Ohio Code 2744.07 – Defending and indemnifying employees
(A)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (A)(2) of this section, a political subdivision shall provide for the defense of an employee, in any state or federal court, in any civil action or proceeding which contains an allegation for damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property caused by an act or omission of the employee in connection with a governmental or proprietary function. Amounts expended by a political subdivision in the defense of its employees shall be from funds appropriated for this purpose or from proceeds of insurance.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 2744.07
- Allegation: something that someone says happened.
- Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
- Employee: includes any elected or appointed official of a political subdivision. See Ohio Code 2744.01
- 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.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Law: means any provision of the constitution, statutes, or rules of the United States or of this state; provisions of charters, ordinances, resolutions, and rules of political subdivisions; and written policies adopted by boards of education. See Ohio Code 2744.01
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Pleadings: Written statements of the parties in a civil case of their positions. In the federal courts, the principal pleadings are the complaint and the answer.
- Political subdivision: includes , but is not limited to, a county hospital commission appointed under section 339. See Ohio Code 2744.01
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- proprietary function: includes , but is not limited to, the following:
(a) The operation of a hospital by one or more political subdivisions;
(b) The design, construction, reconstruction, renovation, repair, maintenance, and operation of a public cemetery other than a township cemetery;
(c) The establishment, maintenance, and operation of a utility, including, but not limited to, a light, gas, power, or heat plant, a railroad, a busline or other transit company, an airport, and a municipal corporation water supply system;
(d) The maintenance, destruction, operation, and upkeep of a sewer system;
(e) The operation and control of a public stadium, auditorium, civic or social center, exhibition hall, arts and crafts center, band or orchestra, or off-street parking facility. See Ohio Code 2744.01
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- State: means the state of Ohio, including, but not limited to, the general assembly, the supreme court, the offices of all elected state officers, and all departments, boards, offices, commissions, agencies, colleges and universities, institutions, and other instrumentalities of the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 2744.01
- subdivision: means a municipal corporation, township, county, school district, or other body corporate and politic responsible for governmental activities in a geographic area smaller than that of the state. See Ohio Code 2744.01
(2) A political subdivision does not have the duty to provide for the defense of an employee under division (A)(1) of this section if any of the following apply:
(a) The act or omission occurred while the employee was not acting in good faith.
(b) The act or omission occurred while the employee was acting manifestly outside the scope of the employee’s employment or official responsibilities.
(c) The civil action or proceeding is commenced by or on behalf of a political subdivision.
(d) The employee is an employee of a regional council of governments established under Chapter 167 of the Revised Code and both of the following apply:
(i) The employee is not also an employee of a political subdivision that is a member of the council.
(ii) The act or omission, if proven, would constitute a violation of Chapter 102. or Chapter 2921 of the Revised Code.
(B)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (B) (2) of this section, a political subdivision shall indemnify and hold harmless an employee in the amount of any judgment, other than a judgment for punitive or exemplary damages, that is obtained against the employee in a state or federal court or as a result of a law of a foreign jurisdiction and that is for damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property caused by an act or omission in connection with a governmental or proprietary function.
(2) A political subdivision is not required to indemnify and hold harmless an employee under division (B)(1) of this section if any of the following apply:
(a) At the time of the act or omission, the employee was not acting in good faith.
(b) At the time of the act or omission, the employee was not acting within the scope of the employee’s employment or official responsibilities.
(c) The employee is an employee of a regional council of governments established under Chapter 167 of the Revised Code and both of the following apply:
(i) The employee is not also an employee of a political subdivision that is a member of the council.
(ii) The act or omission constitutes a violation of Chapter 102. or Chapter 2921 of the Revised Code.
(C)(1) A political subdivision may enter into a consent judgment or settlement and may secure releases from liability for itself or an employee, with respect to any claim for injury, death, or loss to person or property caused by an act or omission in connection with a governmental or proprietary function.
(2) No action or appeal of any kind shall be brought by any person, including any employee or a taxpayer, with respect to the decision of a political subdivision pursuant to division (C)(1) of this section whether to enter into a consent judgment or settlement or to secure releases, or concerning the amount and circumstances of a consent judgment or settlement. Amounts expended for any settlement shall be from funds appropriated for this purpose.
(D) If a political subdivision refuses to provide an employee with a defense in a civil action or proceeding as described in division (A) of this section, upon the motion of the political subdivision, the court shall conduct a hearing regarding the political subdivision’s duty to defend the employee in that civil action. The political subdivision shall file the motion within thirty days of the close of discovery in the action. After the motion is filed, the employee shall have not less than thirty days to respond to the motion.
At the request of the political subdivision or the employee, the court shall order the motion to be heard at an oral hearing. At the hearing on the motion, the court shall consider all evidence and arguments submitted by the parties. The court shall determine whether the political subdivision has the duty to defend the employee under division (A) of this section. The pleadings shall not be determinative of whether the employee acted in good faith or was manifestly outside the scope of employment or official responsibilities.
If the court determines that the political subdivision has the duty to defend the employee under division (A) of this section, the court shall order the political subdivision to defend the employee in the action.