R.C. § 2929.20 Sentence Reduction Through Judicial Release

• Library: Ohio Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current with legislation from 2023 effective through December 7, 2023.
• Year: 2023
• Citation: R.C. § 2929.20

(A) As used in this section:

(1)

(a) Except as provided in division (A)(1)(b) of this section, "eligible offender" means any person who, on or after April 7, 2009, is serving a stated prison term that includes one or more nonmandatory prison terms. A person may be an eligible offender and also may be an eighty per cent-qualifying offender or, during a declared state of emergency, a state of emergency-qualifying offender.

(b) "Eligible offender" does not include any person who, on or after April 7, 2009, is serving a stated prison term for any of the following criminal offenses that was a felony and was committed while the person held a public office in this state:

(i) A violation of section 2921.02, 2921.03, 2921.05, 2921.31, 2921.32, 2921.41, 2921.42, or 2923.32 of the Revised Code;

(ii) A violation of section 2913.42, 2921.04, 2921.11, or 2921.12 of the Revised Code, when the conduct constituting the violation was related to the duties of the offender's public office or to the offender's actions as a public official holding that public office;

(iii) A violation of an existing or former municipal ordinance or law of this or any other state or the United States that is substantially equivalent to any violation listed in division (A)(1)(b)(i) of this section;

(iv) A violation of an existing or former municipal ordinance or law of this or any other state or the United States that is substantially equivalent to any violation listed in division (A)(1)(b)(ii) of this section, when the conduct constituting the violation was related to the duties of the offender's public office or to the offender's actions as a public official holding that public office;

(v) A conspiracy to commit, attempt to commit, or complicity in committing any offense listed in division (A)(1)(b)(i) or described in division (A)(1)(b)(iii) of this section;

(vi) A conspiracy to commit, attempt to commit, or complicity in committing any offense listed in division (A)(1)(b)(ii) or described in division (A)(1)(b)(iv) of this section, if the conduct constituting the offense that was the subject of the conspiracy, that would have constituted the offense attempted, or constituting the offense in which the offender was complicit was or would have been related to the duties of the offender's public office or to the offender's actions as a public official holding that public office.

(2) "State of emergency-qualifying offender" means any inmate to whom all of the following apply:

(a) The inmate is serving a stated prison term during a state of emergency that is declared by the governor as a direct response to a pandemic or public health emergency.

(b) The geographical area covered by the declared state of emergency includes the location at which the inmate is serving the stated prison term described in division (A)(2)(a) of this section.

(c) There is a direct nexus between the emergency that is the basis of the governor's declaration of the state of emergency and the circumstances of, and need for release of, the inmate.

(3)

(a) "Eighty per cent-qualifying offender" means an offender who is serving a stated prison term of one year or more, who has commenced service of that stated prison term, who is not serving a stated prison term that includes a disqualifying prison term or a stated prison term that consists solely of one or more restricting prison terms, and to whom either of the following applies:

(i) If the offender is serving a stated prison term of one year or more that includes one or more restricting prison terms and one or more eligible prison terms, the offender has fully served all restricting prison terms and has served eighty per cent of that stated prison term that remains to be served after all restricting prison terms have been fully served;

(ii) If the offender is serving a stated prison term of one year or more that consists solely of one or more eligible prison terms, the offender has served eighty per cent of that stated prison term.

(b) For purposes of determining whether an offender is an eighty per cent-qualifying offender under division (A)(3)(a) of this section:

(i) If the offender's stated prison term includes consecutive prison terms, any restricting prison terms shall be deemed served prior to any eligible prison terms that run consecutively to the restricting prison terms, and the eligible prison terms are deemed to commence after all of the restricting prison terms have been fully served.

(ii) An offender serving a stated prison term of one year or more that includes a mandatory prison term that is not a disqualifying prison term and is not a restricting prison term is not automatically disqualified from being an eighty per cent-qualifying offender as a result of the offender's service of that mandatory term for release from prison under this section, and the offender may be eligible for release from prison in accordance with this division and division (O) of this section.

(4) "Nonmandatory prison term" means a prison term that is not a mandatory prison term.

[(3)] (5) "Public office" means any elected federal, state, or local government office in this state.

[(4)] (6) "Victim's representative" has the same meaning as in section 2930.01 of the Revised Code.

[(5)] (7) "Imminent danger of death," "medically incapacitated," and "terminal illness" have the same meanings as in section 2967.05 of the Revised Code.

[(6)] (8) "Aggregated nonmandatory prison term or terms" means the aggregate of the following:

(a) All nonmandatory definite prison terms;

(b) With respect to any non-life felony indefinite prison term, all nonmandatory minimum prison terms imposed as part of the non-life felony indefinite prison term or terms.

(9) "Deadly weapon" and "dangerous ordnance" have the same meanings as in section 2923.11 of the Revised Code.

(10) "Disqualifying prison term" means any of the following:

(a) A prison term imposed for aggravated murder, murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, felonious assault, kidnapping, rape, aggravated arson, aggravated burglary, or aggravated robbery;

(b) A prison term imposed for complicity in, an attempt to commit, or conspiracy to commit any offense listed in division (A)(10)(a) of this section;

(c) A prison term of life imprisonment, including any term of life imprisonment that has parole eligibility;

(d) A prison term imposed for any felony other than carrying a concealed weapon an essential element of which is any conduct or failure to act expressly involving any deadly weapon or dangerous ordnance;

(e) A prison term imposed for any violation of section 2925.03 of the Revised Code that is a felony of the first or second degree;

(f) A prison term imposed for engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity in violation of section 2923.32 of the Revised Code;

(g) A prison term imposed pursuant to section 2971.03 of the Revised Code;

(h) A prison term imposed for any sexually oriented offense.

(11) "Eligible prison term" means any prison term that is not a disqualifying prison term and is not a restricting prison term.

(12) "Restricting prison term" means any of the following:

(a) A mandatory prison term imposed under division (B)(1)(a), (B)(1)(c), (B)(1)(f), (B)(1)(g), (B)(2), or (B)(7) of section 2929.14 of the Revised Code for a specification of the type described in that division;

(b) In the case of an offender who has been sentenced to a mandatory prison term for a specification of the type described in division (A)(12)(a) of this section, the prison term imposed for the felony offense for which the specification was stated at the end of the body of the indictment, count in the indictment, or information charging the offense;

(c) A prison term imposed for trafficking in persons;

(d) A prison term imposed for any offense that is described in division (A)(12)(d)(i) of this section if division (A)(12)(d)(ii) of this section applies to the offender:

(i) The offense is a felony of the first or second degree that is an offense of violence and that is not described in division (A)(10)(a) or (b) of this section, an attempt to commit a felony of the first or second degree that is an offense of violence and that is not described in division (A)(10)(a) or (b) of this section if the attempt is a felony of the first or second degree, or an offense under an existing or former law of this state, another state, or the United States that is or was substantially equivalent to any other offense described in this division.

(ii) The offender previously was convicted of or pleaded guilty to any offense listed in division (A)(10) or (A)(12)(d)(i) of this section.

(13) "Sexually oriented offense" has the same meaning as in section 2950.01 of the Revised Code.