Ohio Code 2927.021 – Engaging in illegal tobacco or alternative nicotine product transaction scan
(A) As used in this section and section 2927.022 of the Revised Code:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 2927.021
- Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Whoever: includes all persons, natural and artificial; partners; principals, agents, and employees; and all officials, public or private. See Ohio Code 1.02
(1) “Card holder” means any person who presents a driver’s or commercial driver’s license or an identification card to a seller, or an agent or employee of a seller, to purchase or receive cigarettes, other tobacco products, or alternative nicotine products from the seller, agent, or employee.
(2) “Identification card” means an identification card issued under sections 4507.50 to 4507.52 of the Revised Code.
(3) “Seller” means a seller of cigarettes, other tobacco products, or alternative nicotine products and includes any person whose gift of or other distribution of cigarettes, other tobacco products, or alternative nicotine products is subject to the prohibitions of section 2927.02 of the Revised Code.
(4) “Transaction scan” means the process by which a seller or an agent or employee of a seller checks, by means of a transaction scan device, the validity of a driver’s or commercial driver’s license or an identification card that is presented as a condition for purchasing or receiving cigarettes, other tobacco products, or alternative nicotine products.
(5) “Transaction scan device” means any commercial device or combination of devices used at a point of sale that is capable of deciphering in an electronically readable format the information encoded on the magnetic strip or bar code of a driver’s or commercial driver’s license or an identification card.
(B)(1) A seller or an agent or employee of a seller may perform a transaction scan by means of a transaction scan device to check the validity of a driver’s or commercial driver’s license or identification card presented by a card holder as a condition for selling, giving away, or otherwise distributing to the card holder cigarettes, other tobacco products, or alternative nicotine products.
(2) If the information deciphered by the transaction scan performed under division (B)(1) of this section fails to match the information printed on the driver’s or commercial driver’s license or identification card presented by the card holder, or if the transaction scan indicates that the information so printed is false or fraudulent, neither the seller nor any agent or employee of the seller shall sell, give away, or otherwise distribute any cigarettes, other tobacco products, or alternative nicotine products to the card holder.
(3) Division (B)(1) of this section does not preclude a seller or an agent or employee of a seller from using a transaction scan device to check the validity of a document other than a driver’s or commercial driver’s license or an identification card, if the document includes a bar code or magnetic strip that may be scanned by the device, as a condition for selling, giving away, or otherwise distributing cigarettes, other tobacco products, or alternative nicotine products to the person presenting the document.
(C) Rules adopted by the registrar of motor vehicles under division (C) of section 4301.61 of the Revised Code apply to the use of transaction scan devices for purposes of this section and section 2927.022 of the Revised Code.
(D)(1) No seller or agent or employee of a seller shall electronically or mechanically record or maintain any information derived from a transaction scan, except the following:
(a) The name and date of birth of the person listed on the driver’s or commercial driver’s license or identification card presented by a card holder;
(b) The expiration date and identification number of the driver’s or commercial driver’s license or identification card presented by a card holder.
(2) No seller or agent or employee of a seller shall use the information that is derived from a transaction scan or that is permitted to be recorded and maintained under division (D)(1) of this section, except for purposes of section 2927.022 of the Revised Code.
(3) No seller or agent or employee of a seller shall use a transaction scan device for a purpose other than the purpose specified in division (B)(1) of this section.
(4) No seller or agent or employee of a seller shall sell or otherwise disseminate the information derived from a transaction scan to any third party, including, but not limited to, selling or otherwise disseminating that information for any marketing, advertising, or promotional activities, but a seller or agent or employee of a seller may release that information pursuant to a court order or as specifically authorized by section 2927.022 or another section of the Revised Code.
(E) Nothing in this section or section 2927.022 of the Revised Code relieves a seller or an agent or employee of a seller of any responsibility to comply with any other applicable state or federal laws or rules governing the sale, giving away, or other distribution of cigarettes, other tobacco products, or alternative nicotine products.
(F) Whoever violates division (B)(2) or (D) of this section is guilty of engaging in an illegal tobacco product or alternative nicotine product transaction scan, and the court may impose upon the offender a civil penalty of up to one thousand dollars for each violation. The clerk of the court shall pay each collected civil penalty to the county treasurer for deposit into the county treasury.