code, and shall be used by the juvenile court in accordance with division (B)(2) of that section. The grant moneys shall be in addition to, and shall not be used to reduce, any usual annual increase in county funding that the juvenile court is eligible to receive or the current level of county funding of the juvenile court and of any programs or services for delinquent children, unruly children, or juvenile traffic offenders.

(4) One year after the commencement of its operation of the felony delinquent care and custody program described in section 5139.43 of the Revised Code, the department shall not make any further grants under this section.

Section 5139.34 | Granting state subsidies to counties.

• Effective: October 3, 2023
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 33 - 135th General Assembly

(A) Funds may be appropriated to the department of youth services for the purpose of granting state subsidies to counties. A county or the juvenile court that serves a county shall use state subsidies granted to the county pursuant to this section only in accordance with divisions (B)(2)(a) and (3)(a) of section 5139.43 of the Revised Code and the rules pertaining to the state subsidy funds that the department adopts pursuant to division (D) of section 5139.04 of the Revised Code. The department shall not grant financial assistance pursuant to this section for the provision of care and services for children in a placement facility unless the facility has been certified, licensed, or approved by a state or national agency with certification, licensure, or approval authority, including, but not limited to, the department of job and family services, department of education and workforce, department of mental health and addiction services, department of developmental disabilities, or American correctional association. For the purposes of this section, placement facilities do not include a state institution or a county or district children's home.

The department also shall not grant financial assistance pursuant to this section for the provision of care and services for children, including, but not limited to, care and services in a detention facility, in another facility, or in out-of-home placement, unless the minimum standards applicable to the care and services that the department prescribes in rules adopted pursuant to division (D) of section 5139.04 of the Revised Code have been satisfied.

(B) The department of youth services shall apply the following formula to determine the amount of the annual grant that each county is to receive pursuant to division (A) of this section, subject to the appropriation for this purpose to the department made by the general assembly:

(1) Each county shall receive a basic annual grant of fifty thousand dollars.

(2) The sum of the basic annual grants provided under division (B)(1) of this section shall be subtracted from the total amount of funds appropriated to the department of youth services for the purpose of making grants pursuant to division (A) of this section to determine the remaining portion of the funds appropriated. The remaining portion of the funds appropriated shall be distributed on a per capita basis to each county that has a population of more than twenty-five thousand for that portion of the population of the county that exceeds twenty-five thousand.

(C)(1) Prior to a county's receipt of an annual grant pursuant to this section, the juvenile court that serves the county shall prepare, submit, and file in accordance with division (B)(3)(a) of section 5139.43 of the Revised Code an annual grant agreement and application for funding that is for the combined purposes of, and that satisfies the requirements of, this section and section 5139.43 of the Revised Code. In addition to the subject matters described in division (B)(3)(a) of section 5139.43 of the Revised Code or in the rules that the department adopts to implement that division, the annual grant agreement and application for funding shall address fiscal accountability and performance matters pertaining to the programs, care, and services that are specified in the agreement and application and for which state subsidy funds granted pursuant to this section will be used.

(2) The county treasurer of each county that receives an annual grant pursuant to this section shall deposit the state subsidy funds so received into the county's felony delinquent care and custody fund created pursuant to division (B)(1) of section 5139.43 of the Revised Code. Subject to exceptions prescribed in section 5139.43 of the Revised Code that may apply to the disbursement, the department shall disburse the state subsidy funds to which a county is entitled in a lump sum payment that shall be made in July of each calendar year.

(3) Upon an order of the juvenile court that serves a county and subject to appropriation by the board of county commissioners of that county, a county treasurer shall disburse from the county's felony delinquent care and custody fund the state subsidy funds granted to the county pursuant to this section for use only in accordance with this section, the applicable provisions of section 5139.43 of the Revised Code, and the county's approved annual grant agreement and application for funding.

(4) The moneys in a county's felony delinquent care and custody fund that represent state subsidy funds granted pursuant to this section are subject to appropriation by the board of county commissioners of the county; shall be disbursed by the county treasurer as required by division (C)(3) of this section; shall be used in the manners referred to in division (C)(3) of this section; shall not revert to the county general fund at the end of any fiscal year; shall carry over in the felony delinquent care and custody fund from the end of any fiscal year to the next fiscal year; shall be in addition to, and shall not be used to reduce, any usual annual increase in county funding that the juvenile court is eligible to receive or the current level of county funding of the juvenile court and of any programs, care, or services for alleged or adjudicated delinquent children, unruly children, or juvenile traffic offenders or for children who are at risk of becoming delinquent children, unruly children, or juvenile traffic offenders; and shall not be used to pay for the care and custody of felony delinquents who are in the care and custody of an institution pursuant to a commitment, recommitment, or revocation of a release on parole by the juvenile court of that county or who are in the care and custody of a community corrections facility pursuant to a placement by the department as described in division (E) of section 5139.36 of the Revised Code.

(5) As a condition of the continued receipt of state subsidy funds pursuant to this section, each county and the juvenile court that serves each county that receives an annual grant pursuant to this section shall comply with divisions (B)(3)(b), (c), and (d) of section 5139.43 of the Revised Code.

Last updated September 21, 2023 at 9:09 AM

Section 5139.35 | Prior consent of committing court required for placement in less restrictive setting.

• Effective: January 1, 2002
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 179 - 123rd General Assembly

(A) Except as provided in division (C) of this section and division (C)(2) of section 5139.06 of the Revised Code, the department of youth services shall not place a child committed to it pursuant to section 2152.16 or divisions (A) and (B) of section 2152.17 of the Revised Code who has not been institutionalized or institutionalized in a secure facility for the prescribed minimum period of institutionalization in an institution with a less restrictive setting than that in which the child was originally placed, other than an institution under the management and control of the department, without first obtaining the prior consent of the committing court.

(B) Except as provided in division (C) of this section, the department of youth services shall notify the committing court, in writing, of any placement of a child committed to it pursuant to division (A)(1)(b), (c), (d), or (e) of section 2152.16 or divisions (A) and (B) of section 2152.17 of the Revised Code who has been institutionalized or institutionalized in a secure facility for the prescribed minimum period of institutionalization under those divisions in an institution with a less restrictive setting than that in which the child was originally placed, other than an institution under the management and control of the department, at least fifteen days before the scheduled date of placement.

(C) If, pursuant to division (C)(2) of section 5139.06 of the Revised Code, the department of youth services transfers a child committed to it pursuant to division (A)(1)(b), (c), (d), or (e) of section 2152.16 or divisions (A) and (B) of section 2152.17 of the Revised Code to a correctional medical center established by the department of rehabilitation and correction, the department of youth services shall send the committing court a certified copy of the transfer order.

Section 5139.36 | Grants to operate community corrections facilities for felony delinquents.

• Effective: September 15, 2014
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 483 - 130th General Assembly

(A) In accordance with this section and the rules adopted under it and from funds appropriated to the department of youth services for the purposes of this section, the department shall make grants that provide financial resources to operate community corrections facilities for felony delinquents.

(B)(1) Each community corrections facility that intends to seek a grant under this section shall file an application with the department of youth services at the time and in accordance with the procedures that the department shall establish by rules adopted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code. In addition to other items required to be included in the application, a plan that satisfies both of the following shall be included:

(a) It reduces the number of felony delinquents committed to the department from the county or counties associated with the community corrections facility.

(b) It ensures equal access for minority felony delinquents to the programs and services for which a potential grant would be used.

(2) The department of youth services shall review each application submitted pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section to determine whether the plan described in that division, the community corrections facility, and the application comply with this section and the rules adopted under it.

(C) To be eligible for a grant under this section and for continued receipt of moneys comprising a grant under this section, a community corrections facility shall satisfy at least all of the following requirements:

(1) Be constructed, reconstructed, or improved, and be financed by the treasurer of state pursuant to section 307.021 of the Revised Code and Chapter 154. of the Revised Code, for the use of the department of youth services and be designated as a community corrections facility;

(2) Have written standardized criteria governing the types of felony delinquents that are eligible for the programs and services provided by the facility;

(3) Have a written standardized intake screening process and an intake committee that at least performs both of the following tasks:

(a) Screens all eligible felony delinquents who are being considered for admission to the facility in lieu of commitment to the department;

(b) Notifies, within ten days after the date of the referral of a felony delinquent to the facility, the committing court whether the felony delinquent will be admitted to the facility.

(4) Comply with all applicable fiscal and program rules that the department adopts in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code and demonstrate that felony delinquents served by the facility have been or will be diverted from a commitment to the department.

(D) The department of youth services shall determine the method of distribution of the funds appropriated for grants under this section to community corrections facilities.

(E)(1) The department of youth services shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to establish the minimum occupancy threshold of community corrections facilities.

(2) A child in the custody of the department of youth services may be placed in a community corrections facility in accordance with either division (E)(2)(a) or (b) of this section. A child placed in a community corrections facility pursuant to either division shall remain in the legal custody of the department of youth services during the period in which the child is in the community corrections facility. The department shall charge bed days to the county in accordance with sections 5139.41 to 5139.43 of the Revised Code.

(a) The department may make referrals for the placement of children in its custody to a community corrections facility. At least forty-five days prior to the referral of a child or within any shorter period prior to the referral of the child that the committing court may allow, the department shall notify the committing court of its intent to place the child in a community corrections facility. The court shall have thirty days after the receipt of the notice to approve or disapprove the placement. If the court does not respond to the notice of the placement within that thirty-day period, the department shall proceed with the placement.

