Ohio § 2935.041

§ 2935.041.

(A) A merchant, or an employee or agent of a merchant, who has probable cause to believe

that items offered for sale by a mercantile establishment have been unlawfully taken

by a person, may, for the purposes set forth in division (C) of this section, detain

the person in a reasonable manner for a reasonable length of time within the mercantile

establishment or its immediate vicinity. (B) Any officer, employee, or agent of a library, museum, or archival institution may,

for the purposes set forth in division (C) of this section or for the purpose of conducting

a reasonable investigation of a belief that the person has acted in a manner described

in divisions (B)(1) and (2) of this section, detain a person in a reasonable manner

for a reasonable length of time within, or in the immediate vicinity of, the library,

museum, or archival institution, if the officer, employee, or agent has probable cause

to believe that the person has either: (1) Without privilege to do so, knowingly moved, defaced, damaged, destroyed, or otherwise

improperly tampered with property owned by or in the custody of the library, museum,

or archival institution;  or (2) With purpose to deprive the library, museum, or archival institution of property

owned by it or in its custody, knowingly obtained or exerted control over the property

without the consent of the owner or person authorized to give consent, beyond the

scope of the express or implied consent of the owner or person authorized to give

consent, by deception, or by threat. (C) An officer, agent, or employee of a library, museum, or archival institution pursuant

to division (B) of this section or a merchant or employee or agent of a merchant pursuant

to division (A) of this section may detain another person for any of the following

purposes: (1) To recover the property that is the subject of the unlawful taking, criminal mischief,

or theft; (2) To cause an arrest to be made by a peace officer; (3) To obtain a warrant of arrest; (4) To offer the person, if the person is suspected of the unlawful taking, criminal

mischief, or theft and notwithstanding any other provision of the Revised Code, an

opportunity to complete a pretrial diversion program and to inform the person of the

other legal remedies available to the library, museum, archival institution, or merchant. (D) The owner or lessee of a facility in which a motion picture is being shown, or the

owner's or lessee's employee or agent, who has probable cause to believe that a person

is or has been operating an audiovisual recording function of a device in violation

of section 2913.07 of the Revised Code may, for the purpose of causing an arrest to be made by a peace officer or of obtaining

an arrest warrant, detain the person in a reasonable manner for a reasonable length

of time within the facility or its immediate vicinity. (E) The officer, agent, or employee of the library, museum, or archival institution,

the merchant or employee or agent of a merchant, or the owner, lessee, employee, or

agent of the facility acting under division (A), (B), or (D) of this section shall

not search the person detained, search or seize any property belonging to the person

detained without the person's consent, or use undue restraint upon the person detained. (F) Any peace officer may arrest without a warrant any person that the officer has probable

cause to believe has committed any act described in division (B)(1) or (2) of this

section, that the officer has probable cause to believe has committed an unlawful

taking in a mercantile establishment, or that the officer has reasonable cause to

believe has committed an act prohibited by section 2913.07 of the Revised Code .  An arrest under this division shall be made within a reasonable time after the commission

of the act or unlawful taking. (G) As used in this section: (1) “ Archival institution ” means any public or private building, structure, or shelter in which are stored

historical documents, devices, records, manuscripts, or items of public interest,

which historical materials are stored to preserve the materials or the information

in the materials, to disseminate the information contained in the materials, or to

make the materials available for public inspection or for inspection by certain persons

who have a particular interest in, use for, or knowledge concerning the materials. (2) “ Museum ” means any public or private nonprofit institution that is permanently organized

for primarily educational or aesthetic purposes, owns or borrows objects or items

of public interest, and cares for and exhibits to the public the objects or items. (3) “Audiovisual recording function” and “facility” have the same meaning as in section 2913.07 of the Revised Code . (4) “ Pretrial diversion program ” means a rehabilitative, educational program designed to reduce recidivism and promote

personal responsibility that is at least four hours in length and that has been approved

by any court in this state.