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S. B. No. 108 As Reported by the Senate Judiciary--Criminal Justice CommitteeAs Reported by the Senate Judiciary--Criminal Justice Committee
127th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2007-2008 |
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Cosponsors:
Senators Stivers, Schuring, Cafaro
A BILL
To amend section 2929.20 of the Revised Code to prohibit a court from granting judicial release to any person serving a prison term for a criminal offense committed while the person held public office.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 2929.20 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2929.20. (A) As used in this section:
(1)(a) Except as provided in division (A)(1)(b) of this section,
"eligible offender" means any person serving a stated prison term of ten
years or less when either of the following applies:
(1)(i) The stated
prison term does not include a mandatory
prison term.
(2)(ii) The stated prison term includes a mandatory
prison term,
and the person has served the
mandatory prison term.
(b) "Eligible offender" does not include any person who is serving a stated prison term for a criminal offense committed while the person held a public office in this state, whether or not the offense was related to the person's actions as a public official.
(2) "Public office" means any elected federal, state, or local government office in this state.
(B) Upon the filing of a motion by the eligible
offender or
upon its own motion, a sentencing court may reduce
the offender's
stated prison term through a judicial
release in accordance with
this section. The court shall not reduce the
stated prison term
of an offender who is not an eligible offender.
An eligible
offender
may file a
motion for judicial release with the
sentencing court within the
following applicable period of time:
(1)(a) Except as otherwise provided in division
(B)(1)(b) or
(c) of this section,
if the stated prison term
was imposed for a
felony of the fourth or fifth degree, the
eligible offender may
file the motion not earlier than
thirty
days or later than ninety
days after the offender is delivered to a state
correctional
institution.
(b) If the stated prison term is five years and is an
aggregate of
stated prison terms that are being served
consecutively and that were imposed
for any combination of
felonies of the fourth degree and felonies of the fifth
degree,
the eligible offender may file the motion after the eligible
offender
has served four years of the stated prison term.
(c) If the stated prison term is more than five years and
not more
than ten years and is an aggregate of stated prison
terms
that are being
served
consecutively and that were imposed
for any
combination of felonies of the
fourth degree and felonies
of the
fifth degree, the eligible offender may file
the motion
after the
eligible offender has served five years of the stated
prison term.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(3) or (4)
of
this section, if the stated prison term
was imposed for a
felony of the first, second, or third degree,
the eligible
offender may file the motion not earlier than
one
hundred eighty
days after the offender is delivered to a state correctional
institution.
(3) If the stated prison term is five years, the eligible
offender may
file the motion after the eligible offender has
served four years of the
stated prison term.
(4) If the stated prison term is more than five years and
not more
than
ten
years, the eligible offender may file the
motion
after the
eligible offender
has served five years of the
stated
prison term.
(5) If the offender's
stated prison term includes a
mandatory prison
term, the offender shall file the
motion within
the time authorized under division (B)(1), (2),
(3), or (4) of
this
section for the
nonmandatory portion of the prison term, but
the time
for filing the motion does not begin to run until after
the expiration of
the mandatory portion of the prison term.
(C) Upon receipt of a timely motion for
judicial release
filed by an eligible offender under division
(B) of this section
or upon the sentencing court's own
motion made within the
appropriate time period specified in that
division, the court may
schedule a hearing on the motion. The
court may deny the motion
without a hearing but shall not grant
the motion without a
hearing. If a court denies
a motion without a hearing, the court
may
consider a subsequent
judicial release for that eligible
offender on its own motion
or a
subsequent motion filed by that
eligible
offender. If a court denies a motion after a hearing,
the court shall
not
consider a subsequent motion for that eligible
offender. The court shall
hold only one hearing for any eligible
offender.
A hearing under this section shall be conducted in open court
within sixty days after the date on which the motion is filed,
provided that the court may delay the hearing for a period not to
exceed one hundred eighty additional days. If the court
holds a
hearing on the motion, the court shall enter a
ruling
on the
motion within ten days after the hearing. If the court
denies the
motion without a hearing, the court shall enter its
ruling on the
motion within sixty days after the motion is filed.
(D) If a court schedules a hearing under division (C) of
this
section, the court
shall notify the eligible offender of the
hearing and shall notify the head of the state
correctional
institution in which the eligible offender is confined of the hearing prior to the hearing. The head of the state correctional institution immediately shall notify the appropriate person at the department of rehabilitation and correction of the hearing, and the department within twenty-four hours after receipt of the notice, shall post on the database it maintains pursuant to section 5120.66 of the Revised Code the offender's name and all of the information specified in division (A)(1)(c)(i) of that section. If the
court schedules a hearing for judicial release,
the court promptly
shall give notice of the hearing to the
prosecuting attorney of
the county in which the eligible offender
was indicted. Upon
receipt of the notice from the court, the
prosecuting attorney
shall notify the victim of the offense for
which the stated prison
term was imposed or the victim's
representative, pursuant to
section 2930.16 of the
Revised Code, of the hearing.