(b) The department may, with the consent of the juvenile court with jurisdiction over the Montgomery county center for adolescent services, establish a single unit within the community corrections facility for female felony delinquents committed to the department's custody. If the unit is established under this division, the department may place a female felony delinquent committed to the department's custody into the unit in the community corrections facility.

(3) Counties that are not associated with a community corrections facility may refer children to a community corrections facility with the consent of the facility. The department of youth services shall debit the county that makes the referral in accordance with sections 5139.41 to 5139.43 of the Revised Code.

(F) The board or other governing body of a community corrections facility shall meet not less often than once per quarter. A community corrections facility may reimburse the members of the board or other governing body of the facility and the members of an advisory board created by the board or other governing body of the facility for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties. The members of the board or other governing body of the facility and the members of an advisory board created by the board or other governing body of the facility shall serve without compensation.

Section 5139.38 | Transferring felony delinquent to community facility for supervised treatment prior to ordering release.

• Effective: April 7, 2009
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 130 - 127th General Assembly

Within ninety days prior to the expiration of the prescribed minimum period of institutionalization of a felony delinquent committed to the department of youth services and with prior approval of the committing court, the department may transfer the felony delinquent to a community facility on supervised release as described in section 5139.18 of the Revised Code. For purposes of transfers under this section, both of the following apply:

(A) The community facility may be a community corrections facility that has received a grant pursuant to section 5139.36 of the Revised Code, a community residential program with which the department has contracted for purposes of this section, or another private entity with which the department has contracted for purposes of this section. Division (E) of section 5139.36 of the Revised Code does not apply in connection with a transfer of a felony delinquent that is made to a community corrections facility pursuant to this section.

(B) During the period in which the felony delinquent is in the community facility, the felony delinquent shall remain in the custody of the department.

Section 5139.39 | Transfer to certified foster care facility.

• Effective: October 12, 2016
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 158 - 131st General Assembly

The department of youth services, in the manner provided in this chapter and Chapter 2151. of the Revised Code, may transfer to a foster care facility certified by the department of job and family services under section 5103.03 of the Revised Code, any child committed to it and, in the event of a transfer of that nature, unless otherwise mutually agreed, the department of youth services shall bear the cost of care and services provided for the child in the foster care facility. A juvenile court may transfer to any foster facility certified by the department of job and family services any child between twelve and eighteen years of age, other than a psychotic child or a child with an intellectual disability, who has been designated a delinquent child and placed on probation by order of the juvenile court as a result of having violated any law of this state or the United States or any ordinance of a political subdivision of this state.

Last updated September 29, 2023 at 9:14 AM

Section 5139.41 | Formula for expending appropriation for care and custody of felony delinquents.

• Effective: September 15, 2014
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 483 - 130th General Assembly

The appropriation made to the department of youth services for care and custody of felony delinquents shall be expended in accordance with the following procedure that the department shall use for each year of a biennium. The procedure shall be consistent with sections 5139.41 to 5139.43 of the Revised Code and shall be developed in accordance with the following guidelines:

(A) The line item appropriation for the care and custody of felony delinquents shall provide funding for operational costs for the following:

(1) Institutions and the diagnosis, care, or treatment of felony delinquents at facilities pursuant to contracts entered into under section 5139.08 of the Revised Code;

(2) Community corrections facilities constructed, reconstructed, improved, or financed as described in section 5139.36 of the Revised Code for the purpose of providing alternative placement and services for felony delinquents who have been diverted from care and custody in institutions;

(3) County juvenile courts that administer programs and services for prevention, early intervention, diversion, treatment, and rehabilitation services and programs that are provided for alleged or adjudicated unruly or delinquent children or for children who are at risk of becoming unruly or delinquent children;

(4) Administrative expenses the department incurs in connection with the felony delinquent care and custody programs described in section 5139.43 of the Revised Code.

(B) From the appropriated line item for the care and custody of felony delinquents, the department, with the advice of the RECLAIM advisory committee established under section 5139.44 of the Revised Code, shall allocate annual operational funds for county juvenile programs, institutional care and custody, community corrections facilities care and custody, and administrative expenses incurred by the department associated with felony delinquent care and custody programs. The department, with the advice of the RECLAIM advisory committee, shall adjust these allocations, when modifications to this line item are made by legislative or executive action.

(C) The department shall divide county juvenile program allocations among county juvenile courts that administer programs and services for prevention, early intervention, diversion, treatment, and rehabilitation that are provided for alleged or adjudicated unruly or delinquent children or for children who are at risk of becoming unruly or delinquent children. The department shall base funding on the county's previous year's ratio of the department's institutional and community corrections facilities commitments to that county's average of felony adjudications, as specified in the following formula:

(1) The department shall give to each county a proportional allocation of commitment credits. The proportional allocation of commitment credits shall be calculated by the following procedures:

(a) The department shall determine for each county and for the state an average of felony adjudications. Beginning July 1, 2012, the average shall include felony adjudications for fiscal year 2007 and for each subsequent fiscal year through fiscal year 2016. Beginning July 1, 2017, the most recent felony adjudication data shall be included and the oldest fiscal year data shall be removed so that a ten-year average of felony adjudication data will be maintained.

(b) The department shall determine for each county and for the state the number of charged bed days, for both the department and community corrections facilities, from the previous year.

(c) The department shall divide the statewide total number of charged bed days by the statewide total number of felony adjudications, which quotient shall then be multiplied by a factor determined by the department.

(d) The department shall calculate the county's allocation of credits by multiplying the number of adjudications for each court by the result determined pursuant to division (C)(1)(c) of this section.

(2) The department shall subtract from the allocation determined pursuant to division (C)(1) of this section a credit for every chargeable bed day while a youth is in the department's custody and two-thirds of credit for every chargeable bed day a youth stays in a community corrections facility, except for public safety beds. At the end of the year, the department shall divide the amount of remaining credits of that county's allocation by the total number of remaining credits to all counties, to determine the county's percentage, which shall then be applied to the total county allocation to determine the county's payment for the fiscal year.

(3) The department shall pay counties three times during the fiscal year to allow for credit reporting and audit adjustments, and modifications to the appropriated line item for the care and custody of felony delinquents, as described in this section. The department shall pay fifty per cent of the payment by the fifteenth of July of each fiscal year, twenty-five per cent by the fifteenth of January of that fiscal year, and twenty-five per cent of the payment by the fifteenth of June of that fiscal year.

Section 5139.43 | Felony delinquent care and custody program.

• Effective: September 10, 2012
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 487 - 129th General Assembly

(A) The department of youth services shall operate a felony delinquent care and custody program that shall be operated in accordance with the formula developed pursuant to section 5139.41 of the Revised Code, subject to the conditions specified in this section.

(B)(1) Each juvenile court shall use the moneys disbursed to it by the department of youth services pursuant to division (B) of section 5139.41 of the Revised Code in accordance with the applicable provisions of division (B)(2) of this section and shall transmit the moneys to the county treasurer for deposit in accordance with this division. The county treasurer shall create in the county treasury a fund that shall be known as the felony delinquent care and custody fund and shall deposit in that fund the moneys disbursed to the juvenile court pursuant to division (B) of section 5139.41 of the Revised Code. The county treasurer also shall deposit into that fund the state subsidy funds granted to the county pursuant to section 5139.34 of the Revised Code. The moneys disbursed to the juvenile court pursuant to division (B) of section 5139.41 of the Revised Code and deposited pursuant to this division in the felony delinquent care and custody fund shall not be commingled with any other county funds except state subsidy funds granted to the county pursuant to section 5139.34 of the Revised Code; shall not be used for any capital construction projects; upon an order of the juvenile court and subject to appropriation by the board of county commissioners, shall be disbursed to the juvenile court for use in accordance with the applicable provisions of division (B)(2) of this section; shall not revert to the county general fund at the end of any fiscal year; and shall carry over in the felony delinquent care and custody fund from the end of any fiscal year to the next fiscal year. The maximum balance carry-over at the end of each respective fiscal year in the felony delinquent care and custody fund in any county from funds allocated to the county pursuant to sections 5139.34 and 5139.41 of the Revised Code in the previous fiscal year shall not exceed an amount to be calculated as provided in the formula set forth in this division, unless that county has applied for and been granted an exemption by the director of youth services. Beginning June 30, 2008, the maximum balance carry-over at the end of each respective fiscal year shall be determined by the following formula: for fiscal year 2008, the maximum balance carry-over shall be one hundred per cent of the allocation for fiscal year 2007, to be applied in determining the fiscal year 2009 allocation; for fiscal year 2009, it shall be fifty per cent of the allocation for fiscal year 2008, to be applied in determining the fiscal year 2010 allocation; for fiscal year 2010, it shall be twenty-five per cent of the allocation for fiscal year 2009, to be applied in determining the fiscal year 2011 allocation; and for each fiscal year subsequent to fiscal year 2010, it shall be twenty-five per cent of the allocation for the immediately preceding fiscal year, to be applied in determining the allocation for the next immediate fiscal year. The department shall withhold from future payments to a county an amount equal to any moneys in the felony delinquent care and custody fund of the county that exceed the total maximum balance carry-over that applies for that county for the fiscal year in which the payments are being made and shall reallocate the withheld amount. The department shall adopt rules for the withholding and reallocation of moneys disbursed under sections 5139.34 and 5139.41 of the Revised Code and for the criteria and process for a county to obtain an exemption from the withholding requirement. The moneys disbursed to the juvenile court pursuant to division (B) of section 5139.41 of the Revised Code and deposited pursuant to this division in the felony delinquent care and custody fund shall be in addition to, and shall not be used to reduce, any usual annual increase in county funding that the juvenile court is eligible to receive or the current level of county funding of the juvenile court and of any programs or services for delinquent children, unruly children, or juvenile traffic offenders.

