Ohio SB 466: Increase sentence reduction credit a prisoner may receive

Bill Text

sb466_00_IN

As Introduced

136th
General Assembly

 Regular
Session S. B. No. 466

 2025-2026

Senator Blessing

To
amend section 2967.194 of the Revised Code to
increase the availability of sentence reduction credit a prisoner may
receive for successfully participating in specified programs.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1. That
section 2967.194 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec.
2967.194. (A)(1)
Beginning April 4, 2024, the provisions of this section shall apply,
in the manner described in division (G) of this section, to persons
confined on or after that date in a state correctional institution or
in the substance use disorder treatment program. 

(2)
Except as provided in division (C) of this section and subject to the
maximum aggregate total specified in division (A)(4) of this section,
a person confined in a state correctional institution or placed in
the substance use disorder treatment program may provisionally earn
one day or five days of credit, based on the category set forth in
division (D)(1) or (2) of this section in which the person is
included, toward satisfaction of the person's stated prison term, as
described in division (F) of this section, for each completed month
during which the person, if confined in a state correctional
institution, productively participates in an education program,
vocational training, employment in prison industries, treatment for
substance abuse, or any other constructive program developed by the
department of rehabilitation and correction with specific standards
for performance by prisoners or during which the person, if placed in
the substance use disorder treatment program, productively
participates in the program. Except as provided in division (C) of
this section and subject to the maximum aggregate total specified in
division (A)(4) of this section, a person so confined in a state
correctional institution who successfully completes two programs or
activities of that type may, in addition, provisionally earn up to
five days of credit toward satisfaction of the person's stated prison
term, as described in division (F) of this section, for the
successful completion of the second program or activity. The person
shall not be awarded any provisional days of credit for the
successful completion of the first program or activity or for the
successful completion of any program or activity that is completed
after the second program or activity. At the end of each calendar
month in which a person productively participates in a program or
activity listed in this division or successfully completes a program
or activity listed in this division, the department of rehabilitation
and correction shall determine and record the total number of days
credit that the person provisionally earned in that calendar month.
If the person in a state correctional institution violates prison
rules or the person in the substance use disorder treatment program
violates program or department rules, the department may deny the
person a credit that otherwise could have been provisionally awarded
to the person or may withdraw one or more credits previously
provisionally earned by the person. Days of credit provisionally
earned by a person shall be finalized and awarded by the department
subject to administrative review by the department of the person's
conduct. 

(3)(3)(a)
Except as provided in division (C) of this section, unless a person
is serving a mandatory prison term or a prison term for an offense of
violence or a sexually oriented offense, and notwithstanding the
maximum aggregate total specified in division (A)(4) of this section,
a person who successfully completes any diploma, equivalence,
program, or criteria identified in divisions (A)(3)(a)
to (g)(b)(i)
to (vii)
of this section shall earn ninety
days of credit
toward satisfaction of the person's stated prison term
as follows:

(i)
For completing a diploma, equivalence, program, or criteria
identified in division (A)(3)(b)(i), (ii), (iii), (vi), or (vii) of
this section, ninety days of credit
or a ten per cent reduction of the person's stated prison term,
whichever is less, for each such diploma, equivalence, program, or
criteria successfully completed.
;

(ii)
For completing a program specified in division (A)(3)(b)(iv) or (v)
of this section, one hundred eighty days of credit or a fifteen per
cent reduction of the person's stated prison term, whichever is less,
for each program completed.

(b)
The
diplomas, equivalences, programs, and criteria for which credit shall
be granted under this division, upon successful completion, are: 

(a)(i)
An Ohio high school diploma or Ohio certificate of high school
equivalence certified by the Ohio central school system; 

(b)(ii)
A therapeutic drug community program; 

(c)(iii)
All three phases of the department of rehabilitation and correction's
intensive outpatient drug treatment program; 

(d)(iv)
A career technical vocational s