Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement
125 th General Assembly of Ohio
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BILL: |
DATE: |
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STATUS: |
SPONSOR: |
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LOCAL IMPACT
STATEMENT REQUIRED: |
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STATE FUND |
FY 2004 |
FY 2005 |
FUTURE YEARS |
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General Revenue Fund |
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Revenues |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
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Expenditures |
Likely increase, whether in excess of
minimal uncertain at this time |
Likely increase, whether in excess of
minimal uncertain at this time |
Likely annual increase,
whether in excess of minimal uncertain at this time |
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Note: The state
fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
For example, FY 2004 is July 1, 2003 – June 30, 2004.
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Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC). The primary state cost associated with the bill will largely result
from the need for DRC to ensure that each of its correctional institutions is
able to maintain a safe and secure setting for all of the attendees at a panel
hearing when a victim or victim’s representative opts to appear and give
testimony or submit written statements.
As of this writing, DRC is still researching the likely additional
annual operating costs associated with this provision, including the potential
need to hire additional institutional staff.
Thus, whether these potential ongoing operational costs might exceed
minimal annually, which means in excess of $100,000, is uncertain.
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LOCAL
GOVERNMENT |
FY 2004 |
FY 2005 |
FUTURE YEARS |
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Counties |
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Revenues |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
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Expenditures |
Potential increase,
magnitude depends on discretionary actions of victim assistance units |
Potential increase,
magnitude depends on discretionary actions of victim assistance units |
Potential annual increase,
magnitude depends on
discretionary actions of victim assistance units |
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Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
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County criminal justice systems. The bill does not impose any additional victim assistance duties
or responsibilities on county criminal justice systems. Therefore, the sole apparent local cost
associated with the bill would occur when a county-affiliated victim assistance
unit, at its own discretion, opts to assist a victim or their representative
regarding a panel hearing on the proposed parole of a prisoner who is serving a
term of imprisonment for committing an offense of violence against that
victim. Legislative Service Commission
fiscal staff regards any associated costs with such assistance as permissive
and indirect to the purpose of the bill.
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The bill permits the victim
of an offense of violence or the victim’s representative to appear and give
testimony or submit written statements at a panel hearing of the Parole Board
regarding the parole of the offender who committed the offense of
violence. A panel hearing consists of
less than seven members of the nine-member Parole Board that convenes for the
purpose of considering the proposed parole of a prisoner. Under current Department of Rehabilitation
and Correction (DRC) practice, these panel hearings are held at the
correctional institution where the prisoner is incarcerated. A panel hearing constitutes the first step
in the parole process. A prisoner must
be recommended for parole by the panel hearing before the full nine-member
Parole Board will schedule a hearing on the proposed parole of that prisoner.
State fiscal effects: Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
(DRC)
Since the mid-1980s, the
Parole Board has permitted victims of prisoners incarcerated in a DRC
correctional institution to register with its Victim Notification Section of
the Office of Victim Services.
Registered victims are then notified prior to any release
consideration. At this time, a victim
or the victim’s representative may either write the Parole Board or personally
voice their concerns in an interview with a Parole Board staff member. However, victims or their representatives
are not currently permitted to appear and give testimony or submit written
statements at a panel hearing of the Parole Board. The bill will permit a victim or their representative to appear
and give testimony or submit written statements at a panel hearing of the Parole
Board.
Currently, the only
situation where DRC has offender-victim contact within a correctional
institution is in a small number of offender-victim mediations. This decision to permit such interactions is
done very carefully so as to avoid situations of potentially high emotional
stress.
The primary state cost
associated with the bill will largely result from the need for DRC to ensure
that each of its correctional institutions is able to maintain a safe and
secure setting for all of the attendees at a panel hearing when a victim or
victim’s representative opts to appear and give testimony or submit written
statements. In discussing the bill with
DRC, the Department indicated that, because parole hearings can be highly
emotional, it would likely need to allocate sufficient staff to provide for the
safety and security of all attendees at a panel hearing when a victim or
victim’s representative opts to appear and give testimony or submit written
statements. As of this writing, DRC is
still researching the likely annual operating costs associated with this
provision, including the potential need to hire additional institutional
staff. Thus, whether these potential
additional ongoing operational costs might exceed minimal annually, which means
in excess of $100,000, is uncertain.
Local fiscal effects: county criminal justice systems
Under current law and
practice, county criminal justice systems, largely if not entirely through
victim assistance units affiliated with a county prosecutor’s office, already
notify and assist victims of crime. The
bill does not impose any additional victim assistance duties or
responsibilities. That said, the sole
apparent local cost associated with the bill would occur when a victim
assistance unit, at its own discretion, opts to assist a victim or their
representative regarding a panel hearing on the proposed parole of a prisoner
who is serving a term of imprisonment for committing an offense of violence
against that victim. This discretionary
assistance could take any number of forms, including arranging for the victim
or their representative to attend the panel hearing, accompanying the victim or
their representative to the panel hearing, or attending the panel hearing as
the victim’s representative.
Legislative Service Commission fiscal staff regards any associated costs
with such assistance as permissive and indirect to the purpose of the bill.
LSC fiscal staff: Laura A. Potts, Budget Analyst