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Bills of interest to the Association pending in the 136th Ohio House
Through March 25, 2025

House of Representatives


View OPAA Legislative Newsletter

HB1 PROPERTY PROTECTION ACT (KING A, KLOPFENSTEIN R) To modify the law that prohibits certain governments, businesses, and individuals from acquiring certain real property and to name this act the Ohio Property Protection Act.
Comments: Sheriffs and prosecutors do not have the resources to do this. This should be handled by the attorney general as it is in current law.
Position: Amend
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-1

HB3 SCHOOL BUS SAFETY ACT (WILLIS B, THOMAS C) To address school bus safety, to designate this act as the School Bus Safety Act, and to make an appropriation.
Comments: Support increased penalties for illegally passing school bus and permitting school bus camera evidence to corroborate bus driver reports of illegal passing.
Position: Support
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-3

HB5 REPEAT OFFENSE CLASSIFICATION, PENALTIES (WILLIAMS J, WILLIS B) To enact the Repeat Offender Act to create a repeat offender classification, to create and modify certain firearm specifications, to increase the penalties for certain firearm offenses and specifications, to broaden the scope of relief from firearms disability, and to modify the sealing procedure for misdemeanors and fourth and fifth degree felonies.
Comments: Opposed to record sealing provisions and reduction of first time WUD from F3 to F4 for all but an underlying offense of violence.
Position: Amend
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-5

HB19 UNDERAGE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION-CULPABILITY LEVEL (BIRD A, WILLIAMS J) To reduce the mental state, from knowingly to recklessly, that applies to the prohibition against allowing an underage person to possess or consume alcohol in a private or public place.
Comments: Knowingly is the appropriate culpability for this offense.
Position: Oppose
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-19

HB20 PROHIBIT HARASSING EMERGENCY SERVICE RESPONDERS (HALL T, PLUMMER P) To prohibit a person from knowingly harassing or impeding an emergency service responder who is engaged in the lawful performance of a legal duty and to clarify that heightened penalties apply for menacing a probation officer.
Comments: This can be charged as obstructing official business. New offense is not needed.
Position: Oppose
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-20

HB23 CREATE ESCAPED CONVICT ALERT PROGRAM (ROEMER B, WILLIAMS J) To create the escaped convict alert program.
Position: Monitor
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-23

HB31 RECORD PAROLE BOARD HEARINGS (HUMPHREY L, STEWART B) To require electronic recordings to be made of all parole board hearings and to make electronic recordings of full parole board hearings public records.
Position: Monitor
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-31

HB36 EXECUTION METHODS-ADD NITROGEN HYPOXIA (STEWART B, PLUMMER P) To add nitrogen hypoxia as a method of execution and to prohibit the disclosure of execution identifying information.
Position: Support
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-36

HB47 INCREASE HUMAN TRAFFICKING PENALTIES (WILLIAMS J, SANTUCCI N) To enact the Human Trafficking Prevention Act to increase the penalty for human trafficking of a minor or person with a developmental disability, kidnapping, and abduction.
Comments: Remove "unlawfully" requirement from 2905.01(B) and remove "recklessly" mens rea in 2905.32.
Position: Amend
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-47

HB58 RECOVERY HOUSING-CERTIFICATES OF NEED (PIZZULLI J, JARRELLS D) To create a certificate of need program for recovery housing residences.
Position: Support
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-58

HB68 CONCEALED CARRY, FIREARMS DISABILITY RELIEF (MATHEWS A, PIZZULLI J) To allow a concealed handgun licensee to carry a handgun in a building or structure that is not a courthouse but in which a courtroom is located in specified circumstances and to permit a nonresident of Ohio to obtain statutory relief from firearms disability based on an Ohio conviction, guilty plea, or delinquent child adjudication.
Position: Monitor
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-68

HB72 LETHAL INJECTION DRUG PROHIBITIONS (SCHMIDT J, MATHEWS A) 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.
Comments: Opposed to repeal of death penalty.
Position: Oppose
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-72

HB79 INCREASED PENALTY-ASSAULTING SPORTS OFFICIALS (ROEMER B, MILLER J) To increase the penalties for assault if the victim is acting as a sports official or the assault is committed in retaliation for the victim's actions as a sports official.
Comments: Opposed to enhanced penalties for special class of victims.
Position: Oppose
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-79

HB82 TRAFFIC OFFENSES-CONSTRUCTION ZONES (CLICK G, JOHNSON M) Regarding traffic offenses in construction zones.
Position: Monitor
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-82

