COLUMBUS – Lawmakers at the Statehouse worked into the early hours of Friday, passing legislation before the end of the year and the current session of the General Assembly.
The House voted to concur with Senate changes to the so-called “heartbeat bill,” which would ban abortions following the detection of a fetal heartbeat.
Gov. Kasich has signaled he will veto the legislation.
The House also passed of part of the Reagan Tokes Act, which will provide indefinite sentencing for serious felony offenders.
The bill is named for Reagan Tokes, an OSU student who was kidnapped, raped and killed by a man who was released from prison as scheduled despite committing dozens of infractions while behind bars.
The Senate concurred with House changes and sent the bill to Gov. John Kasich.
The legislation will provide indefinite sentencing for first and second-degree felony offenders.
“This legislation is the first step to make Ohio safer by ensuring that the most violent offenders who have demonstrated while in prison that they continue to pose a danger to society, are not automatically released back into our neighborhoods,” said Rep. Kristin Boggs (D-Columbus)
Additional provisions due to be addressed next year include caseload standards for parole officers and guidelines for GPS monitoring of offenders.
Tokes was killed in February 2017 by a convicted sex offender who had been released from prison three months earlier and committed a series of armed robberies before Tokes’ death despite being monitored by a GPS tracker.