(2)(a) A county and the juvenile court that serves the county shall use the moneys in its felony delinquent care and custody fund in accordance with rules that the department of youth services adopts pursuant to division (D) of section 5139.04 of the Revised Code and as follows:

(i) The moneys in the fund that represent state subsidy funds granted to the county pursuant to section 5139.34 of the Revised Code shall be used to aid in the support of prevention, early intervention, diversion, treatment, and rehabilitation programs that are provided for alleged or adjudicated unruly children or delinquent children or for children who are at risk of becoming unruly children or delinquent children. The county shall not use for capital improvements more than fifteen per cent of the moneys in the fund that represent the applicable annual grant of those state subsidy funds.

(ii) The moneys in the fund that were disbursed to the juvenile court pursuant to division (B) of section 5139.41 of the Revised Code and deposited pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section in the fund shall be used to provide programs and services for the training, treatment, or rehabilitation of felony delinquents that are alternatives to their commitment to the department, including, but not limited to, community residential programs, day treatment centers, services within the home, and electronic monitoring, and shall be used in connection with training, treatment, rehabilitation, early intervention, or other programs or services for any delinquent child, unruly child, or juvenile traffic offender who is under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.

The fund also may be used for prevention, early intervention, diversion, treatment, and rehabilitation programs that are provided for alleged or adjudicated unruly children, delinquent children, or juvenile traffic offenders or for children who are at risk of becoming unruly children, delinquent children, or juvenile traffic offenders. Consistent with division (B)(1) of this section, a county and the juvenile court of a county shall not use any of those moneys for capital construction projects.

(iii) Moneys in the fund shall not be used to support programs or services that do not comply with federal juvenile justice and delinquency prevention core requirements or to support programs or services that research has shown to be ineffective. Research-supported, outcome-based programs and services, to the extent they are available, shall be encouraged.

(iv) The county and the juvenile court that serves the county may use moneys in the fund to provide out-of-home placement of children only in detention centers, community rehabilitation centers, or community corrections facilities approved by the department pursuant to standards adopted by the department, licensed by an authorized state agency, or accredited by the American correctional association or another national organization recognized by the department.

(b) Each juvenile court shall comply with division (B)(3)(d) of this section as implemented by the department. If a juvenile court fails to comply with division (B)(3)(d) of this section, the department shall not be required to make any disbursements in accordance with division (C) of section 5139.41 or division (C)(2) of section 5139.34 of the Revised Code.

(3) In accordance with rules adopted by the department pursuant to division (D) of section 5139.04 of the Revised Code, each juvenile court and the county served by that juvenile court shall do all of the following that apply:

(a) The juvenile court shall prepare an annual grant agreement and application for funding that satisfies the requirements of this section and section 5139.34 of the Revised Code and that pertains to the use, upon an order of the juvenile court and subject to appropriation by the board of county commissioners, of the moneys in its felony delinquent care and custody fund for specified programs, care, and services as described in division (B)(2)(a) of this section, shall submit that agreement and application to the county family and children first council, the regional family and children first council, or the local intersystem services to children cluster as described in sections 121.37 and 121.38 of the Revised Code, whichever is applicable, and shall file that agreement and application with the department for its approval. The annual grant agreement and application for funding shall include a method of ensuring equal access for minority youth to the programs, care, and services specified in it.

The department may approve an annual grant agreement and application for funding only if the juvenile court involved has complied with the preparation, submission, and filing requirements described in division (B)(3)(a) of this section. If the juvenile court complies with those requirements and the department approves that agreement and application, the juvenile court and the county served by the juvenile court may expend the state subsidy funds granted to the county pursuant to section 5139.34 of the Revised Code only in accordance with division (B)(2)(a) of this section, the rules pertaining to state subsidy funds that the department adopts pursuant to division (D) of section 5139.04 of the Revised Code, and the approved agreement and application.

(b) By the thirty-first day of August of each year, the juvenile court shall file with the department a report that contains all of the statistical and other information for each month of the prior state fiscal year. If the juvenile court fails to file the report required by division (B)(3)(b) of this section by the thirty-first day of August of any year, the department shall not disburse any payment of state subsidy funds to which the county otherwise is entitled pursuant to section 5139.34 of the Revised Code and shall not disburse pursuant to division (B) of section 5139.41 of the Revised Code the applicable allocation until the juvenile court fully complies with division (B)(3)(b) of this section.

(c) If the department requires the juvenile court to prepare monthly statistical reports and to submit the reports on forms provided by the department, the juvenile court shall file those reports with the department on the forms so provided. If the juvenile court fails to prepare and submit those monthly statistical reports within the department's timelines, the department shall not disburse any payment of state subsidy funds to which the county otherwise is entitled pursuant to section 5139.34 of the Revised Code and shall not disburse pursuant to division (B) of section 5139.41 of the Revised Code the applicable allocation until the juvenile court fully complies with division (B)(3)(c) of this section. If the juvenile court fails to prepare and submit those monthly statistical reports within one hundred eighty days of the date the department establishes for their submission, the department shall not disburse any payment of state subsidy funds to which the county otherwise is entitled pursuant to section 5139.34 of the Revised Code and shall not disburse pursuant to division (B) of section 5139.41 of the Revised Code the applicable allocation, and the state subsidy funds and the remainder of the applicable allocation shall revert to the department. If a juvenile court states in a monthly statistical report that the juvenile court adjudicated within a state fiscal year five hundred or more children to be delinquent children for committing acts that would be felonies if committed by adults and if the department determines that the data in the report may be inaccurate, the juvenile court shall have an independent auditor or other qualified entity certify the accuracy of the data on a date determined by the department.

(d) If the department requires the juvenile court and the county to participate in a fiscal monitoring program or another monitoring program that is conducted by the department to ensure compliance by the juvenile court and the county with division (B) of this section, the juvenile court and the county shall participate in the program and fully comply with any guidelines for the performance of audits adopted by the department pursuant to that program and all requests made by the department pursuant to that program for information necessary to reconcile fiscal accounting. If an audit that is performed pursuant to a fiscal monitoring program or another monitoring program described in this division determines that the juvenile court or the county used moneys in the county's felony delinquent care and custody fund for expenses that are not authorized under division (B) of this section, within forty-five days after the department notifies the county of the unauthorized expenditures, the county either shall repay the amount of the unauthorized expenditures from the county general revenue fund to the state's general revenue fund or shall file a written appeal with the department. If an appeal is timely filed, the director of the department shall render a decision on the appeal and shall notify the appellant county or its juvenile court of that decision within forty-five days after the date that the appeal is filed. If the director denies an appeal, the county's fiscal agent shall repay the amount of the unauthorized expenditures from the county general revenue fund to the state's general revenue fund within thirty days after receiving the director's notification of the appeal decision.

(C) The determination of which county a reduction of the care and custody allocation will be charged against for a particular youth shall be made as outlined below for all youths who do not qualify as public safety beds. The determination of which county a reduction of the care and custody allocation will be charged against shall be made as follows until each youth is released:

(1) In the event of a commitment, the reduction shall be charged against the committing county.

(2) In the event of a recommitment, the reduction shall be charged against the original committing county until the expiration of the minimum period of institutionalization under the original order of commitment or until the date on which the youth is admitted to the department of youth services pursuant to the order of recommitment, whichever is later. Reductions of the allocation shall be charged against the county that recommitted the youth after the minimum expiration date of the original commitment.

(3) In the event of a revocation of a release on parole, the reduction shall be charged against the county that revokes the youth's parole.

(D) A juvenile court is not precluded by its allocation amount for the care and custody of felony delinquents from committing a felony delinquent to the department of youth services for care and custody in an institution or a community corrections facility when the juvenile court determines that the commitment is appropriate.

Section 5139.44 | RECLAIM advisory committee.

• Effective: February 20, 2018
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 31 - 132nd General Assembly

(A)(1) There is hereby created the RECLAIM advisory committee that shall be composed of the following nine members:

(a) Two members shall be juvenile court judges appointed by the Ohio association of juvenile and family court judges.

(b) One member shall be the director of youth services or the director's designee.

(c) One member shall be the director of budget and management or the director's designee.

(d) One member shall be a member of a senate committee dealing with finance or criminal justice issues appointed by the president of the senate.

(e) One member shall be a member of a committee of the house of representatives dealing with finance or criminal justice issues appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.

(f) One member shall be a member of a board of county commissioners appointed by the county commissioners association of Ohio.

(g) Two members shall be juvenile court administrators appointed by the Ohio association of juvenile and family court judges.

(2) The members of the committee shall be appointed or designated within thirty days after September 26, 2003, and the director of youth services shall be notified of the names of the members.

(3) Members described in divisions (A)(1)(a), (f), and (g) of this section shall serve for terms of two years and shall hold office from the date of the member's appointment until the end of the term for which the member was appointed. Members described in divisions (A)(1)(b) and (c) of this section shall serve as long as they hold the office described in that division. Members described in divisions (A)(1)(d) and (e) of this section shall serve for the duration of the session of the general assembly during which they were appointed, provided they continue to hold the office described in that division. The members described in divisions (A)(1)(a), (d), (e), (f), and (g) may be reappointed. Vacancies shall be filled in the manner provided for original appointments. Any member appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration date of the term for which the member's predecessor was appointed shall hold office as a member for the remainder of that term. A member shall continue in office subsequent to the expiration date of the member's term until the member's successor takes office or until a period of sixty days has elapsed, whichever occurs first.

