Legislation: Ohio Senate Bill 76 – Protection Orders
Bill: Senate Bill 76 (full text)Title: Protection Orders (Closing Loopholes)
Sponsors: Senators Bacon and Manning
Co-Sponsors: Senators Beagle, Brown, Cafaro, Hughes, Jones, Oelslager, Patton, Seitz, Thomas, LaRose, Obhof, Burke, Coley, Eklund, Faber, Gentile, Hite, Peterson, Sawyer, Schiavoni, Uecker, Widener, and Yuko
Bill Analysis: This legislation would close loopholes in Ohio law so that service of a protection order or consent agreement upon a person is not necessary for the person to be convicted of the offense of violating that protection order if the person had actual notice of the order or agreement. It would protect perpetrators of domestic violence, stalking, and menacing to be shielded from a conviction by knowingly avoiding being served with the order.
Status: The bill was introduced in the Senate on February 23, 2015. It was referred to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on March 4, 2015 and received hearings on June 10 and September 23, 2015. It passed the Senate Committee 10-0 and passed the full Senate 32-0 on September 30, 2015.
The bill was then introduced in the House on October 1, 2015, and referred to the House Judiciary Committee on October 7, 2015. It received Committee hearings on October 13 and 27, 2015. It passed the Committee on November 16, 2016 before passing before the House on December 8, 2016. See how your legislator voted here.