Sentencing Matters - the impact and future
of the Ohio Criminal Sentencing
Commission and Ohio Criminal Justice
Recodification Committee.
Presented by
Sara Andrews, Director – Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission
October 9, 2015
OJACC Conference
History, evolution and future of sentencing and
criminal justice policy reform from both the
Commission and Committee perspective.
How the Commission and Committee work in
tandem to enhance public safety, advance
sound, succinct statutory guidance and
strengthen criminal justice reform in Ohio.
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;
Review correctional resources and make costeffective proposals;
Make recommendations 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
The Commission is the only long-term state agency
designed, by statute, to bring judges, prosecutors,
and defense attorneys together with members of
the General Assembly, state and local officials,
victims, and law enforcement officers.
Ohio Criminal Justice Recodification Committee
was created by the 130th Ohio General Assembly
to study the state's existing criminal statutes, with
the goal of enhancing public safety and the
administration of criminal justice throughout the
state of Ohio.
The Ohio Criminal Justice Recodification
Committee is a bi-partisan body composed of
twenty four individuals with extensive experience
in criminal justice, law enforcement, and public
safety.
The Committee must present a comprehensive
plan for revising Ohio's Criminal Code to the state
General Assembly by August 1, 2016.
Criminal Justice Reform Ideas: Common Ground
“To attain the goals to simplify, clarify, provide for
proportionality and fairness, to protect and serve
all Ohioans, for the revised comprehensive plan
for the 2016 Ohio Criminal Code.
The Criminal Justice system gets its authority from
the mandate of the People. Only through
maintaining a system that renders fair and
equitable judgment will it maintain that mandate.
A criminal code that is clear and understandable,
with penalties that are just and proportional to
the criminal acts of the accused, forms the
framework of that system”.*
*creating Framework for Reform, the Honorable Fred Pepple
The Ohio Criminal Sentencing Commission
Vision: To enhance justice
Mission: To ensure fair sentencing in the State of
Ohio
As many as 100 million American adults now have
a criminal record. That's one-third of our country.
“Swing for the fences!”
Senate President Keith Faber
Bipartisan, creative solutions – beyond
simplification and modernizing the Revised Code –
it’s about people, it’s about over-penalization,
crowded prisons, mental health, drug addiction
and sentencing.
Getting it done:
Sentencing Commission: Committee
Recodification: Workgroups by Chapter
Varying degrees of external participation
Work product and accessibility
Routine collaboration, consult & updates
Identify issues
Foster conversation
Achieve consensus
Effectuate Change
Meaningful outcomes
Safer Communities
Common vision and notable mutual issues
Intervention in Lieu of Conviction
Diversion Options for Non-Violent Offenders
Sex Offender Registration
Expungement & Sealing of Records
Penalties for Probation Violators
Measured, Proportional Responses
Smart Use of Resources
Recodification Committee ends August 2016
Draft proposals from work groups due end of this
calendar year. Public comment expected in Spring
2016.
Sentencing Commission ongoing work on many
issues. Juvenile Justice and Rights Restoration
proposals end of the calendar year.
And, then what?
The evolution to a broader-based Ohio Criminal
Justice Commission is expected.
A Criminal Justice Commission can tackle a wide
range of criminal justice issues, provide an
ongoing forum for judges, practitioners, partners
and others to debate policy initiatives and serve
the citizens of the great State of Ohio.
Sara Andrews, Director
sara.andrews@sc.ohio.gov
65 South Front Street, 5th Floor
Columbus, Ohio 43215
614-387-9305