(4) Membership on the committee does not constitute the holding of an incompatible public office or employment in violation of any statutory or common law prohibition pertaining to the simultaneous holding of more than one public office or employment. Members of the committee are not disqualified from holding by reason of that membership and do not forfeit because of that membership their public office or employment that qualifies them for membership on the committee notwithstanding any contrary disqualification or forfeiture requirement under existing Revised Code sections.

(B) The director of youth services shall serve as an interim chair of the RECLAIM advisory committee until the first meeting of the committee. Upon receipt of the names of the members of the committee, the director shall schedule the initial meeting of the committee that shall take place at an appropriate location in Columbus and occur not later than sixty days after September 26, 2003. The director shall notify the members of the committee of the time, date, and place of the meeting. At the initial meeting, the committee shall organize itself by selecting from among its members a chair, vice-chair, and secretary. The committee shall meet at least once each quarter of the calendar year but may meet more frequently at the call of the chair.

(C) In addition to its functions with respect to the RECLAIM program described in section 5139.41 of the Revised Code, the RECLAIM advisory committee periodically shall do all of the following:

(1) Evaluate the operation of the RECLAIM program by the department of youth services, evaluate the implementation of the RECLAIM program by the counties, and evaluate the efficiency of the formula described in section 5139.41 of the Revised Code. In conducting these evaluations, the committee shall consider the public policy that RECLAIM funds are to be expended to provide the most appropriate programs and services for felony delinquents and other youthful offenders.

(2) Advise the department of youth services, the office of budget and management, and the general assembly on the following changes that the committee believes should be made:

(a) Changes to sections of the Revised Code that pertain to the RECLAIM program, specifically the formula specified in section 5139.41 of the Revised Code;

(b) Changes in the funding level for the RECLAIM program, specifically the amounts distributed under the formula for county allocations, community correctional facilities, and juvenile correctional facility budgets.

Section 5139.45 | Office of quality assurance and improvement.

• Effective: April 4, 2023
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 288 - 134th General Assembly

(A) As used in this section:

(1) "Quality assurance committee" means a committee that is appointed in the central office of the department of youth services by the director of youth services, a committee appointed at an institution by the managing officer of the institution, or a duly authorized subcommittee of that nature and that is designated to carry out quality assurance program activities.

(2) "Institution" means a state facility that is created by the general assembly and that is under the management and control of the department of youth services or a private entity with which the department has contracted for the institutional care and custody of felony delinquents.

(3) "Quality assurance program" means a comprehensive program within the department of youth services to systematically review and improve the quality of comprehensive services, including but not limited to, medical and mental health services within the department and the department's institutions, the safety and security of persons receiving care and services within the department and the department's institutions, and the efficiency and effectiveness of the utilization of staff and resources in the delivery of services within the department and the department's institutions.

(4) "Quality assurance program activities" means the activities of a quality assurance committee, of persons who provide, collect, or compile information and reports required by a quality assurance committee, and of persons who receive, review, or implement the recommendations made by a quality assurance committee. "Quality assurance program activities" include, but are not limited to, credentialing, infection control, utilization review including access to patient care, patient care assessments, medical and mental health records, medical and mental health resource management, mortality and morbidity review, identification and prevention of medical or mental health incidents and risks, and other comprehensive service activities whether performed by a quality assurance committee or by persons who are directed by a quality assurance committee.

(5) "Quality assurance record" means the proceedings, records, minutes, and reports that result from quality assurance program activities. "Quality assurance record" does not include aggregate statistical information that does not disclose the identity of persons receiving or providing services in institutions.

(B) The director of the department of youth services shall appoint a central office quality assurance committee consisting of staff members from relevant divisions within the department. The managing officer of an institution may appoint an institutional quality assurance committee.

(C)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (F) of this section, quality assurance records are confidential and are not public records under section 149.43 of the Revised Code and shall be used only in the course of the proper functions of a quality assurance program.

(2) Except as provided in division (F) of this section, no person who possesses or has access to quality assurance records and who knows that the records are quality assurance records shall willfully disclose the contents of the records to any person or entity.

(D)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (F) of this section, a quality assurance record is not subject to discovery and is not admissible as evidence in any judicial or administrative proceeding.

(2) Except as provided in division (F) of this section, no member of a quality assurance committee or person who is performing a function that is part of a quality assurance program shall be permitted or required to testify in a judicial or administrative proceeding with respect to a quality assurance record or with respect to any finding, recommendation, evaluation, opinion, or other action taken by the committee, member, or person.

(3) Information, documents, or records otherwise available from original sources shall not be unavailable for discovery or inadmissible as evidence in a judicial or administrative proceeding under division (D)(1) of this section merely because they were presented to a quality assurance committee. No person testifying before a quality assurance committee or person who is a member of a quality assurance committee shall be prohibited from testifying as to matters within the person's knowledge, but the person shall not be asked about an opinion formed by the person as a result of the quality assurance committee proceedings.

(E)(1) A person who, without malice and in the reasonable belief that the information is warranted by the facts known to the person, provides information to a person engaged in quality assurance program activities is not liable for damages in a civil action for injury, death, or loss to person or property as a result of providing the information.

(2) A member of a quality assurance committee, a person engaged in quality assurance program activities, or an employee of the department of youth services shall not be liable in damages in a civil action for injury, death, or loss to person or property for any acts, omissions, decisions, or other conduct within the scope of the functions of the quality assurance program.

(3) Nothing in this section shall relieve any institution from liability arising from the treatment of a patient.

(F) Quality assurance records may be disclosed, and testimony may be provided concerning quality assurance records, only to the following persons or entities or under the following circumstances:

(1) Persons who are employed or retained by the department of youth services and who have the authority to evaluate or implement the recommendations of a quality assurance committee;

(2) Public or private agencies or organizations if needed to perform a licensing or accreditation function related to institutions or to perform monitoring of institutions as required by law;

(3) A governmental board or agency, a professional health care society or organization, or a professional standards review organization, if the records or testimony are needed to perform licensing, credentialing, or monitoring of professional standards with respect to medical or mental health professionals employed or retained by the department;

(4) A criminal or civil law enforcement agency or public health agency charged by law with the protection of public health or safety, if a qualified representative of the agency makes a written request stating that the records or testimony are necessary for a purpose authorized by law;

(5) In a judicial or administrative proceeding commenced by an entity described in division (F)(3) or (4) of this section for a purpose described in that division but only with respect to the subject of the proceedings.

(G) A disclosure of quality assurance records pursuant to division (F) of this section does not otherwise waive the confidential and privileged status of the disclosed quality assurance records. The names and other identifying information regarding individual patients or employees of a quality assurance committee contained in a quality assurance record shall be redacted from the record prior to the disclosure of the record unless the identity of an individual is necessary for the purpose for which the disclosure is being made and does not constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

Last updated March 8, 2023 at 1:09 PM

Section 5139.50 | Release authority - appointment - duties.

• Effective: September 29, 2015
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 64 - 131st General Assembly

(A) The release authority of the department of youth services is hereby created as a bureau in the department. The release authority shall consist of a minimum of three, but not more than five, members who are appointed by the director of youth services and who have the qualifications specified in division (B) of this section. The members of the release authority shall devote their full time to the duties of the release authority and shall neither seek nor hold other public office. The members shall be in the unclassified civil service.

(B) A person appointed as a member of the release authority shall have a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university or equivalent relevant experience and shall have the skills, training, or experience necessary to analyze issues of law, administration, and public policy. The membership of the release authority shall represent, insofar as practicable, the diversity found in the children in the legal custody of the department of youth services.

In appointing the members, the director shall ensure that the appointments include all of the following:

(1) At least one member who has five or more years of experience in criminal justice, juvenile justice, or an equivalent relevant profession;

(2) At least one member who has experience in victim services or advocacy or who has been a victim of a crime or is a family member of a victim;

(3) At least one member who has experience in direct care services to delinquent children.

(C) Members shall be appointed for four-year terms. At the conclusion of a term, a member shall hold office until the appointment and qualification of the member's successor. The director shall fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of a term for the remainder of that term and, if a member is on extended leave or disability status for more than thirty work days, may appoint an interim member to fulfill the duties of that member. A member may be reappointed. A member may be removed for good cause by the director.

(D) The director of youth services shall designate as chairperson of the release authority one of the members who has experience in criminal justice, juvenile justice, or an equivalent relevant profession. The chairperson shall be a managing officer of the department, shall supervise the members of the board and the other staff in the bureau, and shall perform all duties and functions necessary to ensure that the release authority discharges its responsibilities. The chairperson shall serve as the official spokesperson for the release authority.

(E) The release authority shall do all of the following:

(1) Serve as the final and sole authority for making decisions, in the interests of public safety and the children involved, regarding the release and discharge of all children committed to the legal custody of the department of youth services, except children placed by a juvenile court on judicial release to court supervision or on judicial release to department of youth services supervision, children who have not completed a prescribed minimum period of time or prescribed period of time in a secure facility, or children who are required to remain in a secure facility until they attain twenty-one years of age;

(2) Establish written policies and procedures for conducting reviews of the status for all youth in the custody of the department, setting or modifying dates of release and discharge, specifying the duration, terms, and conditions of release to be carried out in supervised release subject to the addition of additional consistent terms and conditions by a court in accordance with section 5139.51 of the Revised Code, and giving a child notice of all reviews;

(3) Maintain records of its official actions, decisions, orders, and hearing summaries and make the records accessible in accordance with division (D) of section 5139.05 of the Revised Code;

(4) Cooperate with public and private agencies, communities, private groups, and individuals for the development and improvement of its services;

(5) Collect, develop, and maintain statistical information regarding its services and decisions;

(6) Submit to the director an annual report that includes a description of the operations of the release authority, an evaluation of its effectiveness, recommendations for statutory, budgetary, or other changes necessary to improve its effectiveness, and any other information required by the director.

