Ohio Code 3772.07 – Criminal records checks
The following appointing or licensing authorities shall obtain a criminal records check of the person who is to be appointed or licensed:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 3772.07
- Applicant: means any person who applies to the commission for a license under this chapter. See Ohio Code 3772.01
- Casino gaming: means any type of slot machine or table game wagering, using money, casino credit, or any representative of value, authorized in any of the states of Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia as of January 1, 2009, and includes slot machine and table game wagering subsequently authorized by, but shall not be limited by, subsequent restrictions placed on such wagering in such states. See Ohio Code 3772.01
- Casino gaming employee: means any employee of a casino operator or management company, but not a key employee, and as further defined in section 3772. See Ohio Code 3772.01
- Casino operator: means any person, trust, corporation, partnership, limited partnership, association, limited liability company, or other business enterprise that directly or indirectly holds an ownership or leasehold interest in a casino facility. See Ohio Code 3772.01
- Commission: means the Ohio casino control commission. See Ohio Code 3772.01
- Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
- Gaming agent: means a peace officer employed by the commission that is vested with duties to enforce this chapter and conduct other investigations into the conduct of the casino gaming and the maintenance of the equipment that the commission considers necessary and proper and is in compliance with section 109. See Ohio Code 3772.01
- Gaming-related vendor: means any individual, partnership, corporation, association, trust, or any other group of individuals, however organized, who supplies gaming-related equipment, goods, or services to a casino operator or management company, that are directly related to or affect casino gaming authorized under this chapter, including, but not limited to, the manufacture, sale, distribution, or repair of slot machines and table game equipment. See Ohio Code 3772.01
- Holding company: means any corporation, firm, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, trust, or other form of business organization not a natural person which directly or indirectly does any of the following:
(1) Has the power or right to control a casino operator, management company, or gaming-related vendor license applicant or licensee;
(2) Holds an ownership interest of five per cent or more, as determined by the commission, in a casino operator, management company, or gaming-related vendor license applicant or licensee;
(3) Holds voting rights with the power to vote five per cent or more of the outstanding voting rights of a casino operator, management company, or gaming-related vendor applicant or licensee. See Ohio Code 3772.01
- Institutional investor: means any of the following entities owning five per cent or more, but less than twenty-five per cent, of an ownership interest in a casino facility, casino operator, management company, or holding company: a corporation, bank, insurance company, pension fund or pension fund trust, retirement fund, including funds administered by a public agency, employees' profit-sharing fund or employees' profit-sharing trust, any association engaged, as a substantial part of its business or operations, in purchasing or holding securities, including a hedge fund, mutual fund, or private equity fund, or any trust in respect of which a bank is trustee or cotrustee, investment company registered under the "Investment Company Act of 1940" 15 U. See Ohio Code 3772.01
- Key employee: means any executive, employee, agent, or other individual who has the power to exercise significant influence over decisions concerning any part of the operation of a person that has applied for or holds a casino operator, management company, or gaming-related vendor license or the operation of a holding company of a person that has applied for or holds a casino operator, management company, or gaming-related vendor license, including:
(1) An officer, director, trustee, partner, or an equivalent fiduciary;
(2) An individual who holds a direct or indirect ownership interest of five per cent or more;
(3) An individual who performs the function of a principal executive officer, principal operating officer, principal accounting officer, or an equivalent officer;
(4) Any other individual the commission determines to have the power to exercise significant influence over decisions concerning any part of the operation. See Ohio Code 3772.01
- Management company: means an organization retained by a casino operator to manage a casino facility and provide services such as accounting, general administration, maintenance, recruitment, and other operational services. See Ohio Code 3772.01
- Person: includes , but is not limited to, an individual or a combination of individuals; a sole proprietorship, a firm, a company, a joint venture, a partnership of any type, a joint-stock company, a corporation of any type, a corporate subsidiary of any type, a limited liability company, a business trust, or any other business entity or organization; an assignee; a receiver; a trustee in bankruptcy; an unincorporated association, club, society, or other unincorporated entity or organization; entities that are disregarded for federal income tax purposes; and any other nongovernmental, artificial, legal entity that is capable of engaging in business. See Ohio Code 3772.01
(A) The governor, before appointing an individual as a member of the commission;
(B) The commission, before appointing an individual as executive director or a gaming agent;
(C) The commission, before issuing a license for a key employee or casino gaming employee, and before issuing a license for each investor, except an institutional investor, for a casino operator, management company, holding company, or gaming-related vendor;
(D) The executive director, before appointing an individual as a professional, technical, or clerical employee of the commission.
Thereafter, such an appointing or licensing authority shall obtain a criminal records check of the same individual at three-year intervals.
The appointing or licensing authority shall make available to each person of whom a criminal records check is required a copy of the form and the standard fingerprint impression sheet prescribed under divisions (C)(1) and (2) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code. The person shall complete the form and impression sheet and return them as directed by the appointing or licensing authority. If a person fails to complete and return the form and impression sheet within a reasonable time, the person is ineligible to be appointed or licensed or to continue in the appointment or licensure.
The appointing or licensing authority shall cause the completed form and impression sheet to be forwarded to the superintendent of the bureau of criminal identification and investigation. The appointing or licensing authority shall request the superintendent also to obtain information from the federal bureau of investigation, including fingerprint-based checks of the national crime information databases, and from other states and the federal government under the national crime prevention and privacy compact as part of the criminal records check.
For all criminal records checks conducted under this section, the applicant for a casino operator, management company, holding company, gaming-related vendor, key employee, or casino gaming employee license shall pay the fee charged by the bureau of criminal identification and investigation or by a vendor approved by the bureau to conduct a criminal records check based on the applicant’s fingerprints in accordance with division (A)(15) of section 109.572 of the Revised Code. If the applicant for a key employee or casino gaming employee license is applying at the request of a casino operator, management company, holding company, or gaming-related vendor, the casino operator, management company, holding company, or gaming-related vendor shall pay the fee charged for all criminal records checks conducted under this section.
The appointing or licensing authority shall review the results of a criminal records check. An appointee for a commission member shall forward the results of the criminal records check to the president of the senate before the senate advises and consents to the appointment of the commission member. The appointing authority shall not appoint or retain the appointment of a person a criminal records check discloses has been convicted of or has pleaded guilty or no contest to any gambling offense, any theft offense, any offense having an element of fraud or misrepresentation, any offense having an element of moral turpitude, and any felony not otherwise included in the foregoing list, except as otherwise provided in section 3772.10 of the Revised Code. The licensing authority shall not license a person if a criminal records check discloses that the person has been convicted of a disqualifying offense. As used in this section, “disqualifying offense” means a disqualifying offense as determined by the licensing authority under section 9.79 of the Revised Code.
The report of a criminal records check is not a public record that is open to public inspection and copying. The commission shall not make the report available to any person other than the person who was the subject of the criminal records check; an appointing or licensing authority; a member, the executive director, or an employee of the commission; or any court or agency, including a hearing examiner, in a judicial or administrative proceeding relating to the person’s employment or application for a license under this chapter.
Last updated January 24, 2022 at 11:04 AM