Ohio has enacted new state laws concerning homeland security in Ohio, SB 9. The legislation became effective on April 14, 2006 and has several specific components that affect school districts. This short article is to familiarize you with the new requirements and procedures enacted with the legislation.
The new law creates a form called the “Declaration Regarding Material Assistance/Nonassistance to a Terrorist Organization” or “DMA” that school districts must cause to be filled out by three groups: 1) any employee coming under final consideration for employment, 2) any contract for over $100,000 let by competitive bidding (only the successful bidder must fill out the form), and 3) any contract between the board and another entity for items or services over an annual aggregate amount of $100,000. The form itself consists of six questions with yes or no answers. The purpose of it is to require entities or persons doing business with government entities in Ohio to affirmatively declare that he, she or it is not a member of a terrorist organization and has not provided “material assistance” to a terrorist organization.
The law defines “material assistance” as material support or resources such as currency, financial securities, lodging, training, safe houses, weapons, personnel transportation, and other physical assets that is given to an organization that support or engages in acts of terrorism appearing on the U.S. State Dept. list.
The list of what groups are considered terrorist organizations is produced by the U.S. Department of State and is made available online on the web site of the Ohio Division of Homeland Security, under the auspices of the Ohio Department of Public Safety. The DMA form and the list of terrorist organizations may be found at http://www.homelandsecurity.ohio.gov/dma/dma.asp.
With regard to employees, no positions hired after April 14, 2006 are exempt from the requirement to fill out the form. School districts must provide all such employees with the form and the list of terrorist organizations and collect the completed forms, note the responses, and file accordingly. If all the questions are answered with a “no” answer, the school district will retain the form, which is a public record. School district records commissions should put this on their list of things to schedule for retention at their next meeting on the schedule of records retention, since no particular time period is mandated by the law. As long as all the questions are answered “no”, no further action beyond retaining the form is required.
If any questions are answered “yes”, the district must notify the Ohio Division of Homeland Security and forward the form to that entity. The district may not employ the person is any question is answered with a “yes” answer. Likewise, if the form is filled out by a bidder or entity contracting with the school district and any question is answered “yes”, the Ohio Department of Homeland Security must be notified and the school district may not enter into a contract or do business with the entity. A refusal to answer the questions is treated as a “yes” answer. Answering the questions untruthfully is a fifth degree felony and a permanent ban from conducting business with any state agency, political subdivision, or other state instrumentality.
Districts may adopt a policy requiring pre-certification from persons or companies; this would mean that the companies interested in doing business with the school district fill out the form in advance and are approved and on file with the district. Pre-certification must be renewed annually and would not extend to other entities like sub-contractors. A pre-certification policy is not required.
There is an appeal process if someone filling out the form is denied employment or a contract that may be filed with the Division of Homeland Security, which decides the matter within 30 days.
Districts are advised to visit the web site listed above to print out a copy of the administrative training manual, The DMA form, and the list of terrorist organizations(which will be updated when the U.S. State Department updates it and transmits that information to the Division of Homeland Security, but not on any specific timeframe for updates. District should implement a regular process to check for updates to the list. Questions about the new procedures may be directed to the Division of Homeland Security directly at (614)644-3892. The Legal Division of OSBA is always available to assist members with questions.
