Ohio Revised Code
Chapter 5120 | Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
Section 5120.51 | Population and Cost Impact Statement for Legislative Bill.

Effective: June 30, 2005
Latest Legislation: House Bill 66 - 126th General Assembly
(A)(1) If the director of rehabilitation and correction determines that a bill introduced in the general assembly is likely to have a significant impact on the population of, or the cost of operating, any or all state correctional institutions under the administration of the department of rehabilitation and correction, the department shall prepare a population and cost impact statement for the bill, in accordance with division (A)(2) of this section.
(2) A population and cost impact statement required for a bill shall estimate the increase or decrease in the correctional institution population that likely would result if the bill were enacted, shall estimate, in dollars, the amount by which revenues or expenditures likely would increase or decrease if the bill were enacted, and briefly shall explain each of the estimates.
A population and cost impact statement required for a bill initially shall be prepared after the bill is referred to a committee of the general assembly in the house of origination but before the meeting of the committee at which the committee is scheduled to vote on whether to recommend the bill for passage. A copy of the statement shall be distributed to each member of the committee that is considering the bill and to the member of the general assembly who introduced it. If the bill is recommended for passage by the committee, the department shall update the statement before the bill is taken up for final consideration by the house of origination. A copy of the updated statement shall be distributed to each member of that house and to the member of the general assembly who introduced the bill. If the bill is passed by the house of origination and is introduced in the second house, the provisions of this division concerning the preparation, updating, and distribution of the statement in the house of origination also apply in the second house.
(B) The governor or any member of the general assembly, at any time, may request the department to prepare a population and cost impact statement for any bill introduced in the general assembly. Upon receipt of a request, the department promptly shall prepare a statement that includes the estimates and explanations described in division (A)(2) of this section and present a copy of it to the governor or member who made the request.
(C) In the preparation of a population and cost impact statement required by division (A) or (B) of this section, the department shall use a technologically sophisticated system capable of estimating future state correctional institution populations. The system shall have the capability to adjust its estimates based on actual and proposed changes in sentencing laws and trends, sentence durations, parole rates, crime rates, and any other data that affect state correctional institution populations. The department, in conjunction with the advisory committee appointed under division (E) of this section, shall review and update the data used in the system, not less than once every six months, to improve the accuracy of the system.
(D) At least once every six months, the department shall provide to the correctional institution inspection committee a copy of the estimates of state correctional institution populations obtained through use of the system described in division (C) of this section and a description of the assumptions regarding sentencing laws and trends, sentence durations, parole rates, crime rates, and other relevant data that were made by the department to obtain the estimates. Additionally, a copy of the estimates and a description of the assumptions made to obtain them shall be provided, upon reasonable request, to other legislative staff, including the staff of the legislative service commission, to the office of budget and management, and to the division of criminal justice services in the department of public safety.
(E) The correctional institution inspection committee shall appoint an advisory committee to review the operation of the system for estimating future state correctional institution populations that is used by the department in the preparation of population cost impact statements pursuant to this section and to join with the department in its reviews and updating of the data used in the system under division (C) of this section. The advisory committee shall be comprised of at least one prosecuting attorney, at least one common pleas court judge, at least one public defender, at least one person who is a member or staff employee of the committee, and at least one representative of the division of criminal justice services in the department of public safety.

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