(F) The release authority may do any of the following:

(1) Conduct inquiries, investigations, and reviews and hold hearings and other proceedings necessary to properly discharge its responsibilities;

(2) Issue subpoenas, enforceable in a court of law, to compel a person to appear, give testimony, or produce documentary information or other tangible items relating to a matter under inquiry, investigation, review, or hearing;

(3) Administer oaths and receive testimony of persons under oath;

(4) Request assistance, services, and information from a public agency to enable the authority to discharge its responsibilities and receive the assistance, services, and information from the public agency in a reasonable period of time;

(5) Request from a public agency or any other entity that provides or has provided services to a child committed to the department's legal custody information to enable the release authority to properly discharge its responsibilities with respect to that child and receive the information from the public agency or other entity in a reasonable period of time.

(G) The release authority may delegate responsibilities to hearing officers or other designated staff under the release authority's auspices. However, the release authority shall not delegate its authority to make final decisions regarding policy or the release of a child.

The release authority shall adopt a written policy and procedures governing appeals of its release and discharge decisions.

(H) The legal staff of the department of youth services shall provide assistance to the release authority in the formulation of policy and in its handling of individual cases.

Section 5139.51 | Supervised release or discharge.

• Effective: January 1, 2002
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 179 - 123rd General Assembly

(A) The release authority of the department of youth services shall not release a child who is in the custody of the department of youth services from institutional care or institutional care in a secure facility and shall not discharge the child or order the child's release on supervised release prior to the expiration of the prescribed minimum period of institutionalization or institutionalization in a secure facility or prior to the child's attainment of twenty-one years of age, whichever is applicable under the order of commitment, other than as is provided in section 2152.22 of the Revised Code. The release authority may conduct periodic reviews of the case of each child who is in the custody of the department and who is eligible for supervised release or discharge after completing the minimum period of time or period of time in an institution prescribed by the committing court. At least thirty days prior to conducting a periodic review of the case of a child who was committed to the department regarding the possibility of supervised release or discharge and at least thirty days prior to conducting a release review, a release hearing, or a discharge review under division (E) of this section, the release authority shall give notice of the review or hearing to the court that committed the child, to the prosecuting attorney in the case, and to the victim of the delinquent act for which the child was committed or the victim's representative. If a child is on supervised release and has had the child's parole revoked, and if, upon release, there is insufficient time to provide the notices otherwise required by this division, the release authority, at least ten days prior to the child's release, shall provide reasonable notice of the child's release to the court that committed the child, to the prosecuting attorney in the case, and to the victim of the delinquent act for which the child was committed or the victim's representative. The court or prosecuting attorney may submit to the release authority written comments regarding, or written objections to, the supervised release or discharge of that child. Additionally, if the child was committed for an act that is a category one or category two offense, the court or prosecuting attorney orally may communicate to a representative of the release authority comments regarding, or objections to, the supervised release or discharge of the child or, if a hearing is held regarding the possible release or discharge of the child, may communicate those comments at the hearing. In conducting the review of the child's case regarding the possibility of supervised release or discharge, the release authority shall consider any comments and objections so submitted or communicated by the court or prosecutor and any statements or comments submitted or communicated under section 5139.56 of the Revised Code by a victim of an act for which the child was committed to the legal custody of the department or by the victim's representative of a victim of an act of that type.

The release authority shall determine the date on which a child may be placed on supervised release or discharged. If the release authority believes that a child should be placed on supervised release, it shall comply with division (B) of this section. If the release authority believes that a child should be discharged, it shall comply with division (C) or (E) of this section. If the release authority denies the supervised release or discharge of a child, it shall provide the child with a written record of the reasons for the decision.

(B)(1) When the release authority decides to place a child on supervised release, consistent with division (D) of this section, the department shall prepare a written supervised release plan that specifies the terms and conditions upon which the child is to be released from an institution on supervised release and, at least thirty days prior to the release of the child on the supervised release, shall send to the committing court and the juvenile court of the county in which the child will be placed a copy of the supervised release plan and the terms and conditions of release. The juvenile court of the county in which the child will be placed, within fifteen days after its receipt of the copy of the supervised release plan, may add to the supervised release plan any additional consistent terms and conditions it considers appropriate, provided that the court may not add any term or condition that decreases the level or degree of supervision specified by the release authority in the plan, that substantially increases the financial burden of supervision that will be experienced by the department of youth services, or that alters the placement specified by the plan.

If, within fifteen days after its receipt of the copy of the supervised release plan, the juvenile court of the county in which the child will be placed does not add to the supervised release plan any additional terms and conditions, the court shall enter the supervised release plan in its journal within that fifteen-day period and, within that fifteen-day period, shall send to the release authority a copy of the journal entry of the supervised release plan. The journalized plan shall apply regarding the child's supervised release.

If, within fifteen days after its receipt of the copy of the supervised release plan, the juvenile court of the county in which the child will be placed adds to the supervised release plan any additional terms and conditions, the court shall enter the supervised release plan and the additional terms and conditions in its journal and, within that fifteen-day period, shall send to the release authority a copy of the journal entry of the supervised release plan and additional terms and conditions. The journalized supervised release plan and additional terms and conditions added by the court that satisfy the criteria described in this division shall apply regarding the child's supervised release.

If, within fifteen days after its receipt of the copy of the supervised release plan, the juvenile court of the county in which the child will be placed neither enters in its journal the supervised release plan nor enters in its journal the supervised release plan plus additional terms and conditions added by the court, the court and the department of youth services may attempt to resolve any differences regarding the plan within three days. If a resolution is not reached within that three-day period, thereafter, the supervised release plan shall be enforceable to the same extent as if the court actually had entered the supervised release plan in its journal.

(2) When the release authority receives from the court a copy of the journalized supervised release plan and, if applicable, a copy of the journalized additional terms and conditions added by the court, the release authority shall keep the original copy or copies in the child's file and shall provide a copy of each document to the child, the employee of the department who is assigned to supervise and assist the child while on release, and the committing court.

(C) If a child who is in the custody of the department of youth services was committed pursuant to division (A)(1)(b), (c), (d), or (e) of section 2152.16 of the Revised Code and has been institutionalized or institutionalized in a secure facility for the prescribed minimum periods of time under those divisions and if the release authority is satisfied that the discharge of the child without the child being placed on supervised release would be consistent with the welfare of the child and protection of the public, the release authority, without approval of the court that committed the child, may discharge the child from the department's custody and control without placing the child on supervised release. Additionally, the release authority may discharge a child in the department's custody without the child being placed on supervised release if the child is removed from the jurisdiction of this state by a court order of a court of this state, another state, or the United States, or by any agency of this state, another state, or the United States, if the child is convicted of or pleads guilty to any criminal offense, or as otherwise provided by law. At least fifteen days before the scheduled date of discharge of the child without the child being placed on supervised release, the department shall notify the committing court, in writing, that it is going to discharge the child and of the reason for the discharge. Upon discharge of the child without the child being placed on supervised release, the department immediately shall certify the discharge in writing and shall transmit the certificate of discharge to the committing court.

(D) In addition to requirements that are reasonably related to the child's prior pattern of criminal or delinquent behavior and the prevention of further criminal or delinquent behavior, the release authority shall specify the following requirements for each child whom it releases:

(1) The child shall observe the law.

(2) The child shall maintain appropriate contact, as specified in the written supervised release plan for that child.

(3) The child shall not change residence unless the child seeks prior approval for the change from the employee of the department assigned to supervise and assist the child, provides that employee, at the time the child seeks the prior approval for the change, with appropriate information regarding the new residence address at which the child wishes to reside, and obtains the prior approval of that employee for the change.

(E) The period of a child's supervised release may extend from the date of release from an institution until the child attains twenty-one years of age. If the period of supervised release extends beyond one year after the date of release, the child may request in writing that the release authority conduct a discharge review after the expiration of the one-year period or the minimum period or period. If the child so requests, the release authority shall conduct a discharge review and give the child its decision in writing. The release authority shall not grant a discharge prior to the discharge date if it finds good cause for retaining the child in the custody of the department until the discharge date. A child may request an additional discharge review six months after the date of a previous discharge review decision, but not more than once during any six-month period after the date of a previous discharge review decision.

(F) At least two weeks before the release authority places on supervised release or discharge a child who was committed to the legal custody of the department, the release authority shall provide notice of the release or discharge as follows:

(1) In relation to the placement on supervised release or discharge of a child who was committed to the department for committing an act that is a category one or category two offense, the release authority shall notify, by the specified deadline, all of the following of the release or discharge:

(a) The prosecuting attorney of the county in which the child was adjudicated a delinquent child and committed to the custody of the department;

(b) Whichever of the following is applicable:

(i) If upon the supervised release or discharge the child will reside in a municipal corporation, the chief of police or other chief law enforcement officer of that municipal corporation;

(ii) If upon the supervised release or discharge the child will reside in an unincorporated area of a county, the sheriff of that county.

(2) In relation to the placement on supervised release or discharge of a child who was committed to the department for committing any act, the release authority shall notify, by the specified deadline, each victim of the act for which the child was committed to the legal custody of the department who, pursuant to section 5139.56 of the Revised Code, has requested to be notified of the placement of the child on supervised release or the discharge of the child, provided that, if any victim has designated a person pursuant to that section to act on the victim's behalf as a victim's representative, the notification required by this division shall be provided to that victim's representative.

