As Introduced
136th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 146
2025-2026
Representative Lorenz
Cosponsors: Representatives Williams, Dean
A B I L L
To amend section 2301.27 of the Revised Code to
change the civil service status of certain
positions in a county probation department from
classified to unclassified.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 2301.27 of the Revised Code be
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2301.27. (A)(1)(a) The court of common pleas may
establish a county department of probation. The establishment of
the department shall be entered upon the journal of the court,
and the clerk of the court of common pleas shall certify a copy
of the journal entry establishing the department to each
elective officer and board of the county. The department shall
consist of a chief probation officer and the number of other
probation officers and employees, clerks, and stenographers that
is fixed from time to time by the court. The court shall appoint
those individuals, fix their salaries, and supervise their work.
(b) When appointing a chief probation officer, the court
shall do all of the following:
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(i) Publicly advertise the position on the court's web
site, including, but not limited to, the job description,
qualifications for the position, and the application
requirements;
(ii) Conduct a competitive hiring process that adheres to
state and federal equal employment opportunity laws;
(iii) Review applicants who meet the posted qualifications
and comply with the application requirements.
(c) The court shall not appoint as a probation officer any
person who does not possess the training, experience, and other
qualifications prescribed by the adult parole authority created
by section 5149.02 of the Revised Code or the department of
youth services, as applicable. Probation officers have all the
powers of regular police officers and shall perform any duties
that are designated by the judge or judges of the court. All
positions within the department of probation, except including
positions held by probation officers in the juvenile division of
a court of common pleas, shall be in the classified unclassified
service of the civil service of the county.
(2) If two or more counties desire to jointly establish a
probation department for those counties, the judges of the
courts of common pleas of those counties may establish a
probation department for those counties. If a probation
department is established pursuant to division (A)(2) of this
section to serve more than one county, the judges of the courts
of common pleas that established the department shall designate
the county treasurer of one of the counties served by the
department as the treasurer to whom probation fees paid under
section 2951.021 of the Revised Code are to be appropriated and
transferred under division (A)(2) of section 321.44 of the
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Revised Code for deposit into the multicounty probation services
fund established under division (B) of section 321.44 of the
Revised Code.
The cost of the administration and operation of a
probation department established for two or more counties shall
be prorated to the respective counties on the basis of
population.
(3) Probation officers shall receive, in addition to their
respective salaries, their necessary and reasonable travel and
other expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
Their salaries and expenses shall be paid monthly from the
county treasury in the manner provided for the payment of the
compensation of other appointees of the court.
(4) Adult probation officers shall be trained in
accordance with a set of minimum standards that are established
by the adult parole authority of the department of
rehabilitation and correction. Probation officers in the
juvenile division of a court of common pleas shall be trained in
accordance with a set of minimum standards that are established
by the department of youth services.
(B)(1)(a) In lieu of establishing a county department of
probation under division (A) of this section and in lieu of
entering into an agreement with the adult parole authority as
described in division (B) of section 2301.32 of the Revised
Code, the court of common pleas may request the board of county
commissioners to contract with, and upon that request the board
may contract with, any nonprofit, public or private agency,
association, or organization for the provision of probation
services and supervisory services for persons placed under
community control sanctions. The contract shall specify that
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each individual providing the probation services and supervisory
services shall possess the training, experience, and other
qualifications prescribed by the adult parole authority or the
department of youth services, as applicable. The individuals who
provide the probation services and supervisory services shall
not be included in the classified or unclassified civil service
of the county.
(b) A court of common pleas that has established a county
probation department or has entered into an agreement with the
adult parole authority as described in division (A) or (B) of
section 2301.32 of the Revised Code may request the board of
county commissioners to contract with, and upon that request the
board may contract with, any nonprofit, public or private
agency, association, or organization for the provision of
probation services and supervisory services, including the
preparation of presentence investigation reports to supplement
the probation services and supervisory services provided by the
county probation department or adult parole authority, as
applicable. The contract shall specify that each individual
providing the probation services and supervisory services shall
possess the training, experience, and other qualifications
prescribed by the adult parole authority. The individuals who
provide the probation services and supervisory services shall
not be included in the classified or unclassified civil service
of the county. A nonprofit, public or private agency,
association, or organization providing probation services or
supervisory services under this division is hereby designated a
criminal justice agency in the provision of those services, and
as such is authorized by this state to apply for access to the
computerized databases administered by the national crime
information center or the law enforcement automated data system
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in Ohio and to other computerized databases administered for the
purpose of making criminal justice information accessible to
state criminal justice agencies.
(2)(a) In lieu of establishing a county department of
probation under division (A) of this section and in lieu of
entering into an agreement with the adult parole authority as
described in division (B) of section 2301.32 of the Revised
Code, the courts of common pleas of two or more adjoining
counties jointly may request the boards of county commissioners
of those counties to contract with, and upon that request the
boards of county commissioners of two or more adjoining counties
jointly may contract with, any nonprofit, public or private
agency, association, or organization for the provision of
probation services and supervisory services for persons placed
under community control sanctions for those counties. The
contract shall specify that each individual providing the
probation services and supervisory services shall possess the
training, experience, and other qualifications prescribed by the
adult parole authority or the department of youth services, as
applicable. The individuals who provide the probation services
and supervisory services shall not be included in the classified
or unclassified civil service of any of those counties.
(b) The courts of common pleas of two or more adjoining
counties that have jointly established a probation department
for those counties or have entered into an agreement with the
adult parole authority as described in division (A) or (B) of
section 2301.32 of the Revised Code may jointly request the
board of county commissioners of each county to contract with,
and upon that request the board may contract with, any
nonprofit, public or private agency, association, or
organization for the provision of probation services and
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supervisory services, including the preparation of presentence
investigation reports to supplement the probation services and
supervisory services provided by the probation department or
adult parole authority, as applicable. The contract shall
specify that each individual providing the probation services
and supervisory services shall possess the training, experience,
and other qualifications prescribed by the adult parole
authority. The individuals who provide the probation services
and supervisory services shall not be included in the classified
or unclassified civil service of the county. A nonprofit, public
or private agency, association, or organization providing
probation services or supervisory services under this division
is hereby designated a criminal justice agency in the provision
of those services, and as such is authorized by this state to
apply for access to the computerized databases administered by
the national crime information center or the law enforcement
automated data system in Ohio and to other computerized
databases administered for the purpose of making criminal
justice information accessible to state criminal justice
agencies.
(C) The chief probation officer may grant permission to a
probation officer to carry firearms when required in the
discharge of official duties if the probation officer has
successfully completed a basic firearm training program that is
approved by the executive director of the Ohio peace officer
training commission. A probation officer who has been granted
permission to carry a firearm in the discharge of official
duties, annually shall successfully complete a firearms
requalification program in accordance with section 109.801 of
the Revised Code.
(D) As used in this section and sections 2301.28 to
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2301.32 of the Revised Code, "community control sanction" has
the same meaning as in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.
Section 2. That existing section 2301.27 of the Revised
Code is hereby repealed.
Section 3. Section 2301.27 of the Revised Code is
presented in this act as a composite of the section as amended
by both H.B. 487 and S.B. 337 of the 129 General Assembly. The
General Assembly, applying the principle stated in division (B)
of section 1.52 of the Revised Code that amendments are to be
harmonized if reasonably capable of simultaneous operation,
finds that the composite is the resulting version of the section
in effect prior to the effective date of the section as
presented in this act.
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