§ 112-5. Registration of Legislative Agent and Employer.

(A)

Each legislative agent and employer, within ten days following an engagement of a legislative agent, shall file with the clerk of council an initial registration statement showing all of the following:

(1)

The name, business address, and occupation of the legislative agent;

(2)

The name and business address of the employer on whose behalf the legislative agent is actively advocating. For the purposes of this section, where a trade association or other charitable or fraternal organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under subsection 501(c) of the federal Internal Revenue Code is the employer, the statement need not list the names and addresses of each member of the association or organization, so long as the association or organization itself is listed.

(3)

A brief description of the type of legislation to which the engagement relates.

(B)

In addition to the initial registration statement required by division (A) of this section, each legislative agent and employer shall file with the clerk of council, not later than the last day of January and July of each year, an updated registration statement that confirms the continuing existence of each engagement described in an initial registration statement and that lists the specific ordinances or resolutions on which the agent actively advocated under that engagement during the period covered by the updated statement, and with it any statement detailing the financial transactions required to be filed by § 112-7.

(C)

If a legislative agent is engaged by more than one employer, the agent shall file a separate initial and updated registration statement for each engagement. If an employer engages more than one legislative agent, the employer need file only one updated registration statement under division (B) of this section, which shall contain the information required by division (B) of this section regarding all of the legislative agents engaged by the employer.

(D)

(1)

A change in any information required by division (A)(1), (2), or (B) of this section shall be reflected in the next updated registration statement filed under division (B) of this section.

(2)

Within thirty days after the termination of an engagement, the legislative agent who was employed under the engagement shall send written notification of the termination to the clerk of council.

(E)

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, a registration fee of $25 shall be charged for filing an initial registration statement. All money collected from this registration fee shall be deposited to the credit of the council lobbying fund created under § 112-15. An officer or employee of a state agency or city department who actively advocates in his fiduciary capacity as a representative of that state agency or city department need not pay the registration fee prescribed by this chapter. As used in this section, "state agency" does not include a state institution of higher education as defined in ORC § 3345.031.

(F)

Upon registration pursuant to division (A) of this section, the legislative agent shall be issued a card by the clerk of council showing that the legislative agent is registered. The registration card and the legislative agent's registration shall be valid from the date of their issuance until the next thirtieth day of November of an odd-numbered year.

(G)

The clerk of council shall be responsible for reviewing each registration statement filed under this section and for determining whether the statement contains all of the information required by this section. If the clerk of council determines that the registration statement does not contain all of the required information or that a legislative agent or employer has failed to file a registration statement, the clerk of council shall send written notification by certified mail to the person who filed the registration statement regarding the deficiency in the statement or to the person who failed to file the registration statement regarding the failure. Any person so notified by the clerk of council shall, not later than 15 days after receiving the notice, file a registration statement or an amended registration statement that does contain all of the information required by this section. If any person who receives a notice under this chapter fails to file a registration statement or such an amended registration statement within this 15-day period, the clerk of council shall notify the Office of Contract Compliance and Investigations (OCCI), who may take appropriate action as authorized under § 112-17. If the clerk of council notifies OCCI under this chapter, the clerk of council shall also notify in writing the city manager and each member of the council of the pending investigation.

(H)

On or before the 15th day of March of each year, the clerk of council shall, in the manner and form that he or she determines, publish a report containing statistical information on the registration statements filed under this section during the preceding year.

(Ordained by Ord. No. 151-1997, eff. June 20, 1997)

Cross reference

Penalty, § 112-99.