Section 5139.511 | Verification of identity prior to release.

• Effective: September 10, 2012
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 487 - 129th General Assembly

Before a youth is released from a secure facility under the control of the department of youth services, the department of youth services shall attempt to verify the youth's identification and social security number. If the department is able to verify the youth's identity with a verified birth certificate and social security number, the department shall issue an identification card that the youth may present to the registrar or deputy registrar of motor vehicles. If the department is not able to verify the youth's identity with both a verified birth certificate and social security number, the youth shall not receive an identification card under this section.

Section 5139.52 | Violating term or condition of supervised release or judicial release.

• Effective: September 19, 2014
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 143 - 130th General Assembly

(A) At any time during a child's supervised release or during the period of a child's judicial release to department of youth services supervision, if the regional administrator or the employee of the department assigned to supervise and assist the child has reasonable grounds to believe that the child has violated a term or condition of the supervised release or judicial release, the administrator or employee may request a court to issue a summons that requires the child to appear for a hearing to answer charges of the alleged violation. The summons shall contain a brief statement of the alleged violation, including the date and place of the violation, and shall require the child to appear for a hearing before the court at a specific date, time, and place.

(B)(1) At any time while a child is on supervised release or during the period of a child's judicial release to department of youth services supervision, a regional administrator or a designee of a regional administrator, upon application of the employee of the department assigned to supervise and assist the child as described in this division, may issue, or cause to be issued, an order of apprehension for the arrest of the child for the alleged violation of a term or condition of the child's supervised release or judicial release. An application requesting an order of apprehension shall set forth that, in the good faith judgment of the employee of the department assigned to supervise and assist the child making the application, there is reasonable cause to believe that the child who is on supervised release or judicial release to department of youth services supervision has violated or is violating a term or condition of the child's supervised release or judicial release, shall state the basis for that belief, and shall request that the child be taken to an appropriate place of secure detention pending a probable cause determination. As an alternative to an order of apprehension for the child, a regional administrator or the employee of the department assigned to supervise and assist the child may request a court to issue a warrant for the arrest of the child.

Subject to the provision of prior notice required by division (D)(1) of this section, if a regional administrator or a designee of a regional administrator issues, in writing, an order of apprehension for the arrest of a child, a staff member of the department of youth services who has been designated pursuant to division (A)(1) of section 5139.53 of the Revised Code as being authorized to arrest and who has received the training described in division (B)(1) of that section, or a peace officer, as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code, may arrest the child, without a warrant, and place the child in secure detention in accordance with this section.

If a child is on supervised release or judicial release to department of youth services supervision, any peace officer, as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code, may arrest the child without a warrant or order of apprehension if the peace officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the child has violated or is violating any of the following that has been prescribed by the release authority or department of youth services relative to the child:

(a) A condition that prohibits the child's ownership, possession, or use of a firearm, deadly weapon, ammunition, or dangerous ordnance, all as defined in section 2923.11 of the Revised Code;

(b) A condition that prohibits the child from being within a specified structure or geographic area;

(c) A condition that confines the child to a residence, facility, or other structure;

(d) A condition that prohibits the child from contacting or communicating with any specified individual;

(e) A condition that prohibits the child from associating with a specified individual;

(f) Any other rule, term, or condition governing the conduct of the child that has been prescribed by the release authority.

(2) Subject to the provision of prior notice required by division (D)(1) of this section, a staff member of the department of youth services who is designated by the director pursuant to division (A)(1) of section 5139.53 of the Revised Code and who has received the training described in division (B)(1) of that section, a peace officer, as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code, or any other officer with the power to arrest may execute a warrant or order of apprehension issued under division (B)(1) of this section and take the child into secure custody.

(C) A staff member of the department of youth services who is designated by the director of youth services pursuant to division (A)(1) of section 5139.53 of the Revised Code and who has received the training described in division (B)(1) of that section, a peace officer, as defined in section 2935.01 of the Revised Code, or any other officer with the power to arrest may arrest without a warrant or order of apprehension and take into secure custody a child in the legal custody of the department, if the staff member, peace officer, or other officer has reasonable cause to believe that the child who is on supervised release or judicial release to department of youth services supervision has violated or is violating a term or condition of the supervised release or judicial release in any of the following manners:

(1) The child committed or is committing an offense or delinquent act in the presence of the staff member, peace officer, or other officer.

(2) There is probable cause to believe that the child violated a term or condition of supervised release or judicial release and that the child is leaving or is about to leave the state.

(3) The child failed to appear before the release authority pursuant to a summons for a modification or failed to appear for a scheduled court hearing.

(4) The arrest of the child is necessary to prevent physical harm to another person or to the child.

(D)(1) Except as otherwise provided in this division, prior to arresting a child under this section, either in relation to an order of apprehension or a warrant for arrest or in any other manner authorized by this section, a staff member or employee of the department of youth services shall provide notice of the anticipated arrest to each county, municipal, or township law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the place at which the staff member or employee anticipates making the arrest. A staff member or employee is not required to provide the notice described in this division prior to making an arrest in any emergency situation or circumstance described under division (C) of this section.

(2) If a child is arrested under this section and if it is known that the child is on supervised release or judicial release to department of youth services supervision, a juvenile court, local juvenile detention facility, or jail shall notify the appropriate department of youth services regional office that the child has been arrested and shall provide to the regional office or to an employee of the department of youth services a copy of the arrest information pertaining to the arrest.

(3) Nothing in this section limits the power to make an arrest that is granted to specified peace officers under section 2935.03 of the Revised Code, to any person under section 2935.04 of the Revised Code, or to any other specified category of persons by any other provision of the Revised Code, or the power to take a child into custody that is granted pursuant to section 2151.31 of the Revised Code.

(E) If a child who is on supervised release or who is under a period of judicial release to department of youth services supervision is arrested under an order of apprehension, under a warrant, or without a warrant as described in division (B)(1), (B)(2), or (C) of this section and taken into secure custody, all of the following apply:

(1) If no motion to revoke the child's supervised release or judicial release has been filed within seventy-two hours after the child is taken into secure custody, the juvenile court, in making its determinations at a detention hearing as to whether to hold the child in secure custody up to seventy-two hours so that a motion to revoke the child's supervised release or judicial release may be filed, may consider, in addition to all other evidence and information considered, the circumstances of the child's arrest and, if the arrest was pursuant to an order of apprehension, the order and the application for the order.

(2) If no motion to revoke the child's supervised release or judicial release has been filed within seventy-two hours after the child is taken into secure custody and if the child has not otherwise been released prior to the expiration of that seventy-two-hour period, the child shall be released upon the expiration of that seventy-two-hour period.

(3) If the person is eighteen, nineteen, or twenty years of age, the person may be confined in secure detention in the jail of the county in which the person is taken into custody. If the person is under eighteen years of age, the person may be confined in secure detention in the nearest juvenile detention facility.

(4) If a motion to revoke the child's supervised release or judicial release is filed after the child has been taken into secure custody and the court decides at the detention hearing to release the child from secure custody, the court may release the child on the same terms and conditions that are currently in effect regarding the child's supervised release or judicial release, pending revocation or subsequent modification.

(F) If a child who is on supervised release is arrested under an order of apprehension, under a warrant, or without a warrant as described in division (B)(1), (B)(2), or (C) of this section and taken into secure custody, and if a motion to revoke the child's supervised release is filed, the juvenile court of the county in which the child is placed promptly shall schedule a time for a hearing on whether the child violated any of the terms and conditions of the supervised release. If a child is released on supervised release and the juvenile court of the county in which the child is placed otherwise has reason to believe that the child has not complied with the terms and conditions of the supervised release, the court of the county in which the child is placed, in its discretion, may schedule a time for a hearing on whether the child violated any of the terms and conditions of the supervised release. If the court of the county in which the child is placed on supervised release conducts a hearing and determines at the hearing that the child did not violate any term or condition of the child's supervised release, the child shall be released from custody, if the child is in custody at that time, and shall continue on supervised release under the terms and conditions that were in effect at the time of the child's arrest, subject to subsequent revocation or modification. If the court of the county in which the child is placed on supervised release conducts a hearing and determines at the hearing that the child violated one or more of the terms and conditions of the child's supervised release, the court, if it determines that the violation was a serious violation, may revoke the child's supervised release, reinstate the original order of commitment of the child, and order the child to be returned to the department of youth services for institutionalization or, in any case, may make any other disposition of the child authorized by law that the court considers proper. If the court orders the child to be returned to a department of youth services institution, the child shall remain institutionalized for a minimum period of ninety days, the department shall not reduce the minimum ninety-day period of institutionalization for any time that the child was held in secure custody subsequent to the child's arrest and pending the revocation hearing and the child's return to the department, the release authority, in its discretion, may require the child to remain in institutionalization for longer than the minimum ninety-day period, the child is not eligible for judicial release or early release during the minimum ninety-day period of institutionalization, and the period of institutionalization shall be served concurrently with any other commitment to the department of youth services. If the court orders the child to be returned to a department of youth services institution, the time during which the child was confined pursuant to division (B) of section 2152.18 of the Revised Code and the time during which the child was held in a secure department facility prior to the child's release shall be considered as time served in fulfilling the original order of commitment but shall not reduce the minimum ninety-day period of institutionalization.

