COLUMBUS — In 2021, about 12,000, or nearly 25%, of Ohio prisoners were non-violent offenders, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation & Correction.
A new bill could mean that these non-violent offenders could get out early, or have their sentences reduced.
The Sentencing Fairness and Justice Act, or HB 708, is a bi-partisan bill sponsored by Rep. Shayla Davis (D-OH) and Rep. Bill Seitz (R-OH). If passed, Rep. Seitz says it would allow incarcerated non-violent offenders to secure their release or reduce their punishment in accordance with updated laws or reform.
“We have far too many people in our prison system, which is a great expense to taxpayers,” said Rep. Seitz. “And many of us believe there are better ways of dealing with those folks to get to underlying issues than letting them languish in our prisons.”
It is expected to cost a little over $2 million to operate Ohio prisons in 2022, according to ODRC. American Civil Liberties Union Ohio Chief Lobbyist Gary Daniels agrees that this bill in theory would help non-violent offenders.
“If you have a felony record, that’s a long-lasting thing,” said Daniels. “It can impact your ability and absolutely does to get a job, get housing, to get education.”
Representative Seitz said this would help non-violent offenders like those with drug charges or even non-concealed carry violations. However, before HB 708 would come into play, reform would have to happen first. And that’s something he and Daniels both agree rarely ever happens, but hope that it does.
“This is a positive development, but the problem is how often we engage in reform here in Ohio with regard to sentences, or sentencing ranges or punishment or penalties or anything like that,” said Daniels.
Seitz said they came close to reform in 2020 with Senate Bill 3. If passed, it would have reclassified low-level drug possession charges down to unclassified misdemeanors as long as the offender was processed through drug court and received treatment. But it was never voted on by the House.
“Something like that I would still very much like to pass because my objective on criminal justice has always been to try to get folks rehabilitated and back into the workforce,” said Rep. Seitz.
The bill is currently awaiting assignment to an Ohio House Committee. And while Daniels agrees the bill will help non-violent offenders, he said better reform would be the solution.
“We have an awful lot more to do and if we don’t do it then potential passage or passage of HB 708, it’s just words on a paper,” Daniels said.
