SB 425

As Introduced
136th General Assembly
   Regular Session  S. B. No. 425
       2025-2026
  Senator Manning
  To enact section 5502.72 of the Revised Code to  1
  establish the violent crime reduction grant  2
  program.  3
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
     Section 1. That section 5502.72 of the Revised Code be  4
enacted to read as follows:  5
     Sec. 5502.72. (A) As used in this section:  6
     (1) "Division of criminal justice services" means the  7
division of criminal justice services of the department of  8
public safety, created by section 5502.62 of the Revised Code.  9
     (2) "Eligible applicant" means a police department of a  10
municipal corporation or a county sheriff's office. An eligible        11
applicant may join with one or more other eligible applicants to       12
submit a joint application.  13
     (3) "Violent crime" means offenses categorized as violent  14
in the national incident-based reporting system operated by the        15
federal bureau of investigation and may include nonfatal firearm       16
offenses and other violent offenses as specified in rules  17
adopted under division (G) of this section.  18
     (4) "Promising or proven strategy" means a strategy  19
S. B. No. 425  Page 2
As Introduced
identified in peer-reviewed research, federal guidance, or  20
another credible evaluation as likely to reduce violent crimes,  21
including those designated by the division of criminal justice  22
services in rules adopted under division (G) of this section.  23
       (5) "Clearance by exception" or "cleared by exceptional  24
means" means the law enforcement agency to which a violent crime  25
was reported has done all of the following:  26
       (a) Clearly and definitively established the identity of  27
one or more individuals suspected of commission of the violent  28
crime;  29
       (b) Obtained sufficient probable cause to arrest the  30
individual or individuals suspected of commission of the violent  31
crime;  32
       (c) Obtained sufficient information to effectuate the  33
arrest of the individual or individuals suspected of commission  34
of the violent crime, but a reason outside the control of the  35
law enforcement agency exists that prevents the law enforcement  36
agency from arresting the individual or individuals.  37
       (6) "Clearance by arrest" or "cleared by arrest" means an  38
individual was arrested and charged with committing the violent  39
crime or alleged to be a delinquent child for committing the  40
violent crime.  41
       (7) "Clearance rate" means the quotient obtained by  42
dividing the sum of the number of incidents of violent crime  43
that have a clearance by arrest and the number of incidents of  44
violent crime that have a clearance by exception by the total  45
number of incidents of violent crime reported to the law  46
enforcement agency during a single calendar year.  47
       (8) "Clearance rate improvement project" means a project,  48
S. B. No. 425  Page 3
As Introduced
the primary purpose of which is to increase clearance rates for  49
violent crimes, including the following:  50
       (a) Investigative staffing and overtime dedicated to  51
clearing violent crimes;  52
       (b) Information acquired and entered into a crime gun  53
intelligence center or the national integrated ballistic  54
information network, including correlation, lead triage, and  55
lead management;  56
       (c) Forensic capacity, including ballistics and DNA  57
directly tied to violent crimes;  58
       (d) Case-management systems, real-time crime center  59
support, and analytics that track leads and link cases;  60
       (e) Backlog and cold-case surge operations for violent  61
crimes;  62
       (f) Upgrading record management systems to comply with the  63
reporting requirements under division (J) of this section;  64
       (g) Ensuring compliance with reporting requirements under  65
division (J) of this section.  66
       (9) "Office of juvenile justice and delinquency  67
prevention" means the office of juvenile justice and delinquency  68
prevention established by the "Juvenile Justice and Delinquency  69
Prevention Act of 1974," 34 U.S.C. 11101 et seq., as amended.  70
       (10) "Qualified research partner" means an organization  71
with demonstrated and substantial experience conducting rigorous  72
evaluations of program effectiveness, including the use of well-  73
implemented randomized control trials or other evidence-based  74
research methodologies that allow for strong causal inferences.  75
S. B. No. 425  Page 4
As Introduced
       (B) The violent crime reduction grant program is created  76
in the department of public safety for the purpose of awarding  77
grants to eligible applicants to reduce and prevent violent  78
crime through promising or proven strategies. The division of  79
criminal justice services shall administer the program.  80
       (C) Grantees may use award funds only for the following  81
purposes:  82
       (1) To create, implement, and expand violent crime  83
reduction strategies such as place network investigations,  84
focused deterrence, hot spot policing, and crime gun  85
intelligence centers;  86
       (2) To implement or expand the following five core  87
strategies of the office of juvenile justice and delinquency  88
prevention's comprehensive gang model:  89
       (a) Community mobilization;  90
       (b) Opportunity provision;  91
       (c) Social intervention;  92
       (d) Violent crime suppression;  93
       (e) Organizational change and development.  94
       (3) To purchase technology as part of a larger violent  95
crime reduction strategy;  96
       (4) To provide overtime for personnel directly involved in  97
