Ohio felon ‘redemption’ bill nearly a law

Offenders would find it easier to re-enter society.


Bills passed recently by the ohio General Assembly

HOUSE

• Senate Bill 316: An education policy bill that would require third graders to pass a reading test or be held back. Critics say the bill doesn’t include enough money to pay for tutoring for struggling readers. The bill also tweaks teacher evaluations, requiring those with two ineffective ratings out of three evaluations to re-take exams on core subject areas. The House voted 56-35 in favor of the bill.

• House Bill 495: A bill to have Ohio automatically recognize concealed weapons licenses issued by other states and loosen a training requirement for renewing Ohio CCW permits. Opponents say it would force Ohio to recognize permits issued by states with inadequate training and background checks. The House voted 57-26 in favor of the bill.

• House Bill 143: A sports safety bill that would require coaches and officials in youth sports to pull players from games or practices if it appears they may have suffered a concussion or brain injury. Players wouldn’t be allowed to return until they’ve been cleared by a physician or athletic trainer. House approved the bill, 82-4.

• Senate Resolution 30: A resolution to designate Central State University as a land-grant university. This would make Central State eligible for more federal funding. Approved 84-1.

SENATE

• Senate Bill 305: A bill to prohibit secret compartments in vehicles with the intent to hide or carry drugs. The Senate agreed to House changes to the bill on a 30-2 vote. The bill now heads to the governor.

• Senate Bill 193: A bill to revamp the law covering scrap and bulk metal dealers and require them to keep records and photos of people they buy metal from so that law enforcement can more easily investigate metal stripping crimes. The Senate agreed to House changes in the bill on a 32-0 vote and it now heads to the governor.

• Senate Bill 19: A bill to allow judges to not suspend temporary instruction permits, probationary licenses or restricted licenses held by juveniles. Judges could do so if the juvenile completes driver improvement courses and makes a case that a suspension would hurt his or her employment or education. The Senate agreed to House changes on a 30-2 vote and it now heads to the governor.

• House Bill 437: A bill to increase the maximum distance school-owned buses may travel on out-of-state trips to 1,000 miles round trip, up from 240 miles. The Senate passed the bill, 32-0.

• Senate Bill 15: A bill to require the state Board of Education to recommend standards for dropout prevention and recovering programs in public schools. The Senate passed the bill, 32-0.

COLUMBUS — Roughly 2 million Ohioans with criminal records may have an easier time finding work and therefore be less likely to commit another crime, under a bill headed to Gov. John Kasich, who is expected to sign it. The bill also attempts to trim the number of ways Ohioans can lose their driver’s licenses and make it easier for suspended drivers to regain their driving privileges.

The Ohio House on Wednesday unanimously approved the bill that would reduce the number of post-prison and post-conviction sanctions offenders face, such as being barred from holding a commercial driver’s license or other occupational licenses.

Kasich said the legislation offers redemption.

“Who here doesn’t need to be redeemed? We are giving people a second chance. This whole felony thing where we just locked them up and when you get out, you pay the penalty, you come out of some place, you’re excited to go get a job and they slam the door in your face. Twenty-five years we’ve waited for this, haven’t we senator? Twenty-five years and we did it together. And now somebody can get a job,” Kasich said in an unusual floor speech to state senators.

“It is a great piece of legislation. It will help change and save the lives of a whole lot of Ohioans — not just the 2 million that have been convicted of misdemeanors or felonies — but a lot of families,” said Gary Mohr, director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. Communities will be safer because people will have more chances at landing jobs instead of returning to crime, he said.

“If somebody has a job when they get out of prison, they’re much less likely to re-offend. So this is both a public safety and economic bill,” said Amy Borror, spokeswoman for Ohio Public Defender Tim Young. Young, however, opposed some changes made to the release of juvenile records.

The bill also calls for revamping the ways and reasons for which a driver can lose and then regain driving privileges. Currently, Ohio has 46 categories of license suspensions and in 2009, the state had more than 2.6 million suspensions among 7.3 million licensed drivers. A Dayton Daily News analysis found about 25 percent of the suspensions were for reasons other than a driving infraction, such as non-payment of child support. The bill calls for reducing the penalties for driving under suspension if it was imposed for a non-traffic offense, allowing courts to impose community service in lieu of license suspension, allowing courts to grant some driving privileges to those who lost them because they are behind in child support payments and allowing the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to let people pay reinstatement fees in installments.

The bill also calls on the Ohio Department of Public Safety to study the feasibility of a one-time amnesty program for the payment of fines related to traffic offenses and license suspensions.

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