The Ohio House unanimously passed Republican-backed legislation that aims to give judges in the state clear guidance in setting bail.
House Bill (HB) 191, sponsored by State Representatives D.J. Swearingen (R-Huron) (pictured above, right) and Bill Seitz (R- Cincinnati) (pictured above, left), looks to codify Criminal Rule 46, a rule that provides all state courts with instructions regarding bail-setting procedures in the Ohio Revised Code.
According to the bill sponsors, Criminal Rule 46 has governed pre-trial release, custody, and bail proceedings for decades.
Per Article IV, Section 5(B) of the Ohio Constitution, the Ohio Supreme Court can propose amendments for Rules of Procedure and share those proposals with members of the Ohio General Assembly no later than January 15th. Any amendments to the initial proposal needs filed no later than May 1st. The General Assembly will have till July 1st to adopt a concurrent resolution of disapproval of any proposed rule. If no one takes action, then the rule will take effect on July 1st.
Earlier this year, the Ohio Supreme Court proposed amendments to the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure. One of those amendments was to remove Criminal Rule 46 and defer additional instructions about pretrial release and imprisonment to the general assembly.
This legislation is a direct result of the passage of State Issue 1, to require courts to consider factors such as public safety when setting the amount of bail on the 2022 November ballot.
House Bill 191 aims to codify Criminal Rule 46, providing consistent application of pre-trial release, detention, and bail by the state’s courts by placing it in the Ohio Revised Code.
According to Seitz, it’s imperative to move quickly on HB 191 before the existing Rule 46 goes away on July 1st.
“It is imperative that we move forward swiftly on this bill because existing Rule 46 goes away on July 1 and unless we pass this bill, courts will be left adrift as to the proper guidance in setting bail,” Seitz said.
Seitz noted that codifying current Criminal Rule 46 does not mean that the General Assembly will not consider further changes in the future.
“Legislation enacted last year established a legislative task force to collect and review data from all 88 county jails that is intended to inform us of the statistics as to who is in jail awaiting trial and for what reasons. Once we have this data, we can then consider whether further bail reforms are warranted,” Seitz said.
The legislation has garnered support from Americans for Prosperity and the Ohio Public Defender. It is currently under review by the Ohio Senate Judiciary Committee.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Senate introduced a companion piece of legislation Senate Bill (SB) 122. The legislation mirrors HB 191 but includes an emergency clause that, should this legislation become law, would codify this rule before July 1st.
According to Swearingen and Seitz, they want to add this emergency clause to HB 191.
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Hannah Poling is a lead reporter at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Hannah on Twitter @HannahPoling1. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “State Representative D.J. Swearingen” by State Representative D.J. Swearingen. Photo “Bill Seitz” by The Ohio House of Representatives. Background Photo “Ohio Statehouse” by â±®. CC BY-SA 4.0.
