Ohio House Passes Legislation to Enhance Protection of Correctional Facility Employees, Reduce drug possession within Ohio Prisons

State Representatives Mark Johnson (R-Chillicothe) and Phil Plummer (R-Dayton) are pleased to announce that the Ohio House of Representatives passed House Bill 338 – also known as Andy’s Law – legislation that expands the offense of aggravated murder or assault of correctional facility employees and instills new measures to reduce inmate drug possession. 

This legislation, developed by Reps. Johnson and Plummer, follows the death of correctional officer Andrew Lansing, who was brutally murdered while on duty by an inmate on Christmas Day last year.

“This is a great first step to restoring respect to our officers and to reward good behavior within the inmate population,” said Johnson. “We have placed a large focus on getting drugs out of our prisons, it’s hard to rehabilitate an addict.”

“This bill will make it very clear that inmates assaulting Corrections Officers will no longer be tolerated,” said Rep. Plummer.

House Bill 338 works to do the following:

• Expand the offense to sentence of life in prison without parole if an inmate murders a ODRC or DYS employee
• Create a mandatory, 7-year consecutive sentence for inmates who commit a felonious assault against an ODRC or DYS employees
• Create a mandatory, 3-year sentence for the assault of throwing bodily fluids at an ODRC or DYS employee 
• Allow supervisors and higher-ranking staff members of prisons to detain individuals who are found to be attempting to bring illegal substances into prisons or to give to inmates
• Ensure all Level 3 and 4 prisons have drug-sniffing dogs at their institution within 2 years and all lower-level prisons have K9 units within 5 years 
• Instill no-contact visitations at all Level 3 and 4 prisons
• Require the Ohio State Highway Patrol to train Drug Detection Dogs for correctional facilities
   

House Bill 338 now heads to the Ohio Senate for further consideration.