The County
Auditor is required by Ohio law to inspect all commercial devices used in
retail trade for weighing or measuring. This includes checking price
verification systems (scanners) and packages, such as meats, firewood, mulch,
and milk. Each Inspector is required to complete eighteen hours of continuing
education every year under Ohio regulations. If a device is found to be
inaccurate, the Auditor, through his Inspectors, can reject the device, condemn
the device, or in extreme cases, confiscate the device. If the device is
rejected, the Auditor must affix a seal to it indicating it has been rejected.
In Hamilton County, stickers are also affixed to devices that are not sealed or
are condemned. If a package is inaccurate, the Auditor can order the packages
to be repacked, order them off sale, or in extreme cases, confiscate the
packages. In the case of scanners, the Auditor will normally give a merchant
three chances to reduce the error rate to below 2%. If the error rate is still
over 2% on the third inspection, a written Notice of Inaccuracy is given to the
store manager, with a copy sent to the corporate headquarters. In all cases,
for devices, packages, or scanners, if an establishment does not comply with
Ohios Weights & Measures laws, the Auditor will turn the matter over
to the County Prosecuting Attorney.
The procedures followed by
the Weights & Measures Inspector are defined by the
Ohio Department of
Agriculture - Division of Weights and Measures (ODA/WM). In addition, the
Inspectors use handbooks prepared by the United States Department of Commerce -
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National
Conference of Weights and Measures (NCWM). Under Ohio law, these handbooks are
made part of Ohio's Administrative Code under regulations adopted by the
ODA/WM.
In all cases, for devices,
packages, or scanners, if an establishment does not comply with Ohio's Weights
and Measures laws, the Auditor will turn the matter over to the County
Prosecuting Attorney. In extreme cases, the matter is turned over to the ODA/WM
which in turn asks for the assistance of the Ohio Attorney General's
Office.