(E) Prior to the date of the hearing on a
motion for
judicial release under this section, the head of the
state
correctional institution in which the eligible
offender in
question is confined shall send to the court a report
on the
eligible offender's conduct in the institution and in any
institution from which the eligible offender may have been
transferred. The report shall cover the eligible offender's
participation in school, vocational training, work, treatment,
and
other rehabilitative activities and any disciplinary action
taken
against the eligible offender. The report shall be made
part of
the record of the hearing.
(F) If the court grants a hearing on a motion
for judicial
release under this section, the eligible offender
shall attend the
hearing if ordered to do so by the court. Upon
receipt of a copy
of the journal entry containing the order, the
head of the state
correctional institution in which the
eligible offender is
incarcerated shall deliver the eligible
offender to the sheriff of
the county in which the hearing is to
be held. The sheriff shall
convey the eligible offender to the
hearing and return the
offender to the institution after the
hearing.
(G) At the hearing on a motion for judicial
release under
this section, the court shall afford the eligible
offender and the
eligible offender's attorney an
opportunity to
present written
information relevant to the
motion and shall afford the eligible
offender, if present, and the eligible
offender's attorney an
opportunity to present oral information relevant
to the motion.
The court shall afford a similar opportunity to the
prosecuting
attorney, the victim or the victim's representative,
as defined in
section 2930.01 of the Revised
Code, and any other person the
court determines is
likely to present additional relevant
information. The court
shall consider any statement of a victim
made pursuant to section
2930.14 or 2930.17 of the Revised Code,
any
victim impact statement prepared pursuant to section 2947.051
of
the Revised Code, and any report made under division (E) of
this section. The court may consider any written statement of any person submitted to the court pursuant to division (J) of this section. After ruling on the motion,
the court shall notify
the victim of the ruling in accordance
with sections 2930.03 and
2930.16 of the Revised
Code.
(H)(1) A court shall not grant a judicial
release under this
section to an eligible offender who is
imprisoned for a felony of
the first or second degree, or to an
eligible offender who
committed an offense contained in
Chapter 2925. or 3719. of the
Revised
Code and for whom there was a presumption under section
2929.13 of the Revised Code in favor of a prison
term, unless the
court, with reference to factors
under section 2929.12 of the
Revised Code, finds both
of the following:
(a) That a sanction other than a prison term
would
adequately punish the offender and protect
the public from future
criminal
violations by the eligible offender because the
applicable factors
indicating a lesser likelihood of recidivism
outweigh the
applicable factors indicating a
greater likelihood of
recidivism;
(b) That a sanction other than a prison term
would not
demean the seriousness of the offense because factors
indicating
that
the eligible offender's conduct in
committing the offense was
less serious than conduct normally constituting the
offense
outweigh factors
indicating that the eligible offender's conduct
was more serious than conduct
normally constituting the offense.
(2) A court that grants a judicial release to an
eligible
offender under division (H)(1) of this section
shall specify on
the record both findings required in that
division and also shall
list all the factors described in that
division that were
presented at the hearing.
(I) If the court grants a motion for judicial
release under
this section, the court shall order the release of
the eligible
offender, shall place the eligible offender under an appropriate
community control
sanction, under appropriate
community control
conditions, and under the
supervision of the department of
probation
serving the court, and shall reserve the right to
reimpose the sentence that
it reduced pursuant to the judicial
release if the offender violates the
sanction. If the court
reimposes the reduced sentence pursuant to this
reserved right, it
may do so either concurrently with, or consecutive to, any
new
sentence imposed upon the eligible offender as a result of the
violation
that is a new offense.
The period of the community
control sanction
shall be
no longer than five years. The court,
in its
discretion, may reduce the period of the community control
sanction by the
amount of time the eligible
offender spent in jail
for the offense and in prison. If the
court made any findings
pursuant to division (H)(1) of
this section, the court shall serve
a copy of the findings upon
counsel for the parties within fifteen
days after the date on
which the court grants the motion for
judicial release.
Prior to being released pursuant to a judicial release
granted under this section, the eligible offender shall serve any
extension of sentence that was imposed under section 2967.11 of
the Revised Code.
If the court grants a motion for judicial release, the court shall notify the appropriate person at the department of rehabilitation and correction of the judicial release, and the department shall post notice of the release on the database it maintains pursuant to section 5120.66 of the Revised Code.
(J) In addition to and independent of the right of a victim to make a statement pursuant to section 2930.14, 2930.17, or 2946.051 of the Revised Code and any right of a person to present written information or make a statement pursuant to division (G) of this section, any person may submit to the court, at any time prior to the hearing on the offender's motion for judicial release, a written statement concerning the effects of the offender's crime or crimes, the circumstances surrounding the crime or crimes, the manner in which the crime or crimes were perpetrated, and the person's opinion as to whether the offender should be released.
Section 2. That existing section 2929.20 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.
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