Policy Reform
In 2011, Governor John Kasich (R) signed HB 86 into law to change Ohio’s felony sentencing laws and juvenile justice system. The legislation aimed to reduce the number of people in prison for technical violations of probation supervision, increase the use of community corrections and improve juvenile justice. Ohio’s prison population declined following HB 86 but recently began increasing again and is projected to grow further. In 2015, the Ohio General Assembly created the Ohio Criminal Justice Recodification Committee to simplify the penal code and make recommendations to revise criminal statutes and other sentencing laws.
Partners
Alliance for Safety and Justice (ASJ) is working with the Ohio Transformation Fund, the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and coalition partners to organize crime survivors and build community support for justice reform. Along with other justice reform advocates in the state, ASJ and its partners are working to advance policy reforms that will replace justice system waste with new safety priorities, shrink Ohio’s growing prison population, and provide access to victims services and treatment programs in the underserved communities hit hardest by crime and violence.
