AGO 1993-035.

• Case Date: November 16, 1993
• Court: Ohio

Ohio Attorney General Opinions 1993. AGO 1993-035. November 16, 1993OPINION NO. 1993-035Reginald A. Wilkinson, Director Department of Rehabilitation and Correction 1050 Freeway Drive, North Columbus, Ohio 43229 Dear Director Wilkinson: You have requested an opinion concerning the Adult Parole Authority's ("APA") duties under R.C. 2929.23 and R.C. 2967.191. Your specific questions are as follows:

1. What is the [APA's] responsibility to credit time served in confinement in light of [R.C. 2929.23 and R.C. 2967.191]?

2. What procedure is necessary in order to deny an offender credit for time served on electronically monitored house arrest and who must provide any required hearing?

3. Who is to provide the [APA] with notice of the amount of time to be credited, the amount of time to [be] denied, and what action should the [APA] take if someone else provides the information instead or if conflicting information is received?

4. If the [APA] receives information that credit is to be denied but it is obvious that no hearing was conducted, what action should [the APA] take?

I. R.C. 2929.23 and R.C. 2967.191

R.C. 2929.23(B)(1) authorizes a sentencing court to impose a period of electronically monitored house arrest upon an individual. For purposes of R.C. 2929.23, "electronically monitored house arrest" denotes

a period of confinement of an eligible offender in his home or in other premises specified by the sentencing court, during which period of confinement all of the following apply:

(a) The eligible offender wears, otherwise has attached to his person, or otherwise is subject to monitoring by a certified electronic monitoring device, or he is subject to monitoring by a certified electronic monitoring system;

(b) The eligible offender is required to remain in his home or other premises specified by the sentencing court for the specified period of confinement, except for periods of time during which the person is at his place of employment or at other premises as authorized by the sentencing court;

(c) The eligible offender is subject to monitoring by a central system that monitors the certified electronic monitoring device that is attached to his person or that otherwise is being used to monitor him and that can monitor and determine his location at any time or at a designed point in time, or he is required to participate in monitoring by a certified electronic monitoring system;

(d) The eligible offender is required by the sentencing court to report periodically to a person designated by the court;

(e) The eligible offender is subject to any other restrictions and requirements that may be imposed by the sentencing court. (Emphasis added.)

R.C. 2929.23(A)(4). When a sentencing court imposes a period of electronically monitored house arrest upon an individual, the individual is required "to enter into a written contract with the court agreeing to comply with all restrictions and requirements imposed by the court." R.C. 2929.23(B)(1). An individual who violates any of the restrictions or requirements imposed upon him as part of his sentence of electronically monitored house arrest does not receive credit for any time thus served toward any sentence of imprisonment that had been imposed upon him. R.C. 2929.23(B)(2).(fn1) R.C. 2967.191, the other statute with which you are concerned, governs jail-time credit and provides:

The adult parole authority shall reduce the minimum and maximum sentence or the definite sentence of a prisoner by the total number of days that the prisoner was confined for any reason arising out of the offense for which he was convicted and sentenced, including confinement in lieu of bail while awaiting trial, confinement for examination to determine his competence to stand trial or sanity, confinement in a community based correctional facility and program or district community based correctional facility and program, and confinement while awaiting transportation to the place where he is to serve his sentence. (Emphasis added.)

Accord 17 Ohio Admin. Code 5120-2-04(A). The term "prisoner," as used in R.C. 2967.191, "means a person who is in actual confinement in a state penal or reformatory institution." R.C. 2967.01(H). R.C. 2967.191 thus imposes a mandatory duty on the APA to reduce the minimum and maximum sentence or definite sentence of an individual who is in actual confinement in a state penal or reformatory institution by the total number of days that the individual was confined for any reason arising out of the offense for which he was convicted and sentenced. State ex rel. Corder v. Wilson, 68 Ohio App. 3d 567...