Ohio Administrative Code › Title 4501:1 - Bureau of Motor Vehicles › Chapter 4501:1-6 - Registrars and Deputy Registrars › Section 4501:1-6-01 - Terms and provisions governing contracts between the registrar and deputy registrars

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A) The registrar of motor vehicles, with the
			 approval of the director of public safety, shall prescribe the terms and
			 conditions for contracts between the registrar and the deputy registrars. The
			 contract shall require the deputy registrar to comply with all applicable
			 requirements of the Revised Code, the Administrative Code, and the contract.
			 The contract may, at the registrar's discretion, incorporate by reference the
			 terms of the request for proposals and the proposal.
(B) Each deputy registrar shall give and
			 maintain during the period of the contract a bond in the amount of at least
			 twenty-five thousand dollars, or in such higher amount as the registrar
			 determines necessary, based on a uniform schedule of bond amounts prescribed by
			 the registrar and determined by the estimated volume of transactions handled by
			 the deputy. The bond required of deputy registrars may, at the discretion of
			 the registrar, be individual or schedule bonds or may be included in any
			 blanket bond coverage carried by the department. The bond shall name "The State
			 of Ohio, Department of Public Safety, Bureau of Motor Vehicles" as the
			 bondholder and shall stipulate that the registrar be notified in the event of
			 nonpayment of the premium or cancellation before the expiration of the bond.
			 Notification shall be within the time frame and in the manner determined by the
			 registrar. The bond shall be sufficient to protect the funds and assets of the
			 state of Ohio from losses due to fraud, theft, embezzlement and other
			 improprieties.
(C) The registrar,
			 with the approval of the director, may prescribe a liquidated damages clause to
			 be included in the deputy registrar contract to compensate the department of
			 public safety and the bureau of motor vehicles for damages incurred as a result
			 of failure of performance by the deputy registrar. Any liquidated damages
			 clause prescribed by the registrar shall set forth the conditions which may
			 constitute default, shall require that written notice of default be made to the
			 deputy registrar, and shall give the deputy registrar reasonable time, not less
			 than seventy-two hours, to cure the default. If the default is not cured within
			 the time prescribed by the registrar, the registrar may require the liquidated
			 damages to be paid or may, in the registrar's discretion, grant an extension of
			 time to cure the default. The registrar, with the approval of the director,
			 shall specify in the contract the amount of the liquidated damages, which shall
			 not exceed fifty dollars per terminal per day. The amount specified shall be
			 liquidated damages, and not a penalty, for failure of performance by the deputy
			 registrar. The liquidated damages clause shall be in addition to any other
			 clauses contained in the deputy registrar contract and neither the use nor the
			 waiver of the liquidated damages clause shall constitute a waiver of any other
			 term of the contract by the registrar.
(D) The registrar may designate the location
			 of each deputy registrar agency either at a specific site or within specific
			 boundaries.
(E) The registrar shall
			 prescribe the size of each deputy registrar office based on the estimated
			 number of transactions and the number of terminals for that agency and such
			 other factors as determined by the registrar.
(F) The registrar shall lease the equipment
			 necessary to conduct the vision screenings required under section
			 4507.12 of the Revised Code to
			 the deputy registrar at the cost of ten cents per vision screening conducted by
			 the deputy registrar. The deputy registrar shall transmit these amounts to the
			 registrar by depositing them in the depository account not more than one
			 business day after their collection.
(G) The registrar shall prescribe training
			 requirements for deputy registrars and deputy registrar employees, and the
			 deputy registrars and deputy registrar employees shall participate in training
			 programs as prescribed by the registrar.
(H) Each deputy registrar shall be permitted
			 and encouraged to inform the public of the location of the agency and the hours
			 of operation. A deputy registrar may, with the prior written approval of the
			 registrar, advertise in regard to the operation of the deputy registrar agency.
			 No advertisement shall contain any material which in the opinion of the
			 registrar reflects negatively upon the state of Ohio, the department of public
			 safety, the bureau of motor vehicles, any deputy registrar, or any deputy
			 registrar agency. The registrar may prohibit or otherwise regulate any
			 advertisement which in the registrar's opinion contains any such negative
			 material, and may take any appropriate remedial action. No person shall
			 advertise as a deputy registrar unless that person is at the time of the
			 advertisement acting as a deputy registrar upon appointment of and under
			 contract with the registrar. Any deputy registrar whose contract expires or is
			 terminated for any reason shall take reasonable measures to remove any deputy
			 registrar advertisement or listing of any nature whatsoever for that deputy
			 registrar agency.
