Section 307.656 - Collecting and maintaining information; confidentiality(A) A domestic violence fatality review board shall establish a system for collecting and maintaining information necessary for the review of deaths by domestic violence in the county or region. In an effort to ensure confidentiality, each board shall do all of the following: (1) Maintain all records in a secure location;(2) Develop security measures to prevent unauthorized access to records containing information that could reasonably identify any person;(3) Develop a system for storing, processing, indexing, retrieving, and destroying information obtained in the course of reviewing a death.(B) For each death reviewed by a board, the board shall collect all of the following: (1) Demographic information of the deceased and perpetrator, including age, sex, race, and ethnicity;(2) The year in which the death occurred;(3) The geographic location of the death;(5) Any factors contributing to the death;(6) Any other information the board considers relevant.(C) By the first day of April of each year, the person convening a domestic violence fatality review board shall prepare and submit to the department of health in the manner and format prescribed by the department a report that includes all of the following information for the previous calendar year:(1) The total number of deaths by domestic violence in the county or region;(2) The total number of deaths by domestic violence reviewed by the board;(3) A summary of demographic information for the deaths reviewed, including age, sex, race, and ethnicity of both deceased and perpetrators;(4) A summary of any trends or patterns identified by the board. The report shall specify the number of deaths by domestic violence that were not reviewed during the previous calendar year.
The report shall include recommendations for actions that might prevent other deaths, as well as any other information the review board determines should be included.
(D) Reports prepared under division (C) of this section shall be considered public records under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.Added by 134th General Assembly, HB 254,§1, eff. 4/3/2023.