COLUMBUS – The family of slain Ohio State student Reagan Tokes joined state lawmakers for a news conference Wednesday morning that will formally introduce a bill named after Reagan which will attempt to overhaul several parts of Ohio’s criminal justice system.
The bipartisan Reagan Tokes Act makes sentences for first and second degree felonies and third degree violent felonies indeterminate, giving judges more discretion for sentencing; requires the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction to create and recommend a reentry program for violent and dangerous felons not accepted into other reentry programs; requires the department to establish parole officer guidelines, including a minimum number of hours that an officer must dedicate to a parolee, and creates a new policy for offender GPS monitoring in order to better identify suspicious activity based on the offender’s location.
The measure is due to be formally introduced next week.
Brian Golsby, the man charged with the kidnapping, rape and murder of Tokes, has pleaded not guilty to an 18-count indictment. His trial is slated for February.
Evidence from Golsby’s GPS tracker linked him to six armed robberies that took place over several weeks only a short distance from where Tokes was abducted.
The television station’s reporting also found that Reagan’s Golsby had been rejected by reentry programs for convicted offenders in the central Ohio area following his release from prison.
Tokes was kidnapped, raped and killed on Feb. 8 after leaving work in the Short North and her body dumped in a Grove City-area park.