This division does not apply regarding a child who is under a period of judicial release to department of youth services supervision. Division (E) of section 2152.22 of the Revised Code applies in relation to a child who is under a period of judicial release to department of youth services supervision.

(G) The department of youth services shall assess and provide appropriate programming for a child who is returned to a department of youth services institution under this section.

Section 5139.53 | Employees authorized to apprehend violators.

• Effective: July 5, 2002
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 393 - 124th General Assembly

(A)(1) The director of youth services shall designate certain employees of the department of youth services, including regional administrators, as persons who are authorized, in accordance with section 5139.52 of the Revised Code, to execute an order of apprehension or a warrant for, or otherwise to arrest, children in the custody of the department who are violating or are alleged to have violated the terms and conditions of supervised release or judicial release to department of youth services supervision.

(2) The director of youth services may designate some of the employees designated under division (A)(1) of this section as employees authorized to carry a firearm issued by the department while on duty for their protection in carrying out official duties.

(B)(1) An employee of the department designated by the director pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section as having the authority to execute orders of apprehension or warrants and to arrest children as described in that division shall not undertake an arrest until the employee has successfully completed training courses regarding the making of arrests by employees of that nature that are developed in cooperation with and approved by the executive director of the Ohio peace officer training commission. The courses shall include, but shall not be limited to, training in arrest tactics, defensive tactics, the use of force, and response tactics.

(2) The director of youth services shall develop, and shall submit to the governor for the governor's approval, a deadly force policy for the department. The deadly force policy shall require each employee who is designated under division (A)(2) of this section to carry a firearm in the discharge of official duties to receive training in the use of deadly force, shall specify the number of hours and the general content of the training in the use of deadly force that each of the designated employees must receive, and shall specify the procedures that must be followed after the use of deadly force by any of the designated employees. Upon receipt of the policy developed by the director under this division, the governor, in writing, promptly shall approve or disapprove the policy. If the governor, in writing, disapproves the policy, the director shall develop and resubmit a new policy under this division, and no employee shall be trained under the disapproved policy. If the governor, in writing, approves the policy, the director shall adopt it as a department policy and shall distribute it to each employee designated under (A)(2) of this section to carry a firearm in the discharge of official duties. An employee designated by the director pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section to carry a firearm in the discharge of official duties shall not carry a firearm until the employee has successfully completed both of the following:

(a) Training in the use of deadly force that comports with the policy approved by the governor and developed and adopted by the director under division (B)(2) of this section. The training required by this division shall be conducted at a training school approved by the Ohio peace officer training commission and shall be in addition to the training described in divisions (B)(1) and (2)(b) of this section that the employee must complete prior to undertaking an arrest and separate from and independent of the training required by division (B)(2)(b) of this section.

(b) A basic firearm training program that is conducted at a training school approved by the Ohio peace officer training commission and that is substantially similar to the basic firearm training program for peace officers conducted at the Ohio peace officer training academy and has received a certificate of satisfactory completion of that program from the executive director of the Ohio peace officer training commission. The training described in this division that an employee must complete prior to carrying a firearm shall be in addition to the training described in division (B)(1) of this section that the employee must complete prior to undertaking an arrest.

(C) After receipt of a certificate of satisfactory completion of a basic firearm training program, to maintain the right to carry a firearm in the discharge of official duties, an employee authorized under this section to carry a firearm shall successfully complete a firearms requalification program in accordance with section 109.801 of the Revised Code.

(D) Each employee authorized to carry a firearm shall give bond to the state to be approved by the clerk of the court of common pleas in the county of that employee's residence. The bond shall be in the sum of one thousand dollars, conditioned to save the public harmless by reason of the unlawful use of a firearm. A person injured or the family of a person killed by the employee's improper use of a firearm may have recourse on the bond.

(E) In addition to the deadly force policy adopted under division (B)(2) of this section, the director of youth services shall establish policies for the carrying and use of firearms by the employees that the director designates under this section.

Section 5139.54 | Medical release or discharge.

• Effective: April 6, 2023
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 281 - 134th General Assembly

(A) Notwithstanding any other provision for determining when a child shall be released or discharged from the legal custody of the department of youth services, including jurisdictional provisions in section 2152.22 of the Revised Code, the release authority, for medical reasons, may release a child upon supervised release or discharge the child from the custody of the department when any of the following applies:

(1) The child is terminally ill or otherwise in imminent danger of death.

(2) The child is incapacitated due to injury, disease, illness, or other medical condition and is no longer a threat to public safety.

(3) The child appears to be a person with a mental illness subject to court order, as defined in section 5122.01 of the Revised Code, or a person with an intellectual disability subject to institutionalization by court order, as defined in section 5123.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) When considering whether to release or discharge a child under this section for medical reasons, the release authority may request additional medical information about the child or may ask the department to conduct additional medical examinations.

(C) The release authority shall determine the appropriate level of supervised release for a child released under this section. The terms and conditions of the release may require periodic medical reevaluations as appropriate. Upon granting a release or discharge under this section, the release authority shall give notice of the release and its terms and conditions or of the discharge to the court that committed the child to the custody of the department.

(D) The release authority shall submit annually to the director of youth services a report that includes all of the following information for the previous calendar year:

(1) The number of children the release authority considered for medical release or discharge;

(2) The nature of the injury, disease, illness, or other medical condition of each child considered for medical release or discharge;

(3) The decision made by the release authority for each child, including the reasons for denying medical release or discharge or for granting it;

(4) The number of children on medical release who were returned to a secure facility or whose supervised release was revoked.

Last updated March 10, 2023 at 1:04 PM

Section 5139.55 | Office of victims' services.

• Effective: January 1, 2002
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 179 - 123rd General Assembly

(A)(1) The office of victims' services is hereby created within the release authority of the department of youth services. The office of victims' services shall provide assistance to victims, victims' representatives, and members of a victim's family. The assistance shall include, but shall not be limited to, all of the following:

(a) If the court has provided the name and address of the victims of the child's acts to the department of youth services, notification that the child has been committed to the department, notification of the right of the victim or another authorized person to designate a person as a victim's representative under section 5139.56 of the Revised Code and of the actions that must be taken to make that designation, and notification of the right to be notified of release reviews, pending release hearings, revocation reviews, and discharge reviews related to that child and of the right to participate in release proceedings under that section and of the actions that must be taken to exercise those rights;

(b) The provision of information about the policies and procedures of the department of youth services and the status of children in the legal custody of the department.

(2) The office shall make available information to assist victims of delinquent children on supervised release or in a secure facility.

(B) The office of victims' services shall employ a victims administrator who shall administer the duties of the office. The victims administrator shall be in the unclassified civil service and a managing officer of the department. The office shall employ other staff members to assist the members of the release authority and hearing representatives in identifying victims' issues, ensure that the release authority upholds the provisions of section 5139.56 of the Revised Code, and make recommendations to the release authority in accordance with policies adopted by the department.

(C) The office of victims' services shall coordinate its activities with the chairperson of the release authority. The victims administrator and other employees of the office shall have full access to the records of children in the legal custody of the department in accordance with division (D) of section 5139.05 of the Revised Code.

Section 5139.56 | Notice to victim of all release reviews, pending release hearings, supervised release revocation hearings, and discharge reviews.

• Effective: September 1, 1998
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 526 - 122nd General Assembly

(A) The victim of an act for which a child has been committed to the legal custody of the department of youth services may submit a written request to the release authority to notify the victim of all release reviews, pending release hearings, supervised release revocation hearings, and discharge reviews relating to the child, of the placement of the child on supervised release, and of the discharge of the child. If the victim is a minor, is incapacitated, incompetent, or chooses to be represented by another person, the victim may designate in writing a person to act on the victim's behalf as a victim's representative and to request and receive the notices. If the victim is deceased, the executor or administrator of the victim's estate or, if there is no executor or administrator of the victim's estate, a member of the victim's family may designate in writing a person to act on the victim's behalf as a victim's representative and to request and receive the notices. If more than one person seeks to act as the representative of the victim, the release authority shall designate one person to act as the victim's representative. If the victim chooses not to have a representative, the victim shall be the sole person accorded rights under this section. The release authority may give notice by any means reasonably calculated to provide prompt actual notice.

If a victim, an executor or administrator, or a member of a victim's family designates a person in writing pursuant to this division to act on the victim's behalf as a victim's representative, the victim, executor, administrator, or family member, or the victim's representative, shall notify the release authority that the victim's representative is to act for the victim. A victim, executor, administrator, or member of a victim's family who has designated a person in writing pursuant to this division to act on the victim's behalf as a victim's representative may revoke the authority of that person to act as the victim's representative. Upon the revocation, the victim, executor, administrator, or member of the victim's family shall notify the release authority in writing that the authority of the person to so act has been revoked. At any time after the revocation, the victim, executor, administrator, or member of the victim's family may designate in writing a different person to act on the victim's behalf as a victim's representative.

The victim or victim's representative shall provide the release authority an address or telephone number at which notice may be given and shall notify the release authority in writing of any changes in that information. If at any time the victim or victim's representative elects to waive notice and other rights afforded by this section, the victim or victim's representative may do so in a written statement to the release authority.