HB84 OBSCENE MATERIAL AGE REQUIREMENTS, PROHIBITIONS (DEMETRIOU S, WILLIAMS J) To enact the Innocence Act to prohibit an organization from failing to verify the age of a person attempting to access material that is obscene or harmful to juveniles, to prohibit a person from using another person's likeness to create sexual images of the other person, and to create a private right of action for each prohibited activity.
Comments: Age verification should be enforced through private cause of action rather than criminal proceedings. This is how every other state that has enacted this handles this issue.
Position: Amend
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-84


HB88 DRUG TRAFFICKING PENALTIES, FENTANYL AWARENSS (ABRAMS C, PLUMMER P) To increase penalties for drug trafficking above certain amounts, to prohibit organized trafficking of persons, to require schools and institutions of higher education to incorporate instruction and policies on fentanyl awareness and abuse prevention, and to designate the month of August as "Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Month."
Position: Support
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-88

HB90 SET LEGAL ANTI-SEMITISM DEFINITION (SCHMIDT J, PIZZULLI J) To define antisemitism for the purpose of investigations and proceedings in courts and state agencies and for state employee anti-bias training.
Position: Monitor
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-90

HB96 OPERATING BUDGET (STEWART B) To make operating appropriations for the biennium beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2027, to levy taxes, and to provide authorization and conditions for the operation of state programs.
Comments: Amend to (1) include pay adjustment for elected prosecutors, (2) include funding for prosecutor victim programs, (3) provide for attorney work product protections, and (4) remove R.C. 4511.81(G) regarding use of failure to properly restrain a child.
Position: Amend
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-96

HB102 SEX OFFENDER RESIDENCY LIMITS (KLOPFENSTEIN R, WILLIAMS J) To prohibit a sex offender or a child-victim offender from residing within 2,000 feet of the residence of the victim and from loitering within 1,000 feet of the residence of the victim.
Comments: Should be amended to give the victim the authority to participate or not participate.
Position: Amend
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-102

HB108 SELF-DEFENSE PRETRIAL PROCEDURE (WILLIAMS J) To enact the Self-Defense Protection Act to create a pretrial procedure for a person asserting self-defense, defense of another, or defense of that person's property.
Comments: Pretrial hearing is unnecessary and the legislation uses the wrong legal standard for disproving self-defense. This will result in additional litigation and give defendants an opportunity to put victims and witnesses on the record and cross exam them in advance of trial.
Position: Oppose
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-108

HB110 INCREASED PENALTY-REPEAT VOYEURISM (THOMAS C, WILLIAMS J) To increase the penalty for repeat voyeurism.
Position: Support
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-110

HB111 ADDITIONAL FINE-HIGH-SPEED DRIVERS (MILLER K, CREECH R) To impose an additional fine on drivers who exceed the speed limit by 30 miles per hour.
Comments: Remove language on court waiver of the additional fine.
Position: Amend
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-111


HB131 LAW ENFORCEMENT QUOTA PROHIBITION (MILLER K, SWEENEY B) To prohibit law enforcement agencies from using quotas for arrests and citations.
Position: Monitor
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-131


HB160 REVISE LIQUOR CONTROL, HEMP, MARIJUANA LAWS (STEWART B) To revise specified provisions of the liquor control, hemp, and adult-use marijuana laws and to levy taxes on marijuana.
Comments: Amend to (1) reduce number of home grow plants from 12 to 6 and (2) remove record expungement provision - duplicates current law and is not necessary.
Position: Amend
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-160

HB168 OFFENSE REQUIREMENTS-CRIMINAL CHILD ENTICEMENT (WILLIAMS J, BRENNAN S) To require that a person act with a sexual motivation or an unlawful purpose to commit the offense of criminal child enticement.
Position: Undetermined
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-168

HB177 COURT PROCESSES-NEW EVIDENCE (WILLIAMS J, TIMS D) To allow a person to file a motion for a new trial or a petition for postconviction relief if the person produces new evidence that would establish a strong probability of a different result at trial.
Comments: Repeals the reasonable diligence requirement for newly discovered evidence allowing offenders to file serial motions for new trial based on evidence that the offender reasonably could have discovered before trial. Unconstitutional in removing the time limit for filing new trial motions. Victim has a constitutional right to prompt conclusion of case and proceedings free from unreasonable delay.
Position: Oppose
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-177

HB185 PROHIBIT UNAUTHORIZED DEEPFAKE RECORDINGS (MATHEWS A, MATHEWS T) To make changes to the law relating to the unauthorized use of an individual's persona and to prohibit certain unauthorized deepfake recordings.
Position: Undetermined
State Bill Page: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/legislation-summary?id=GA136-HB-185

 

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