Ohio Law Enforcement Protection Act

Ohio’s Law Enforcement Protection Act (Senate Bill 7), also being known as the Deputy Suzanne Hopper Act, requiring that courts report certain information to local law enforcement agencies for entry into the appropriate National Crime Information Center file it approves the conditional release of a person found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity, or orders a person convicted of an offense of violence to receive mental health treatment was signed into law yesterday by Governor John Kasich.

Suzanne Hopper, was a Clark County, Ohio sheriff's deputy and mother of two, killed in the line of duty while investigating a report of gunfire at an Ohio trailer park early New Year’s Day two years ago.

In pertinence, “If a court orders a person who pleads guilty to or who is convicted of an offense of violence to receive a mental health evaluation or treatment for a mental illness, the court shall report the conviction and required evaluation or treatment to the local law enforcement agency. The local law enforcement agency shall enter the conviction and required treatment into the national crime information center supervised release file through the law enforcement automated data system. The information reported and entered shall include all of the following:

(1) The name of the court providing the information;

(2) The offense or offenses of violence to which the offender
pleaded guilty or of which the offender was convicted;

(3) Any other information required for the entry of information
into the national crime information center supervised release file.

Legislative Service’s Analysis