(I) The registrar
			 may prescribe requirements for signs to be displayed by the deputy registrar
			 both outside and within the deputy registrar agency and the deputy registrar
			 shall conform thereto. The registrar shall modify sign specifications for any
			 deputy registrar to the extent necessary to conform to applicable zoning laws.
			 Upon termination or expiration of any deputy registrar contract the deputy
			 registrar shall immediately remove all signs and indicia identifying the deputy
			 registrar agency.
(J) The registrar
			 shall prescribe the hours that deputy registrar offices be open to the public,
			 which hours shall conform to at least the minimum requirements set forth in
			 division (D) of section
			 4503.03 of the Revised Code.
			 Each deputy registrar shall submit to the registrar for approval the hours of
			 operation of that agency. Where there are two or more deputy registrars in a
			 county and they agree upon weekend and evening hours of operation, their
			 agreement shall be submitted to the registrar for approval. This rule does not
			 prohibit the registrar from requiring hours of operation different from ones
			 selected by the deputy registrar.
(K) Every deputy registrar in each county,
			 upon request, shall provide any person with information about the location and
			 office hours of all deputy registrars in that county and each adjoining county.
			 This information will be supplied by the bureau of motor vehicles to each
			 deputy registrar for dissemination.
(L) No person except the registrar shall
			 operate or control, directly or indirectly, more than one deputy registrar
			 agency at any time except when the registrar determines that it is practical
			 and beneficial to award contracts to a deputy registrar to operate more than
			 one deputy registrar agency at specific locations designated by the registrar.
			 No spouse of a deputy registrar shall be appointed as a deputy registrar or
			 operate a deputy registrar agency. No parent, child, brother, or sister of a
			 deputy registrar shall be appointed as a deputy registrar or operate a deputy
			 registrar agency if they are living in the same household as the deputy
			 registrar. This paragraph does not prohibit any member of a deputy registrar's
			 family from serving as an employee of any deputy registrar.
(M) No employee of the state of Ohio shall be
			 appointed as a deputy registrar. No spouse, parent, child, brother, sister,
			 father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, or
			 daughter-in-law of any employee of the department of public safety, the bureau
			 of motor vehicles, or the state highway patrol shall be appointed as a deputy
			 registrar or operate a deputy registrar agency. The registrar, with the
			 approval of the director, may waive this provision for any family member of an
			 employee if that family member has since January 1, 1992 continuously served as
			 a deputy registrar or if the family member became so employed after the deputy
			 registrar was first appointed as deputy registrar. This paragraph does not
			 prohibit any member of an employee's family from serving as an employee of any
			 deputy registrar and does not apply to county auditors or clerk of
			 courts.
(N) Deputy registrars are
			 independent contractors and neither they nor their employees are employees of
			 this state, except that nothing in this rule shall affect the status of county
			 auditors or clerks of courts as public officials, nor the status of their
			 employees as employees of any of the counties of this state which are political
			 subdivisions of this state.
(O)
			 Each deputy registrar shall comply with all applicable federal, state, and
			 local laws in the conduct of the deputy registrar agency. Each deputy registrar
			 shall obtain a vendor's license, shall collect Ohio sales taxes on nonexempt
			 transactions as required by law, and shall be responsible for the payment of
			 all unemployment compensation payments, all workers' compensation payments, all
			 social security contributions and deductions, and any and all other taxes or
			 payroll deductions for which the deputy registrar is legally responsible. Each
			 deputy registrar shall comply with all applicable federal, state, and local
			 laws requiring the withholding of income taxes or other taxes from the
			 compensation of the deputy registrar's employees.
(P) Each deputy registrar shall have adequate
			 staffing and equipment/supplies to handle the
			 volume of business including adequate provisions to handle any peak periods of
			 activity. The registrar may prescribe reasonable minimum staffing requirements
			 and each deputy registrar shall comply with those requirements. The registrar
			 may prohibit the employment by any deputy registrar of any person who within
			 the past ten years has been convicted of a crime punishable by death or
			 imprisonment in excess of one year or a crime involving dishonesty or false
			 statement.
