Phil Plummer

Ohio lawmakers are advancing House Bill 487, which would create a new "repeat drug offender" designation for people convicted of felony drug trafficking who already have two prior trafficking convictions. Under the bill, judges would be required to impose the maximum sentence for the underlying felony plus a mandatory additional one to ten years. Republican sponsors Josh Williams and Phil Plummer argue that short sentences let repeat dealers treat prison as "the cost of doing business" and tie the measure to Ohio's overdose crisis.

Critics counter that the bill does not distinguish between large-scale traffickers and low-level sellers supporting their own addiction, and it sets no time limit on qualifying prior convictions, meaning decades-old low-level cases could trigger the enhancement. Prosecutors, not judges, would decide whether to pursue the specification. Ohio sent more than 1,200 people to prison for trafficking last year, though it's unclear how many had two prior convictions. Analysts estimate a full ten-year enhancement could cost roughly $49,000 per affected inmate, reviving debate over the fairness and racial impact of past drug sentencing laws.

A new Ohio legislative study committee, co-chaired by Rep. Andrea White (R-Kettering), held its first hearing to examine how the state handles youth adjudicated delinquent. The panel grew out of earlier legislation aimed at holding juvenile group homes accountable, after lawmakers learned that many delinquent youth are placed with children's services agencies rather than detention facilities, often alongside abused or traumatized foster children.

Testimony pointed to Ohio's RECLAIM program, which financially incentivizes judges to divert youth from state detention, shifting costs and responsibility onto an already strained child protective services system. Officials described rising, sometimes exploitative, placement rates charged by group home providers, and a concentration of homes in high-poverty Dayton-area neighborhoods where inexperienced staff and out-of-town placements have coincided with safety incidents, including assaults on residents. Committee members, including Rep. Erika White (D-Springfield Twp.), stressed balancing accountability with rehabilitation. The committee plans to issue a report with recommendations before the legislative session ends this year.

Ohio state Reps. Levi Dean (R-Xenia) and Tristan Rader (D-Lakewood) are pushing to restrict or ban Flock Safety's automated license plate reader cameras, arguing that new security measures announced by the company—tying searches to specific cases, seven-day data retention, and flagging abnormal searches—don't go far enough to address privacy and misuse concerns. Dean has drafted legislation that would ban Flock and similar AI-assisted surveillance tools outright, contending the technology violates constitutional protections against warrantless searches. He cites Dayton's decision to drop Flock after its database was reportedly used for immigration enforcement against city policy.

Not all lawmakers agree: Rep. Phil Plummer (R-Dayton), a former sheriff, favors leaving the decision to local governments through referendums or moratoriums, though he too questions Flock's effectiveness. Rader suggests tying state funding to Flock use as a middle path. Both describe the backlash as cutting across party lines, reflecting broader public unease over surveillance technology, data privacy, and law enforcement oversight.