developing and implementing a violent crime reduction strategy;  98
       (5) To purchase equipment directly related to and  99
necessary for implementation of a violent crime reduction  100
strategy;  101
       (6) To develop and provide training on a specific violent  102
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As Introduced
crime reduction strategy or on technology to support the  103
strategy;  104
       (7) To receive technical assistance to create, implement,  105
and expand a violent crime reduction strategy;  106
       (8) To purchase analytical tools and analytical support to  107
better understand and respond to violence occurring in the  108
community and assess the effectiveness of the violence reduction  109
strategy;  110
       (9) To address violent crime by other means approved by  111
the division of criminal justice services.  112
       (D)(1)(a) The division of criminal justice services shall  113
review, score, and recommend awards and shall make the criteria  114
used to review, score, and recommend awards publicly available.  115
       (b) When recommending awards, the division of criminal  116
justice services shall prioritize awards for promising or proven  117
strategies that have undergone a causal methodology evaluation.  118
       (2) The director of public safety shall approve final  119
awards upon the recommendation of the executive director of the  120
division of criminal justice services.  121
       (3) The division of criminal justice services shall set  122
each grant term, and no grant term shall extend beyond twenty-  123
four months.  124
       (E) Except as permitted by rule in cases of documented  125
fiscal hardship, grant awards should supplement and not supplant  126
a local government's existing obligations for ongoing services  127
as of the application date.  128
       (F) The division of criminal justice services shall  129
monitor grantees for financial and programmatic compliance and  130
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As Introduced
may do the following:  131
       (1) Impose corrective actions;  132
       (2) Suspend or terminate grants;  133
       (3) Recover funds for noncompliance.  134
       (G) The division of criminal justice services shall adopt  135
rules under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to implement this  136
section, including application procedures and deadlines, scoring  137
criteria, reporting schedules, performance metrics, and fiscal  138
requirements.  139
       (H) Not later than the first day of October of each year,  140
the division of criminal justice services shall submit a report  141
to the governor and the general assembly summarizing awards,  142
strategies funded, geographic distribution, and statewide and  143
grantee-level outcomes relative to performance metrics developed  144
by rules adopted under division (G) of this section. The  145
division shall post the report on its public web site.  146
       (I)(1) Except as provided in division (I)(2) of this  147
section, not less than twenty per cent of amounts awarded from  148
the violent crime reduction grant program in each fiscal year  149
shall be awarded to clearance rate improvement projects.  150
       (2) The director of public safety may waive the percentage  151
requirement in division (I)(1) of this section only if the  152
office certifies, in a public notice posted by the thirty-first  153
day of January of that fiscal year, that the statewide violent  154
crime clearance rate for crimes that occurred during the most  155
recent calendar year for which data is available was at or above  156
seventy-five per cent.  157
       (J) For each year in which a law enforcement agency  158
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As Introduced
receives a grant under this program, that agency shall provide a  159
report to the division of criminal justice services. Each report  160
shall include the following information for each violent crime  161
reported to the law enforcement agency during the grant term  162
period:  163
       (1) The name of the offense;  164
       (2) The date the offense was reported to the law  165
enforcement agency;  166
       (3) The location of the offense;  167
       (4) The type of force or weapon used, if applicable;  168
       (5) The race or ethnicity, gender, and age of any victim  169
or victims, if available;  170
       (6) If the offense was cleared, all of the following:  171
       (a) The date the offense was cleared;  172
       (b) Whether the offense was cleared by arrest or cleared  173
by exceptional means;  174
       (c) If the offense was cleared by exceptional means, which  175
exceptional circumstance justified clearing the offense by  176
exceptional means;  177
       (d) The race or ethnicity, gender, and age of the offender  178
or offenders, if available.  179
       (K)(1) The division of criminal justice services shall  180
enter into an agreement with a qualified research partner to  181
collect and analyze data to assess program outcomes. The  182
evaluation shall, to the extent feasible and appropriate, make  183
use of experimental or quasi-experimental designs that allow for  184
the strongest possible causal inferences with respect to  185
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As Introduced
outcomes.  186
       (2) Not later than December 31, 2026, the division of  187
criminal justice services shall, in collaboration with the  188
qualified research partner, submit a report to the chairpersons  189
of the standing committees of the senate and the house of  190
representatives entrusted with matters concerning criminal  191
justice. The division of criminal justice services shall make  192
this report publicly available on its web site.  193