The Ohio Attorney General’s Office works with the Ohio General Assembly to advocate legislation aimed at supporting local law enforcement. For more information on these efforts, contact the Attorney General’s Help Center at 800-282-0515.
- Blue Alert (Senate Bill 285), sponsored by Sens. Gayle Manning and Tom Patton, was passed and signed into law. It takes effect June 7. The new law permits local law enforcement to request a statewide Blue Alert when a law enforcement officer has been severely injured or killed or to aid in locating a suspect or missing officer. There must be a sufficient description of the suspect or the circumstances surrounding an officer’s injury, death, or disappearance to believe that an alert could help locate the suspect or missing officer.
- DNA swabbing (Senate Bill 268), sponsored by Sen. John Eklund, was passed unanimously by the Senate and was being considered by the House in early April. This bill would require that DNA samples be taken from people summoned to court on felonies or already incarcerated at the time new charges are filed. It complements a law that took effect in July 2011 requiring all felony arrestees to submit DNA samples. It also creates a provision for sealing the records of those acquitted or not prosecuted.
- Arson registry (Senate Bill 70), sponsored by Sen. Tim Schaffer, was in committee as of early April. This bill would establish a statewide arson registry to be maintained by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) and made available to law enforcement, fire chiefs, and fire marshals. It would require that anyone convicted of arson register with their county sheriff within 10 days of their release from incarceration and renew their registration annually from that point forward.