HB 86 & Risk Reduction Sentences

HB 86 contains a new section, R.C. 2929.143, that creates what is known as a risk reduction sentence. The section reads as follows:

Sec. 2929.143. (A) When a court sentences an offender who is convicted of a felony to a term of incarceration in a state correctional institution, the court may recommend that the offender serve a risk reduction sentence under section 5120.036 of the Revised Code if the court determines that a risk reduction sentence is appropriate, and all of the following apply:

(1) The offense for which the offender is being sentenced is not aggravated murder, murder, complicity in committing aggravated murder or murder, an offense of violence that is a felony of the first or second degree, a sexually oriented offense, or an attempt or conspiracy to commit or complicity in committing any offense otherwise identified in this division if the attempt, conspiracy, or complicity is a felony of the first or second degree.

(2) The offender's sentence to the term of incarceration does not consist solely of one or more mandatory prison terms.

(3) The offender agrees to cooperate with an assessment of the offender's needs and risk of reoffending that the department of rehabilitation and correction conducts under section 5120.036 of the Revised Code.

(4) The offender agrees to participate in any programming or treatment that the department of rehabilitation and correction orders to address any issues raised in the assessment described in division (A)(3) of this section.

(B) An offender who is serving a risk reduction sentence is not entitled to any earned credit under section 2967.193 of the Revised Code.

Note that definition of a "risk reduction sentence" refers to another section of the ORC, Sec. 5120.036. That section reads as follows:

Sec. 5120.036. (A) The department of rehabilitation and correction shall provide risk reduction programming and treatment for inmates whom a court under section 2929.143 of the Revised Code recommends serve a risk reduction sentence and who meet the eligibility criteria described in division (B) of this section.

(B) If an offender is sentenced to a term of imprisonment in a state correctional institution and the sentencing court recommended that the offender serve a risk reduction sentence, the department of rehabilitation and correction shall conduct a validated and objective assessment of the person's needs and risk of reoffending. If the offender cooperates with the risk assessment and agrees to participate in any programming or treatment ordered by the department, the department shall provide programming and treatment to the offender to address the risks and needs identified in the assessment.

(C) If the department determines that an offender serving a term of incarceration for whom the sentencing court recommended a risk reduction sentence under section 2929.143 of the Revised Code has successfully completed the assessment and treatment or programming required by the department under division (B) of this section, the department shall release the offender to supervised release after the offender has served each mandatory prison term to which the offender was sentenced, if any, and a minimum of eighty per cent of the aggregated nonmandatory prison terms to which the offender was sentenced. No mandatory prison term shall be reduced by, or as a result of, an offender's service of a risk reduction sentence. The department shall notify the sentencing court that the offender has successfully completed the terms of the risk reduction sentence at least thirty days prior to the date upon which the offender is to be released.

(D) As used in this section:

(1) "Mandatory prison term" has the same meaning as in section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.

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

As a result of these two new sections, a eligible prisoner can get his or her sentence reduced by 20%. Consequently a two year prison sentence would be reduced to a 19.2 month prison sentence.