(a) Any person who operates a vessel or uses any water skis, aquaplane, or similar device upon any waters in this State shall be deemed to have given consent to a chemical test or tests of his blood, breath, or urine for the purpose of determining its alcohol or drug of abuse content if arrested for the offense of operating a vessel or using any water skis, aquaplane, or similar device in violation of Section 381.05. The test or tests shall be administered at the direction of law enforcement officer having reasonable grounds to believe the person to have been operating a vessel or using any water skis, aquaplane, or similar device in violation of Section 381.05. The law enforcement agency by which the officer is employed shall designate which of the tests shall be administered.
(b) Any person who is dead, unconscious, or who is otherwise in a condition rendering him incapable of refusal shall be deemed not to have withdrawn consent provided by subsection (a) hereof and the test or tests may be administered, subject to Ohio R.C. 313.12 to 313.16.
(c) Any person under arrest for the offense of operating a vessel or using any water skis, aquaplane, or similar device in violation of Section 381.05 shall be advised of the consequences of his refusal to submit to a chemical test designated by the law enforcement agency as provided in subsection (a) hereof. The advice shall be in a written form prescribed by the Chief of the Division of Watercraft and shall be read to the person. The form shall contain a statement that the form was shown to the person under arrest and read to him in the presence of the arresting officer and either another law enforcement officer, civilian law enforcement employee, or an employee of a hospital, first-aid station, or clinic, if any, to which the person has been taken for first-aid or medical treatment. The witnesses shall certify to this fact by signing the form.
(d) If a person under arrest for the offense of operating a vessel or using any water skis, aquaplane, or similar device in violation of Section 381.05 refuses upon the request of a law enforcement officer to submit to a chemical test designated by the law enforcement agency as provided in subsection (a) hereof, after first having been advised of the consequences of his refusal as provided in subsection (c) hereof, no chemical test shall be given, but the Chief of the Division of Watercraft, upon receipt of a sworn statement of the law enforcement officer that he had reasonable grounds to believe the arrested person had been operating a vessel or using any water skis, aquaplane, or similar device while under the influence of alcohol or a drug of abuse, the combined influence of alcohol and a drug of abuse, or with a prohibited concentration of alcohol in his blood, urine, or breath, and that the person refused to submit to the chemical test upon the request of the law enforcement officer, and upon receipt of the form as provided in subsection (c) hereof certifying that the arrested person was advised of the consequences of his refusal, shall inform the person by written notice that he is prohibited from operating a vessel or using any water skis, aquaplane, or similar device, and is prohibited from registering any watercraft in accordance with Ohio R.C. 1547.54, for one year following the date of the alleged violation of Section 381.05. The suspension of these operation, use, and registration privileges shall continue for the entire one-year period, subject to review as provided in this section.
If the person under arrest is the owner of the vessel involved in the alleged violation, the Chief of the Division of Watercraft, in addition to informing him by written notice that he is prohibited from operating a vessel or using any water skis, aquaplane, or similar device, and from registering any watercraft in accordance with Ohio R.C. 1547.54, for one year following the date of the alleged violation, shall impound the registration certificate and tags issued to the person in accordance with Ohio R.C. 1547.54 and 1547.57, for a period of one year following the date of the alleged violation. The registration certificate and tags may be impounded on the date of the alleged violation and such impoundment shall continue for the entire one-year period, subject to review as provided in this section.
(e) Upon suspending a person’s operation, use, and registration privileges in accordance with subsection (d) hereof, the Chief of the Division of Watercraft shall notify the person in writing, at his last known address, and inform him that he may petition for a hearing in accordance with subsection (f) hereof. If a person whose operation, use, and registration privileges have been suspended petitions for a hearing or appeals any decision that is adverse to him, the suspension of privileges shall begin at the termination of any hearing or appeal unless the hearing or appeal resulted in a decision favorable to the person.
(f) Any person who has been notified by the Chief of the Division of Watercraft that he is prohibited from operating a vessel or using any water skis, aquaplane, or similar device, and from registering any watercraft in accordance with Ohio R.C. 1547.54, or who has had the registration certificate and tags of his watercraft impounded pursuant to subsection (d) hereof, may, within twenty days of the notification or impoundment, file a petition in the municipal court or the county court, or in case the person is a minor in juvenile court, in whose jurisdiction the arrest occurred, agreeing to pay the cost of the proceedings and alleging error in the action taken by the Chief of the Division of Watercraft under subsection (d) hereof or alleging one or more of the matters within the scope of the hearing as provided in this section, or both. The petitioner shall notify the Chief of the Division of Watercraft of the filing of the petition and send him a copy of the petition.
The scope of the hearing is limited to the issues of whether the law enforcement officer had reasonable grounds to believe the petitioner was operating a vessel or using any water skis, aquaplane, or similar device while under the influence of alcohol or a drug of abuse, the combined influence of alcohol and a drug of abuse, or with a prohibited concentration of alcohol or a drug of abuse in his blood, urine, or breath, whether the petitioner was placed under arrest, whether the petitioner refused to submit to the chemical test upon request of the officer, and whether he was advised of the consequences of his refusal.
(g) The Chief of the Division of Watercraft shall furnish the court a copy of the affidavit as provided in subsection (c) hereof and any other relevant information requested by the court.
(h) In hearing the matter and in determining whether the person has shown error in the decision taken by the Chief of the Division of Watercraft as provided in subsection (d) hereof, the court shall decide the issue upon the relevant, competent, and material evidence submitted by the Chief of the Division of Watercraft or the person whose operation, use, and registration privileges have been suspended.
(i) If the court finds from the evidence submitted that the person has failed to show error in the action taken by the Chief of the Division of Watercraft under subsection (d) hereof or in one or more of the matters within the scope of the hearing as provided in subsection (e) hereof, or both, then the court shall assess the cost of the proceeding against the person and shall uphold the suspension of the operation, use, and registration privileges provided in subsection (d) hereof. If the court finds that the person has shown error in the action taken by the Chief of the Division of Watercraft under subsection (d) hereof or in one or more of the matters within the scope of the hearing as provided in subsection (e) hereof, or both, the cost of the proceedings shall be paid out of the county treasury of the county in which the proceedings were held, the operation, use, and registration privileges of the person shall be reinstated without charge, and the registration certificate and tags, if impounded, shall be returned without charge.
(j) The court shall give information in writing of any action taken under this section to the Chief of the Division of Watercraft.
(k) At the end of any period of suspension or impoundment imposed under this section, and upon request of the person whose operation, use, and registration privileges were suspended or whose registration certificate and tags were impounded, the Chief of the Division of Watercraft shall reinstate the person’s operation, use, and registration privileges by written notice and return the certificate and tags.
(l) No person who has received written notice from the Chief of the Division of Watercraft that he is prohibited from operating a vessel or using any water skis, aquaplane, or similar device, and from registering a watercraft, or who has had the registration certificate and tags of his watercraft impounded, in accordance with subsection (d) hereof, shall operate a vessel or use any water skis, aquaplane, or similar device for a period of one year following the date of his alleged violation of Section 381.05.
(m) Whoever violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.
(Ord. 8-1998. Passed 6-9-98.)
(Ord. 8-1998. Passed 6-9-98.)