(A) An investigative officer who is, or a member of the law enforcement agency that is, authorized by an interception warrant or a grant of an oral order for an interception pursuant to section 2933.57 of the Revised Code to intercept wire, oral, or electronic communications or an individual who is operating under a contract with that agency and is acting under the supervision of that officer or a member of that agency shall execute the interception warrant or the oral order in accordance with the terms of the warrant or oral order. The officer or member of the law enforcement agency who executes the warrant or oral order or who supervises the execution of the warrant or oral order shall have received training that satisfies the minimum standards established by the attorney general and the Ohio peace officer training commission under section 2933.64 of the Revised Code. The contents of a wire, oral, or electronic communication intercepted pursuant to an interception warrant or pursuant to a grant of an oral order for an interception, if possible, shall be recorded on tape or another similar device. If it is not possible to record the intercepted communication, a detailed resume of that communication immediately shall be reduced to writing. The recording or transcribing of the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication pursuant to sections 2933.51 to 2933.66 of the Revised Code shall be done in a way that will protect the recording or transcription from editing or any other alteration.

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(B) Immediately upon the expiration of the period of time for which an interception warrant was authorized, or any extensions of that time period, all wire, oral, or electronic communications interceptions shall cease, and any interception device installed pursuant to the interception warrant shall be removed or permanently inactivated as soon as is reasonably practicable. Entry to remove or inactivate an interception device is authorized by the granting of an interception warrant.

Immediately upon the expiration of that period of time or the extension, the recordings or resumes of intercepted communications shall be made available to the issuing judge and shall be sealed under the judge’s direction. The issuing judge shall specify who shall have custody of the sealed recordings and resumes. The recordings and resumes shall be kept for at least ten years. At the expiration of the ten-year period, the recordings and resumes may be destroyed upon the order of a judge of the court of common pleas of the county in which the interception took place. Duplicate recordings or resumes may be made for use or disclosure pursuant to divisions (F) and (G) of this section.

(C) No person, with intent to present the altered recording or resume in any judicial proceeding or proceeding under oath or affirmation, shall purposely edit, alter, or tamper with any recording or resume of any intercepted wire, oral, or electronic communications, shall attempt to edit, alter, or tamper with any recording or resume of any intercepted wire, oral, or electronic communications, or shall present or permit the presentation of any altered recording or resume in any judicial proceeding or proceeding under oath or affirmation, without fully indicating the nature of the changes made in the original state of the recording or resume.

(D)(1) Any interception warrant, the existence of lawfully installed interception devices, the application, affidavits, and return prepared in connection with the warrant, and any information concerning the application for, the granting of, or the denial of an interception warrant shall remain secret until they have been disclosed in a criminal trial or in a proceeding that is open to the public or until they have been furnished to the defendant or unless otherwise provided in sections 2933.51 to 2933.66 of the Revised Code.

(2) Any person who violates division (D)(1) of this section may be punished for contempt of court.

(E) When an order for destruction of any documents dealing with an interception warrant is issued, the person directed in the order to destroy the applications, affidavits, interception warrants, any amendments or extensions of the warrants, or recordings or resumes made pursuant to the warrants shall do so in the presence of at least one witness who is not connected with a law enforcement agency. The person who destroys the documents and each witness shall execute affidavits setting forth the facts and circumstances of the destruction. The affidavits shall be filed with and approved by the court having custody of the original materials.

(F) An investigative officer who has obtained knowledge of the contents, or of evidence derived from the contents, of a wire, oral, or electronic communication pursuant to sections 2933.51 to 2933.66 of the Revised Code may disclose the contents or evidence to another investigative officer to the extent that the disclosure is appropriate to the proper performance of the official duties of the officer making or receiving the disclosure and may use the contents or evidence to the extent appropriate to the proper performance of official duties.

(G) A person who has received, pursuant to sections 2933.51 to 2933.66 of the Revised Code, information concerning, or evidence derived from, a wire, oral, or electronic communication intercepted pursuant to an interception warrant may disclose the contents of that communication, or the evidence derived from the contents, while giving testimony under oath or affirmation in a proceeding held under the authority of the United States, this state, another state, or a political subdivision of this state or another state, except that the presence of the seal provided for in division (B) of section 2933.56 of the Revised Code and in division (B) of this section, or a satisfactory explanation of the absence of the seal, shall be a prerequisite for the use or disclosure of the contents of any wire, oral, or electronic communication or evidence derived from the contents. The contents, or evidence derived from the contents, of a wire, oral, or electronic communication intercepted pursuant to an interception warrant and in accordance with sections 2933.51 to 2933.66 of the Revised Code otherwise may be disclosed only upon a showing of good cause before a judge authorized to issue interception warrants.

(H) Whoever violates division (C) of this section is guilty of a felony of the third degree.