Criminal Justice

To amend sections 3796.06 and 3796.99 of the Revised Code to modify prohibitions regarding underage possession, consumption, and purchase of marijuana.

HB 655 would create a new criminal offense in Ohio law for "neglect of parental duties" under section 2919.24 of the Revised Code. It would make it a crime for a parent or guardian to willfully fail to provide basic care, supervision, or necessities for a child under their responsibility. This bill directly affects parents or legal guardians who do not meet fundamental care obligations for their minor children. The key provision establishes specific legal consequences for this failure, moving it from a potential civil or child welfare issue into a criminal matter. The bill is currently in committee review after its introduction in January 2026.

HB 654, titled "Enact Amanda Dean's Law," would amend Ohio's Revised Code (section 2927.01) to increase criminal penalties for the abuse of a corpse. This bill directly affects individuals who commit acts such as desecration, mutilation, or unauthorized handling of a deceased person's body. The key provision raises the severity of penalties for these offenses under existing law. The bill seeks to strengthen legal consequences for violating the dignity of the deceased, as specified in the proposed amendment to section 2927.01.

HB 656 would create a new criminal offense for negligently assaulting a peace officer in Ohio. It directly affects individuals who unintentionally cause harm to officers through careless actions, such as accidentally hitting an officer while driving recklessly. The bill amends existing Ohio law (sections 2903.14 and 2927.15) to add this specific offense, distinguishing it from intentional assault. This change would establish a clear legal category for careless harm to officers, separate from other assault charges.

HB 662 increases penalties for disrupting religious gatherings at tax-exempt places of worship or virtual religious meetings. It raises the offense from a fourth-degree misdemeanor to a first-degree misdemeanor (felony) when someone intentionally disturbs a physical religious service at a tax-exempt location or disrupts a virtual religious gathering using electronic means like video conferencing. The bill specifically targets acts that obstruct meetings, make disruptive gestures, or utter words that outrage the group, but only in these defined religious contexts. This change directly affects individuals who interfere with religious assemblies, both in person and online, by imposing stricter legal consequences.

To amend sections 2929.141, 2929.34, 2935.10, 2935.11, 5120.021, 5120.038, 5589.21, and 5589.211 of the Revised Code to enact the Reagan Tokes and Patrick Heringer Act to require certain warrants to be entered into LEADS, to require GPS monitoring of offenders released from prison, and to modify T-CAP requirements.

To enact section 2709.01 of the Revised Code to require courts to supply electronic notification of hearings to defendants in criminal and traffic cases and to make an appropriation.

To amend sections 2945.37, 2945.38, 2945.39, and 2945.401 and to enact section 5120.101 of the Revised Code to enact the Mental Health and Community Wellness Act to amend the competency to stand trial law, to create the mental health and substance abuse community-based correctional facility pilot program, to require a prosecutor to file for civil confinement of a defendant who is found incompetent to stand trial and who is charged with a felony or a misdemeanor offense of violence, and to make an appropriation.

To amend sections 2151.412, 2151.421, 2151.423, 2151.429, 2151.467, 2151.468, 2903.01, 2903.11, 2919.22, 2929.13, 2929.14, 2941.1426, 5153.122, and 5153.16 and to enact sections 2151.4211, 2151.4235, 2151.89, and 5180.09 of the Revised Code to enact the Child Protection Reform Act.

To amend sections 9.04, 9.07, 120.03, 120.041, 120.06, 120.14, 120.16, 120.18, 120.24, 120.26, 120.28, 120.33, 120.34, 149.43, 149.436, 1901.183, 2152.13, 2152.67, 2301.20, 2307.60, 2317.02, 2701.07, 2743.51, 2901.02, 2909.24, 2929.02, 2929.13, 2929.14, 2929.61, 2930.19, 2937.222, 2941.021, 2941.14, 2941.148, 2941.401, 2941.43, 2941.51, 2945.06, 2945.10, 2945.13, 2945.21, 2945.25, 2945.33, 2945.38, 2949.02, 2949.03, 2953.02, 2953.07, 2953.08, 2953.09, 2953.10, 2953.21, 2953.23, 2953.71, 2953.72, 2953.73, 2953.81, 2967.05, 2967.12, 2967.13, 2967.193, 2967.194, 2971.03, 2971.07, 3901.87, 5101.56, 5120.113, 5120.53, 5120.61, 5139.04, and 5919.16 and to repeal sections 109.97, 120.35, 2725.19, 2929.021, 2929.022, 2929.023, 2929.024, 2929.025, 2929.03, 2929.04, 2929.05, 2929.06, 2945.20, 2947.08, 2949.21, 2949.22, 2949.221, 2949.222, 2949.24, 2949.25, 2949.26, 2949.27, 2949.28, 2949.29, 2949.31, and 2967.08 of the Revised Code to prohibit public funding for and insurance coverage of the use of lethal injection drugs in nontherapeutic abortions and assisting suicide, to abolish the death penalty, and to modify the number of jurors that may be challenged in cases where a defendant may be sentenced to life imprisonment.