COLUMBUS – One of two Ohio Senate bills that make up the Reagan Tokes Act passed out of the General Assembly’s upper chamber by a unanimous vote Wednesday.
This bill revises Ohio’s sentencing structure to ensure that prisoners who behave violently while in prison stay in prison longer than those who engage in rehabilitative programming.
“Incentivizing wrongdoers to reform themselves is critical to good public policy. It is common sense that violent inmates who are still a threat to society should serve longer prison terms than those who actively engage in rehabilitative programming,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Kevin Bacon (R-Westerville). “If you either cannot or choose not to be reformed, you should serve a longer sentence for your crime.”
The bill is named in honor of Reagan Tokes, an Ohio State student who was slain in February of 2017 by a man who was released from prison despite a lengthy record of violent behavior while incarcerated.
Under the bill, first, second, and certain third degree felony offenders will be sentenced to indefinite terms determined by the severity of the offense and based on a minimum and a maximum term decided by the sentencing judge with the maximum term to equal 150 percent of the minimum term, Bacon said.
Another Senate bill, which would address problems with GPS monitoring of offenders, overburdened parole officers and create a re-entry program for “hard-to-place offenders,” is bogging down, according to a report by WBNS 10-TV.