(Columbus, OH) A proposed violent offender database may only be available to local law enforcement.
Backers of a bill now before the Ohio Senate judiciary committee are pushing for public disclosure of people convicted of violent crimes like kidnapping, murder, and felonious assault.
But the current version of a bill introduced in memory of slain Fulton County resident Sierra Joughin would only be available to a member of the public in their home county if they stop by their local sheriff's office. One of the bill's sponsors says just over 300 violent offenders would appear on the statewide list if the revised version of the bill passes both houses.
The suspect accused of killing Joughin lived nearby and was convicted of kidnapping another woman in 1990.