(Q) Each deputy
			 registrar shall appoint a full-time office manager to be responsible for the
			 management of the agency. The deputy registrar may designate himself or herself
			 to serve as the office manager or may appoint another employee to do so. The
			 office manager shall be regularly scheduled and on duty at the deputy registrar
			 agency at least thirty-six hours per week during regular business hours except
			 for temporary periods of vacation, sickness or holidays. The registrar may
			 require that the deputy registrar, except a county auditor or a clerk of court,
			 shall be regularly scheduled and on duty at the deputy registrar agency at
			 least twenty hours per week during regular business hours except for temporary
			 periods of vacation or sickness. The deputy registrar shall also designate an
			 employee to supervise the agency during all periods when both the office
			 manager and the deputy registrar are absent.
(R) The registrar shall prescribe and each
			 deputy registrar shall conform to requirements for buildings and facilities,
			 staffing, parking, disability accessibility, heating, ventilation, air
			 conditioning, lighting, security, signs, bank accounts, reports, record keeping
			 and retention, voter registration, organ donation documentation, employee
			 training, and any other requirements that the registrar deems necessary or
			 proper for the efficient operation of the deputy registrar agency.
(S) The registrar may prohibit solicitations
			 of any kind by the deputy registrars or their employees. The registrar may
			 require that there be direct access to the deputy registrar facility and may
			 prohibit the operation of any other business or activity in conjunction with
			 the operation of the deputy registrar agency. The provisions of this paragraph
			 do not apply to county auditors or clerks of courts.
(T) Each deputy registrar shall perform in an
			 efficient and professional manner all services on behalf of the registrar
			 including but not limited to the issuance of drivers' licenses, identification
			 cards, vehicle registration plates or stickers, temporary tags, and vehicle
			 registration and driver record abstracts; physical inspection of motor vehicles
			 as required by section
			 4505.061 of the Revised Code;
			 administering vision screenings; offering the public the option of listing
			 organ donor preferences; voter registration and any other services the
			 registrar is required or chooses to offer to the public.
(U) The registrar shall, with the approval of
			 the director, terminate the contract and immediately remove a deputy who
			 violates any provision of the Revised Code related to the deputy's duties any
			 rule adopted by the registrar, or any term of the contract with the registrar.
			 The registrar may also remove a deputy who, in the opinion of the registrar,
			 has engaged in any conduct that is either unbecoming to one representing this
			 state or is inconsistent with the efficient operation of the deputy's
			 office.
(V) Any deputy registrar
			 who wishes to unilaterally terminate his or her contract shall give written
			 notice to the registrar at least ninety days prior to said termination. No
			 deputy registrar shall cease to conduct the business of deputy registrar until
			 ninety days have elapsed since the written notice has been received by the
			 registrar, unless the registrar gives written approval of earlier
			 termination.
(W) In the event the
			 registrar should cancel any deputy registrar contract without a breach of
			 condition, the registrar shall give written notice of cancellation at least
			 ninety days prior to the effective date of said cancellation.
(X) No deputy registrar shall change the
			 deputy registrar's office telephone number or banking facility without the
			 prior written consent of the registrar. No deputy registrar shall change or
			 move the deputy registrar agency to any other site without the prior written
			 consent of the registrar. The registrar may withhold approval if the registrar
			 determines that the proposed facility is not as well suited for a deputy
			 registrar office as the existing facility.
(Y) Neither the registrar nor any person
			 shall terminate a deputy registrar contract awarded to a person, or threaten to
			 do so, because that person fails to pay an assessment or subscription to, or
			 fails to make contribution to, any political party, the governor or the
			 governor's campaign committee, or any candidate for public office or the
			 candidate's campaign committee.
(Z)
			 The contract between the registrar and the deputy registrar may contain any
			 provisions the registrar deems necessary or proper to assure that the
			 provisions of the Revised Code and the Administrative Code are adhered to and
			 that the deputy registrar provides proper and efficient service to the state of
			 Ohio, the department of public safety, the bureau of motor vehicles, and the
			 citizens of Ohio.
(AA) The deputy
			 registrar contract may be amended at any time to the extent it is necessary to
			 conform to any applicable federal or state law or any rule adopted by the
			 registrar or director in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised
			 Code.
(BB) Unless otherwise
			 terminated and except for interim contracts lasting not longer than one year
			 contracts with deputy registrars shall be entered into through a competitive
			 selection process and shall be limited in duration to
			 five years unless the registrar determines that a shorter contract term is
			 appropriate for a particular deputy registrar.
(1) All contracts with deputy registrars shall expire
			 on the last Saturday of June in the year of their expiration.
(2)
			 Prior to the expiration of any deputy registrar contract, the registrar, with
			 the approval of the director, may award a one-year contract extension to any
			 deputy registrar who has provided exemplary service based
			 upon objective performance evaluations.