Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 321.44 – Establishing probation services fund

(A)
1. (1) A county probation services fund shall be established in the county treasury of each county. The fund a county establishes under this division shall contain all moneys paid to the treasurer of the county under section 2951.021 of the Revised Code for deposit into the fund. The moneys paid into the fund shall be deposited by the treasurer of the county into the appropriate account established under divisions (A)(1)(a) to (d) of this section. Separate accounts shall be maintained in accordance with the following criteria in the fund a county establishes under this division:
  1. (a) If a county department of probation is established in the county, a separate account shall be maintained in the fund for the county department of probation.
  2. (b) If the judges of the court of common pleas of the county have affiliated with the judges of the court of common pleas of one or more other counties and have established a multicounty department of probation, a separate account shall be maintained in the fund for the multicounty department of probation.
  3. (c) If a department of probation is established in a county-operated municipal court that has jurisdiction within the county, a separate account shall be maintained in the fund for the municipal court department of probation.
  4. (d) If a county department of probation has not been established in the county and if the court of common pleas of the county, pursuant to section 2301.32 of the Revised Code, has entered into an agreement with the adult parole authority under which the court may place defendants under a community control sanction in charge of the authority, a separate account shall be maintained in the fund for the court of common pleas.
2. (2) For any county, if a county department of probation is established in the county or if a department of probation is established in a county-operated municipal court that has jurisdiction within the county, the board of county commissioners of the county shall appropriate to the county department of probation or municipal court department of probation all money that is contained in the department's account in the county probation services fund established in the county for use only for specialized staff, purchase of equipment, purchase of services, reconciliation programs for offenders and victims, other treatment programs, including alcohol and drug addiction services certified under section 5119.36 of the Revised Code, determined to be appropriate by the chief probation officer of the department of probation, and other similar expenses related to placing offenders under a community control sanction. For any county, if the judges of the court of common pleas of the county have affiliated with the judges of the court of common pleas of one or more other counties and have established a multicounty department of probation to serve the counties, the board of county commissioners of the county shall appropriate and the county treasurer shall transfer to the multicounty probation services fund established for the multicounty department of probation under division (B) of this section all money that is contained in the multicounty department of probation account in the county probation services fund established in the county for use in accordance with that division. For any county, if a county department of probation has not been established in the county and if the court of common pleas of the county, pursuant to section 2301.32 of the Revised Code, has entered into an agreement with the adult parole authority under which the court may place defendants under a community control sanction in charge of the authority, the board of county commissioners of the county shall appropriate to the court all money that is contained in the court's account in the county probation services fund established in the county for use only for specialized staff, purchase of equipment, purchase of services, reconciliation programs for offenders and victims, other treatment and recovery support services, including properly credentialed treatment and recovery support services program providers or alcohol and drug addiction services certified under section 5119.36 of the Revised Code, determined to be appropriate by the authority, and other similar uses related to placing offenders under a community control sanction.
(B) If the judges of the courts of common pleas of two or more counties have established a multicounty department of probation, a multicounty probation services fund shall be established in the county treasury of the county whose treasurer, in accordance with section 2301.27 of the Revised Code, is designated by the judges of the courts of common pleas as the treasurer to whom monthly supervision fees are to be appropriated and transferred under division (A)(2) of this section for deposit into the fund. The fund shall contain all moneys that are paid to the treasurer of any member county under section 2951.021 of the Revised Code for deposit into the county's probation services fund and that subsequently are appropriated and transferred to the multicounty probation services fund under division (A)(2) of this section. The board of county commissioners of the county in which the multicounty probation services fund is established shall appropriate the money contained in that fund to the multicounty department of probation, for use only for specialized staff, purchase of equipment, purchase of services, reconciliation programs for offenders and victims, other treatment programs, including alcohol and drug addiction services certified under section 5119.36 of the Revised Code, determined to be appropriate by the chief probation officer, and for other similar expenses related to placing offenders under a community control sanction.
(C) Any money in a county or multicounty probation services fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund of the county but shall be retained in the fund.
(D) As used in this section:
1. (1) "County-operated municipal court" has the same meaning as in section 1901.03 of the Revised Code.
2. (2) "Multicounty department of probation" means a probation department established under section 2301.27 of the Revised Code to serve more than one county.
3. (3) "Community control sanction" has the same meaning as in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.