Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission FAQs
What is the Sentencing Commission?
What is the Criminal Sentencing Advisory Committee?
What Research Does the Commission Do?
When and Where Do the Commission and Advisory Committee Meet?
Where Can I Get More Information?
What is the Sentencing Commission?
The General Assembly created the Sentencing Commission in Ohio Revised Code §§181.21 through 181.26 to:
- Study Ohio's criminal laws, sentencing patterns, and juvenile offender dispositions;
- Recommend comprehensive plans to the General Assembly that encourage public safety, proportionality, uniformity, certainty, judicial discretion, deterrence, fairness, simplification, more sentencing options, victims' rights, and other reasonable goals;
- Review correctional resources and make cost-effective proposals;
- Work with the General Assembly as the plans are debated;
- Work to implement any plans once adopted (training, etc.);
- Monitor the changes and periodically report on their impact to the General Assembly; and
- Review related bills introduced in the General Assembly and study sentencing and dispositions in other states.
The Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court chairs the 31 member Commission. The Chief Justice appoints 10 members: one appellate judge; three municipal or county judges; three juvenile court judges; and three other common pleas judges. The Governor appoints 12 members: a county, juvenile, and municipal prosecutor; two defense attorneys; a Bar Association representative; a sheriff; two police chiefs; a crime victim; a county commissioner; and a mayor. Four members of the General Assembly serve on the Commission, one from each caucus. The law also names the State Public Defender, Director of Rehabilitation and Correction, Director of Youth Services, and Superintendent of the Highway Patrol to the Commission.
Members are not paid for their participation, but are reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses.
What is the Criminal Sentencing Advisory Committee?
The Criminal Sentencing Advisory Committee assists the Commission. By law, it includes the Parole Board Chair, the Director of the Correctional Institutions Inspection Committee, a community corrections representative appointed by the Governor, a juvenile detention home operator, a juvenile probation services provider, the superintendent of a DYS institution, a community-based juvenile services provider, a member of a youth advocacy organization, and a victim of juvenile crime. Other members include representatives from academia, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and the County Commissioners', Halfway House, Chief Probation Officers', and Victim-Witness associations.
The Commission began meeting in 1991. It has issued a series of reports that served as the basis for several large sentencing bills in recent years.
- Adult Felons. Based on the Commission's felony sentencing plan, S.B. 2 and H.B. 269 became law on July 1, 1996. These bills brought “truth in sentencing”, guidance based on five felony levels, a continuum of sanctions, and comprehensive victims' rights to Ohio law (also see S.B. 186 in 1994). Under its statutory duty to monitor any plan that becomes law, the Commission suggested refinements that were enacted as S.B. 107 in 2000. Additional refinements were enacted as H.B. 327 in 2002.
- Adult Misdemeanants. Late in 1998, the Commission first submitted a plan for sentencing misdemeanants and for redistributing revenue from fines. The General Assembly enacted a version of the plan in 2002 (H.B. 490). Together with some refinements made in 2003 (S.B. 57), the misdemeanor bill took effect January 1, 2004. Further refinements took effect June 1, 2004. However, the fine revenue issues were not addressed.
- Traffic Law. Also in 1998, the Commission proposed a traffic plan. The legislature enacted it as S.B. 123 in 2002. It also took effect January 1, 2004. Refinements were proposed (and made) in H.B. 52 & H.B. 163, effective 6.1.04 & 9.23.04, respectively.
- Juvenile Offenders. The Commission presented a juvenile sentencing plan in July, 1999. The General Assembly approved the key reforms—allowing blended juvenile and adult sentences for certain serious offenders and changing the purposes of the juvenile offender system—as S.B. 179, effective 1.1.02. Some refinements were made in H.B. 393 in 2002.
- Criminal Forfeitures. The Commission submitted a plan to improve and simplify Ohio's criminal forfeiture laws in 2003. The proposals were introduced as H.B. 241 in 2005. The bill was approved by the Ohio House and awaits consideration by the Senate in 2006.
- Training. The Commission trains judges, prosecuting and defense attorneys, law enforcement officers, probation officers, victims, and other practitioners in these changes.
What Research Does the Commission Do?
The staff's research includes studies of: felons in prison and on community control; the use of sentencing options and “what works” in these sanctions; judicial attitudes on how crimes should be ranked; the collection and distribution of criminal costs and fines; the prevalence and practice of mayor's courts; jail populations; and racial disparity in sentencing. The Commission cataloged over 1,500 classified and unclassified offenses and researched duplicate and obsolete provisions. The Commission projects the impact of its proposals on prisons, jails, and other sanctions and estimates the comparative costs of all sanctions. When the General Assembly enacts any Commission proposal, the staff monitors and reports on the impact of the changes.
When and Where Do the Commission and Advisory Committee Meet?
The Commission and Advisory Committee typically meet monthly (usually on the third Thursday) at the Supreme Court in Columbus. The Commission also holds numerous committee meetings each year, typically in Columbus. Meetings are open and detailed minutes are available.
Where Can I Get More Information?
If you would like a roster, minutes, reports, or other information, please call the number on the first page or visit the Criminal Sentencing Commission Web pages.