(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a prosecution shall be barred unless it is commenced within the following periods after an offense is committed:
(1) For misdemeanor other than a minor misdemeanor, two years;
(2) For a minor misdemeanor, six months.
(b) If the period of limitation provided in subsection (a) hereof has expired, prosecution shall be commenced for an offense of which an element is fraud or breach of a fiduciary duty, within one year after discovery of the offense either by an aggrieved person, or by his legal representative who is not himself a party to the offense.
(c) If the period of limitation provided in subsection (a) hereof has expired, prosecution shall be commenced for an offense involving misconduct in office by a public servant as defined in Section 2921.01 of the Ohio Revised Code, at any time while the accused remains a public servant, or within two years thereafter.
(d) An offense is committed when every element of the offense occurs. In the case of an offense of which an element is a continuing course of conduct, the period of limitation does not begin to run until such course of conduct or the accused's accountability for it terminates, whichever occurs first.
(e) A prosecution is commenced on the date an indictment is returned or an information filed, or on the date a lawful arrest without a warrant is made, or on the date a warrant, summons, citation or other process is issued, whichever occurs first. A prosecution is not commenced by the return of an indictment or the filing of an information unless reasonable diligence is exercised to issue and execute process on the same. A prosecution is not commenced upon issuance of a warrant, summons, citation or other process, unless reasonable diligence is exercised to execute the same.
(f) The period of limitation shall not run during any time when the corpus delicti remains undiscovered.
(g) The period of limitation shall not run during any time when the accused purposely avoids prosecution. Proof that the accused absented himself from this Municipality or concealed his identity or whereabouts is prima-facie evidence of his purpose to avoid prosecution.
(h) The period of limitation shall not run during any time a prosecution against the accused based on the same conduct is pending in this State, even though the indictment, information or process which commenced the prosecution is quashed or the proceedings thereon are set aside or reversed on appeal.
(i) The period of limitation for a violation of any provision of this General Offenses Code that involves a physical or mental wound, injury, disability or condition of a nature that reasonably indicates abuse or neglect of a child under eighteen years of age or of a child with a developmental disability or physical impairment under twenty-one years of age shall not begin to run until either of the following occurs:
(1) The victim of the offense reaches the age of majority.
(2) A public children services agency, or a municipal or county peace officer that is not the parent or guardian of the child, in the county in which the child resides or in which the abuse or neglect is occurring or has occurred has been notified that abuse or neglect is known, suspected, or believed to have occurred. (ORC 2901.13)
(j) This section shall not apply to prosecutions commenced within the period of limitations set forth in Ohio R.C. 718.12(B) for violations of the Municipal income tax ordinance.
(Ord. 071-08. Passed 10-6-08.)