HB 86 and T-CAP: A Disaster for Public Safety

𝐇𝐁 𝟖𝟔 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓-𝐂𝐀𝐏: 𝐀 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲

Chief Scott Hughes:

Over the last decade, Ohio’s lawmakers have passed laws like HB 86 (2011) and T-CAP (2018) with one goal in mind: to reduce prison populations and save money. On paper, that might sound reasonable. In practice, it’s been a disaster for public safety.

These laws limit a judge’s ability to send most Felony 4 (F4) and Felony 5 (F5) offenders to prison. Instead, the state forces judges to rely on “community control," i.e., probation, treatment, electronic monitoring, or a short county jail stay.

HB 86 also introduced new early-release mechanisms, including early release after serving just 80% of a sentence, and in some cases only half of longer terms, all while slashing penalties for serious crimes.

Here’s the problem: so-called “low-level” crimes aren’t harmless. They include 𝒄𝒂𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒇𝒕, 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 & 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒎, 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒈 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒚, 𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒚 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔. These are the kinds of offenses that impact families and neighborhoods every single day.

And when repeat offenders know they’re unlikely to face prison, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁?

Did you know? Under HB 86, unless the crime involves violence, weapons, or certain aggravating factors, judges are 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 to avoid prison sentences for F4 and F5 crimes. That means many offenders who would once have gone to state prison now cycle back into our communities under probation or monitoring.

We’ve already seen the consequences of weak accountability across the system. Earlier this year, in Over-the-Rhine, gym owner and Army veteran Patrick Heringer was brutally murdered. His accused killer had recently been released from prison on post-release control and had cut off his ankle monitor months earlier. Though his case wasn’t under HB 86 or T-CAP, the lesson is the same: when offenders slip through supervision without consequences, tragedy follows.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati has just approved a $542 million safety plan, and Governor DeWine has offered state resources, from troopers and aviation units to parole and liquor enforcement officers, to combat violent crime. These are important steps. But let’s be honest: 𝒏𝒐 𝒂𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒘𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒄𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆.

Across Ohio, officers and prosecutors have seen repeat offenders cycling through the system under HB 86 and T-CAP. Many commit new crimes while still under “community control.” The result? Victims lose faith, neighborhoods are less safe, and offenders learn quickly that consequences are limited.

The solution is simple: restore judicial discretion. Judges should be allowed to sentence F4 and F5 offenders to prison when the facts demand it. Period.

Because accountability creates deterrence. Deterrence reduces crime. Without it, crime thrives, and that’s exactly what we’re seeing in Ohio today.

It’s time for 𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐁 𝟖𝟔 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓-𝐂𝐀𝐏, giving our judges the tools they need to protect our communities.

👮‍♂️⚖️💙

𝐴 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝐻𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑦 𝑀𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑝𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑡 𝐽𝑢𝑑𝑔𝑒 Berkowitz 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐻𝐵 86 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇-𝐶𝐴𝑃. 𝐻𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒.