Ohio Code 341.26 – Performance of random drug testing of prisoners
(A) As used in this section:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 341.26
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
(1) “Random drug testing” has the same meaning as in section 5120.63 of the Revised Code.
(2) “Prisoner” means a person confined in a jail or multicounty correctional center following a conviction of or plea of guilty to a criminal offense.
(B) The board of county commissioners of the county, with the consent of the sheriff of the county, or the boards of county commissioners of two or more adjacent counties that have jointly established a multicounty correctional center pursuant to section 307.93 of the Revised Code, with the consent of the sheriffs of those adjacent counties, may enter into a contract with a laboratory or entity to perform blood or urine specimen collection, documentation, maintenance, transportation, preservation, storage, and analyses and other duties required in the performance of random drug testing of prisoners. The terms of any contract entered into under this division shall include a requirement that the laboratory or entity and its employees, the sheriff, deputy sheriffs, the corrections commission or the administrator of the multicounty correctional center specified in division (D) of this section, the employees of the jail and multicounty correctional center, and all other persons comply with the standards for the performance of random drug testing as specified in rules adopted under division (C) of this section.
(C) Prior to entering into a contract with a laboratory or entity under division (B) of this section, a board of county commissioners or, in the case of a multicounty correctional center, the boards of county commissioners of the counties that have established the center shall adopt rules for the random drug testing of prisoners. The rules shall include, but are not limited to, provisions that do the following:
(1) Require the laboratory or entity to seek, obtain, and maintain accreditation from the national institute on drug abuse;
(2) Establish standards for the performance of random drug testing that include, but are not limited to, standards governing the following:
(a) The collection by the laboratory or entity of blood or urine specimens of individuals in a scientifically or medically approved manner and under reasonable and sanitary conditions;
(b) The collection and testing by the laboratory or entity of blood or urine specimens with due regard for the privacy of the individual being tested and in a manner reasonably calculated to prevent substitutions or interference with the collection and testing of the specimens;
(c) The documentation of blood or urine specimens collected by the laboratory or entity and documentation procedures that reasonably preclude the possibility of erroneous identification of test results and that provide the individual being tested an opportunity to furnish information identifying any prescription or nonprescription drugs used by the individual in connection with a medical condition;
(d) The collection, maintenance, storage, and transportation by the laboratory or entity of blood or urine specimens in a manner that reasonably precludes the possibility of contamination or adulteration of the specimens;
(e) The testing by the laboratory or entity of a blood or urine specimen of an individual to determine whether the individual ingested or was injected with a drug of abuse, in a manner that conforms to scientifically accepted analytical methods and procedures and that may include verification or confirmation of any positive test result by a reliable analytical method;
(f) The analysis of an individual’s blood or urine specimen by an employee of the laboratory or entity who is qualified by education, training, and experience to perform that analysis and whose regular duties include the analysis of blood or urine specimens to determine the presence of a drug of abuse and whether the individual who is the subject of the test ingested or was injected with a drug of abuse.
(3) Specify the frequency of performing random drug testing on prisoners in the jail or multicounty correctional center;
(4) Prescribe procedures for the automatic, random selection of prisoners in the jail or multicounty correctional center to submit to random drug testing under this section;
(5) Provide for reasonable safeguards for transmitting the results of the random drug testing of prisoners in the jail or multicounty correctional center from the contracting laboratory or entity to the sheriff, the corrections commission, or the administrator of the multicounty correctional center pursuant to division (E) of this section;
(6) Establish a reasonable fee to cover the costs associated with random drug testing and analysis performed by a contracting laboratory or entity under this section and establish procedures pursuant to division (E) of this section for the collection of those fees from the prisoners subjected to the drug tests.
(D) If a board of county commissioners enters into a contract pursuant to division (B) of this section, the sheriff of that county, pursuant to the terms of the contract and the rules adopted under division (C) of this section, shall facilitate the collection, documentation, maintenance, and transportation by the contracting laboratory or entity of the blood or urine specimens of the prisoners who are confined in the jail and who are subject to random drug testing. If the boards of county commissioners that have jointly established a multicounty correctional center enter into a contract pursuant to division (B) of this section, the corrections commission or the administrator of the multicounty correctional center, pursuant to the terms of the contract and the rules adopted under division (C) of this section, shall facilitate the collection, documentation, maintenance, and transportation by the contracting laboratory or entity of the blood or urine specimens of the prisoners who are confined in the multicounty correctional center and who are subject to random drug testing.
(E) If a county or two or more adjacent counties enter into a contract pursuant to division (B) of this section and the contracting laboratory or entity performs the random drug testing as provided in the contract, the laboratory or entity shall transmit the results of the drug tests to the sheriff, corrections commission, or administrator who facilitated the collection, documentation, maintenance, and transportation of blood or urine specimens under division (D) of this section. The sheriff, corrections commission, or administrator shall file for record the results of the random drug tests that indicate whether or not each prisoner who is confined in the jail or multicounty correctional center and who was subjected to the drug test ingested or was injected with a drug of abuse. The sheriff, corrections commission, or administrator shall give appropriate notice of the drug test results to each prisoner who was subjected to the drug test and whose drug test results indicate that the prisoner ingested or was injected with a drug of abuse. The sheriff, corrections commission, or administrator shall afford that prisoner an opportunity to be heard regarding the results of the drug test and to present contrary evidence at a hearing held before the sheriff, corrections commission, or administrator within thirty days after notification of the prisoner under this division. After the hearing, if a hearing is held, the sheriff, corrections commission, or administrator shall make a determination regarding any evidence presented by the prisoner. If the sheriff, corrections commission, or administrator rejects the evidence presented by the prisoner at the hearing or if no hearing is held under this division, the sheriff, corrections commission, or administrator may assess a reasonable fee, determined pursuant to division (C) of this section, for the costs associated with the random drug test to be paid by the prisoner whose drug test results indicate that the prisoner ingested or was injected with a drug of abuse. The sheriff, corrections commission, or administrator may collect the fee pursuant to section 307.93, 341.14, 341.19, 341.21, or 341.23 of the Revised Code.