(B) If a victim or victim's representative has requested notice of release reviews, pending release hearings, supervised release revocation hearings, and discharge reviews related to a child, of the placement of the child on supervised release, and of the discharge of the child, the release authority shall give that person notice of a release review, release hearing, or discharge review at least thirty days prior to the date of the review or hearing. The notice shall specify the date, time, and place of the review or hearing, the right of the victim or victim's representative to make an oral or written statement addressing the impact of the offense or delinquent act upon the victim or oral or written comments regarding the possible release or discharge, and, if the notice pertains to a hearing, the right to attend, and make the statements or comments at the hearing. Upon receiving notice that a release hearing is scheduled, a victim or victim's representative who intends to attend the release hearing, at least two days prior to the hearing, shall notify the release authority of the victim's or representative's intention to be present at the release hearing so that the release authority may ensure appropriate accommodations and security. If the child is placed on supervised release or is discharged, the release authority shall provide notice of the release or discharge to the victim or victim's representative in accordance with division (F) of section 5139.51 of the Revised Code. If the child is on supervised release, if a court has scheduled a hearing pursuant to division (F) of section 5139.52 of the Revised Code to consider the revocation of the supervised release, and if the release authority has been informed of the hearing, the release authority promptly shall notify the victim or victim's representative of the date, time, and place of the hearing.

(C) If a victim or victim's representative has requested notice of release reviews, pending release hearings, supervised release revocation hearings, and discharge reviews related to a child, of the placement of the child on supervised release, and of the discharge of the child, and if a release review, release hearing, or discharge review is scheduled or pending, the release authority shall give that person an opportunity to provide a written statement or communicate orally with a representative of the release authority regarding the possible release or discharge or to make oral or written comments regarding the possible release or discharge to a representative of the release authority, regardless of whether the victim or victim's representative is present at a hearing on the matter. If a victim or victim's representative is present at a release hearing, the authority shall give that person an opportunity to make the oral or written statement or comments at the hearing. The oral or written statement and comments may address the impact of the offense or delinquent act upon the victim, including the nature and extent of any harm suffered, the extent of any property damage or economic loss, any restitution ordered by the committing court and the progress the child has made toward fulfillment of that obligation, and the victim's recommendation for the outcome of the release hearing. A written statement or written comments submitted by a victim or a victim's representative under this section are confidential, are not a public record, and shall be returned to the release authority at the end of a release hearing by any person who receives a copy of them.

At a release hearing before the release authority, a victim or victim's representative may be accompanied by another person for support, but that person shall not act as a victim's representative. The release authority and other employees of the department of youth services shall make reasonable efforts to minimize contact between the child and the victim, victim's representative, or support person before, during, and after the hearing. The release authority shall use a separate waiting area for the victim, victim's representative, and support person if a separate area is available.

(D) At no time shall a victim or victim's representative be compelled to disclose the victim's address, place of employment, or similar identifying information to the child or the child's parent or legal guardian. Upon request of a victim or a victim's representative, the release authority shall keep in its files only the address or telephone number to which it shall send notice of a release review, pending release hearing, supervised release revocation hearing, discharge review, grant of supervised release, or discharge.

(E) No employer shall discharge, discipline, or otherwise retaliate against a victim or victim's representative for participating in a hearing before the release authority. This division generally does not require an employer to compensate an employee for time lost as a result of attendance at a hearing before the release authority.

(F) The release authority shall make reasonable, good faith efforts to comply with the provisions of this section. Failure of the release authority to comply with this section does not give rise to a claim for damages against the release authority and does not require modification of a final decision by the release authority.

(G) If a victim is in the legal custody of the department of youth services and resides in a secure facility or in another secure residential program, including a community corrections facility, or is incarcerated, the release authority may modify the victim's rights under this section to prevent a security risk, hardship, or undue burden upon a public official or agency with a duty under this section. If the victim resides in another state under similar circumstances, the release authority may make similar modifications of the victim's rights.

Section 5139.85 | Disposing of property of former inmates.

• Effective: July 22, 1994
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 715 - 120th General Assembly

(A) Whenever any child under the jurisdiction of the department of youth services dies, and any personal funds or property of the child remain in the hands of the department and no demand is made upon the department by the decedent's legally appointed executor or administrator, all money and other personal property of the decedent remaining in the custody or possession of the department shall be held by the department for a period of one year from the date of death of the decedent, for the benefit of the heirs, legatees, or successors in interest of the decedent, during which time the department shall make a reasonable effort to locate the owner or his legally appointed executor or administrator.

Upon the expiration of the one-year period, any money remaining unclaimed in the custody or possession of the department shall be delivered to the state treasurer for deposit in the general revenue fund, except that of the total amount of unclaimed money in a child's personal account, the department may transfer an amount not to exceed one hundred dollars to the industrial and entertainment fund established under the authority of section 5139.86 of the Revised Code.

Upon the expiration of the one-year period, all personal property, other than cash, remaining unclaimed in the custody or possession of the department shall be disposed of as provided in division (C) of this section.

(B) Whenever any child under the jurisdiction of the department of youth services escapes, or is discharged or paroled, and any personal funds in excess of twenty dollars or property of the child remain in the hands of the department, and no demand is made upon the department by the owner of the funds or property or his legally appointed representative, all money in excess of twenty dollars and other intangible property of the child, other than deeds, contracts, assignments, or transfers, remaining in the custody or possession of the department shall be held for the period of the minority of such ward and for a period of one year thereafter, for the benefit of such ward or his successors in interest, during which time the department shall make reasonable effort to locate the owner or his legally appointed executor or administrator.

Any personal funds in amounts of twenty dollars or less shall be transferred to the industrial and entertainment fund established under section 5139.86 of the Revised Code unless they are demanded by the child or his legal representative at the time of discharge or parole.

Upon the expiration of such period of time, any money in excess of twenty dollars or other intangible personal property, other than deeds, contracts, assignments, or transfers, remaining unclaimed in custody or possession of the department shall be delivered to the state treasurer for deposit in the general revenue fund, except that of the total amount of unclaimed money in a child's personal account, the department may transfer an amount not to exceed one hundred dollars to the industrial and entertainment fund established under the authority of section 5139.86 of the Revised Code. Upon the expiration of one year from the date of such escape, discharge, or parole, any tangible personal property shall be disposed of as provided in division (C) of this section.

(C) Any property remaining after the provisions of divisions (A) and (B) of this section have been complied with shall be disposed of as follows:

(1) All deeds, contracts, assignments, or transfers shall be filed by the department with the county recorder of the county of commitment of such child or as otherwise provided by law.

(2) All tangible personal property other than money, remaining unclaimed in the department's custody or possession, shall be sold by the department at public auction and the proceeds of the sale delivered to the state treasurer for deposit in the general revenue fund. If the department considers it expedient, it may accumulate the property of several children and sell the property in such lots as it may determine, provided that it makes a determination as to each child's share of the proceeds.

(3) If any tangible personal property covered by this section is not salable at public auction, or if it has no intrinsic value, or if the value is not sufficient to justify its retention by the department to be offered for sale at public auction at a later date, the department may order it destroyed.

Section 5139.86 | Cafeteria fund - industrial and entertainment fund - youth benefit fund - employee food service fund.

• Effective: September 29, 1997
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 215 - 122nd General Assembly

(A) Each managing officer of an institution or regional office under the jurisdiction of the department of youth services, with the approval of the director of the department, may establish local funds designated as follows:

(1) The cafeteria fund, created and maintained for the benefit of the institution, into which shall be deposited all money received from the sale of cafeteria meals. The fund shall be used to pay costs of providing employee meals, and to reimburse the employee food service fund for amounts spent from that fund to support cafeteria operations. Reimbursements to the employee food service fund shall be made in such amounts and at such times as directed by the director of budget and management.

(2) The industrial and entertainment fund, created and maintained for the benefit of the children confined in the institution or placed in the region. The fund shall receive profits from commissary sales, any vocational education programs provided under section 5139.131 of the Revised Code, vending machine leases, and yearbook sales; unclaimed youth benefit funds; any moneys received from commissions on telephone systems established for the use of confined children; any amounts transferred to the fund pursuant to division (A) or (B) of section 5139.85 of the Revised Code; and any donations designated for the benefit of confined children or children placed in the region. Expenditures from the industrial and entertainment fund shall be used solely for the benefit of the children confined in the institution or placed in the region.

(3) The youth benefit fund, created and maintained for the benefit of the children who are confined in the institution or placed in the region. The fund may receive and disburse all benefits that are due a child, including, but not limited to, social security payments, railroad retirement payments, veterans administration payments, any allowances, and any monetary compensation of the child as provided in section 5139.07 of the Revised Code.

(B) The managing officer of the institution or regional office, subject to the approval of the director of the department, shall establish policies and procedures for the operation of the cafeteria fund, industrial and entertainment fund, and youth benefit fund.

(C) There is hereby created in the state treasury the employee food service fund, consisting of money received from institutional cafeterias and money received from the sale of surplus property. The fund shall be used to purchase food, supplies, and cafeteria equipment for the institutions.

(D) As used in this section, "profits" means the revenue from the sale of commissary items over and above operating costs and a reserve established by the managing officer of the institution.

Section 5139.87 | Federal juvenile justice funds; juvenile justice and delinquency prevention fund.

• Effective: October 17, 2019
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 166 - 133rd General Assembly

(A) The department of youth services shall serve as the state agent for the administration of federal juvenile justice grants awarded to the state.

(B) There is hereby created in the state treasury the juvenile justice and delinquency prevention fund. All federal grants and other moneys received for federal juvenile programs shall be deposited into the fund. All receipts deposited into the fund shall be used for federal juvenile programs. All investment earnings on the cash balance in the fund shall be credited to the fund. The department of youth services shall maintain a financial activity report of each individual grant within the fund, including any expenses or revenues credited to those individual grants.

Section 5139.99 | Penalty.

• Effective: October 7, 1963
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 299 - 105th General Assembly

Whoever violates section 5139.21 of the Revised Code shall be fined not less than ten nor more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.