Lawmakers in the Ohio Senate are in the process of considering a bill that
would make preparing presentence reports optional in non-prison felony cases.
The Ohio Senate is contemplating a bill that would save money and the amount
of time inmates have to be in jail before they are sentenced. The bill
would make a presentence report optional, provided that the prosecution
and the defense can agree.
Presentencing reports can, in some cases, cost $800 and take up to six
weeks to prepare. This means that before an offender is even sentenced,
they could be waiting in jail for up to six weeks while the presentencing
report is being prepared.
The bill, which was already approved by the Ohio House in May, makes preparing
a presentence report optional in cases involving a non-prison sentence,
so offenders would not have to remain in jail during this phase. Judges
would still be able to order a presentencing report if they saw fit.
The Ohio Supreme Court has commented on presentence investigations for
non-prison felony cases before, saying that they are both excessive and
unwarranted. Koffel Brininger Nesbitt shares this assessment. For more information, you can
read about the bill on ABC 13.
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