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hb867_00_IN
As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 867
2025-2026
Representatives Sims, Bryant Bailey
Cosponsors: Representatives Rader,
White, E., Grim, Brownlee, Brewer
To
amend
sections
5120.05 and
5120.10
and to enact
sections
5120.052 and
5120.101
of the Revised Code
to
establish minimum standards for jails and state correctional
institutions.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections
5120.05 and
5120.10
be amended and
sections
5120.052 and
5120.101
of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec.
5120.05.
The
Subject
to section 5120.052 of the Revised Code, the
department
of rehabilitation and correction may maintain, operate, manage, and
govern all state institutions for the custody, control, training, and
rehabilitation of persons convicted of crime and sentenced to
correctional institutions.
The
department may designate correctional institutions by appropriate
respective names.
The
department may receive from the department of youth services any
children in the custody of the department of youth services,
committed to the department of rehabilitation and correction by the
department of youth services, upon the terms and conditions that are
agreed upon by the departments.
Sec.
5120.052.
The
minimum standards for correctional institutions maintained, operated,
managed, and governed by the department of rehabilitation and
correction shall include the following:
(A)
All inmates shall be served a minimum of three meals daily at
regularly scheduled intervals, not to exceed fourteen hours between
meals, consisting of at least two thousand calories and a reasonable
amount of fruit, vegetables, and protein, as to meet the
recommendations of the United States department of agriculture.
(B)
All inmates shall be provided reasonable access to religious
materials, time to engage in religious activities as each inmate's
religion demands, and food that is acceptable under any
religion-based dietary restrictions, as is requested by inmates.
(C)
All inmates shall be provided with a bed, blankets, and
temperature-appropriate clothing.
(D)
All inmates shall be provided quality, accessible, and timely health
and mental health services.
(E)
All inmates shall be provided reasonable access to communicate with
the inmate's family and the inmate's legal representative. Such
access shall not be unduly burdensome in regard to expense.
Conditions under which visitation may be denied shall be defined in
writing and the policy provided to inmates.
(F)
Any additional actions necessary to preserve an inmate's fundamental
rights, reasonable quality of life, and opportunity for
rehabilitation as is applicable in the criminal context.
Sec.
5120.10.
(A)(1)
Except as provided in this division
and subject to section 5120.101 of the Revised Code
,
the director of rehabilitation and correction, by rule, shall
promulgate minimum standards for jails in Ohio, including minimum
security jails dedicated under section 341.34 or 753.21 of the
Revised Code. Whenever the director files a rule or an amendment to a
rule in final form with both the secretary of state and the director
of the legislative service commission pursuant to section 111.15 of
the Revised Code, the director of rehabilitation and correction
promptly shall send a copy of the rule or amendment, if the rule or
amendment pertains to minimum jail standards, by ordinary mail to the
political subdivisions or affiliations of political subdivisions that
operate jails to which the standards apply. The director shall not
adopt any rule requiring support staff in a jail to obtain an
occupational license as defined in section 4798.01 of the Revised
Code.
(2)
The rules promulgated in accordance with division (A)(1) of this
section shall serve as criteria for the investigative and supervisory
powers and duties vested by division (D) of this section in the
division of parole and community services of the department of
rehabilitation and correction or in another division of the
department to which those powers and duties are assigned.
(B)
The director may initiate an action in the court of common pleas of
the county in which a facility that is subject to the rules
promulgated under division (A)(1) of this section is situated to
enjoin compliance with the minimum standards for jails or with the
minimum standards and minimum renovation, modification, and
construction criteria for jails.
(C)
Upon the request of an administrator of a jail facility, the chief
executive of a municipal corporation, or a board of county
commissioners, the director of rehabilitation and correction or the
director's designee shall grant a variance from the minimum standards
for jails in Ohio for a facility that is subject to one of those
minimum standards when the director determines that strict compliance
with the minimum standards would cause unusual, practical
difficulties or financial hardship, that existing or alternative
practices meet the intent of the minimum standards, and that granting
a variance would not seriously affect the security of the facility,
the supervision of the inmates, or the safe, healthful operation of
the facility. If the director or the director's designee denies a
variance, the applicant may appeal the denial pursuant to section
119.12 of the Revised Code.
(D)
The following powers and duties shall be exercised by the division of
parole and community services unless assigned to another division by
the director:
(1)
The investigation and supervision of county and municipal jails,
workhouses, minimum security jails, and other correctional
institutions and agencies;
(2)
The review and approval of plans submitted to the department of
rehabilitation and correction pursuant to division (E) of this
section;
(3)
The management and supervision of the adult parole authority created
by section 5149.02 of the Revised Code;
(4)
The review and approval of proposals for community-based correctional
facilities and programs and district community-based correctional
facilities and programs that are submitted pursuant to division (B)
of section 2301.51 of the Revised Code;
(5)
The distribution of funds made available to the division for purposes
of assisting in the renovation, maintenance, and operation of
community-based correctional facilities and programs and district
community-based correctional facilities and programs in accordance
with section 5120.112 of the Revised Code;
(6)
The performance of the duty imposed upon the department of
rehabilitation and correction in section 5149.31 of the Revised Code
to establish and administer a program of subsidies to eligible
municipal corporations, counties, and groups of contiguous counties
for the development, implementation, and operation of community-based
corrections programs;
(7)
Licensing halfway houses and community residential centers for the
care and treatment of adult offenders in accordance with section
2967.14 of the Revised Code;
(8)
Contracting with a public or private agency or a department or
political subdivision of the state that operates a licensed halfway
house or community residential center for the provision of housing,
supervision, and other services to parolees, releasees, persons
placed under a residential sanction, persons under transitional
control, and other eligible offenders in accordance with section
2967.14 of the Revised Code.
Other
powers and duties may be assigned by the director of rehabilitation
and correction to the division of parole and community services. This
section does not apply to the department of youth services or its
institutions or employees.
(E)
No plan for any new jail, workhouse, or lockup, and no plan for a
substantial addition or alteration to an existing jail, workhouse, or
lockup, shall be adopted unless the officials responsible for
adopting the plan have submitted the plan to the department of
rehabilitation and correction for approval, and the department has
approved the plan as provided in division (D)(2) of this section.
Sec.
5120.101.
The
minimum standards for jails in Ohio promulgated under section 5120.10
of the Revised Code shall include the following:
(A)
All inmates shall be served a minimum of three meals daily at
regularly scheduled intervals, not to exceed fourteen hours between
meals, consisting of at least two thousand calories and a reasonable
amount of fruit, vegetables, and protein, as to meet the
recommendations of the United States department of agriculture.
(B)
All inmates shall be provided reasonable access to religious
materials, time to engage in religious activities as each inmate's
religion demands, and food that is acceptable under any
religion-based dietary restrictions, as is requested by inmates.
(C)
All inmates shall be provided with a bed, blankets, and
temperature-appropriate clothing.
(D)
All inmates shall be provided quality, accessible, and timely health
and mental health services.
(E)
All inmates shall be provided reasonable access to communicate with
the inmate's family and the inmate's legal representative. Such
access shall not be unduly burdensome in regard to expense.
Conditions under which visitation may be denied shall be defined in
writing and the policy provided to inmates.
(F)
Any additional actions necessary to preserve an inmate's fundamental
rights, reasonable quality of life, and opportunity for
rehabilitation as is applicable in the criminal context.
Section
2.
That
existing
sections
5120.05 and
5120.10
of the Revised Code
are
hereby
repealed.