As Introduced

136th General Assembly

Regular Session H. B. No. 501

2025-2026

Representatives Williams, Rogers

Cosponsors: Representatives Brennan, Daniels, Synenberg, Upchurch

To amend sections 117.52, 2305.02, 2743.15, 2743.48, and 2743.49 of the Revised Code to modify the wrongful imprisonment law and to rename the provisions wrongful incarceration.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 117.52, 2305.02, 2743.15, 2743.48, and 2743.49 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 117.52. The auditor of state shall make the adjustment, as described in section 2743.49 of the Revised Code, of the amount that a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, in an action brought in the court of claims pursuant to section 2743.48 of the Revised Code, may receive for each full year or part of a year of imprisonment incarceration and shall perform all of the functions relating to that adjustment as specified in section 2743.49 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 2305.02. The court of common pleas in the county where the underlying criminal action was initiated has exclusive, original jurisdiction to hear and determine an action or proceeding that is commenced by an individual who satisfies divisions (A)(1)(A)(4)(a) to (5)(e) of section 2743.48 of the Revised Code and that seeks a determination by the court that an error in procedure of the type described in division (A)(5) of that section occurred, that the offense of which the individual was found guilty, including all lesser included offenses, was not committed by the individual, or that no offense was committed by any person. If the court enters the requested determination, it shall comply with division (B) of that section.

Sec. 2743.15. (A) The director or other administrative chief, or the governing body, of any department, board, office, commission, agency, institution, or other instrumentality of the state:

(1) With the approval of the attorney general and the court of claims, may settle or compromise any civil action against the state insofar as the department, board, office, commission, agency, institution, or other instrumentality is named as a defendant;

(2) Shall notify the office of risk management in the department of administrative services of any settlement or compromise to allow for the proper reservation of funds.

(B) The acceptance by the claimant of any such compromise or settlement shall be final and conclusive on the claimant and is a complete release of the civil action against the state insofar as the particular department, board, office, commission, agency, institution, or other instrumentality is named, or could be named, as a defendant. A compromise or settlement that requires the payment of money by the state may be implemented and enforced, insofar as the payment of money is concerned, only through the procedure specified in section 2743.19 of the Revised Code, which shall be commenced by the attorney general forwarding a clerk's certified copy of the settlement instrument to the director of budget and management. A copy of the settlement instrument of actions involving the office of risk management in the department of administrative services shall be forwarded to the office of risk management for payment via the risk management reserve fund created in section 9.823 of the Revised Code.

No interest of any kind, including any kind set forth in sections 2743.18 and 2743.19 of the Revised Code, is allowed on any compromise or settlement of any civil action against the state under this section.

The authority of the department of administrative services to compromise claims does not extend to other statutory and agency programs with direct settlement authority, including activities by the department of transportation, inmate property actions described in division (H) of section 2743.02 of the Revised Code, and wrongful imprisonment incarceration actions provided for in section 2743.48 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 2743.48. (A)(A) As used in this section and section 2743.49 and section 2743.49 of the Revised Code, a "wrongfully imprisoned :

(1) "Brady Rule" means the rule established pursuant to the decision of the United States supreme court in Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963).

(2) "Qualifying monetary award or recovery" means a monetary award won in, or a monetary recovery received through a settlement in, a civil action under 42 U.S.C. 1983, as amended.

(3) "Detention facility" means any of the following:

(a) A state correctional institution as defined in section 2967.01 of the Revised Code;

(b) A local correctional facility as defined in section 2903.13 of the Revised Code;

(c) A department of youth services facility.

(4) "Wrongfully incarcerated individual" means an individual who satisfies each of the following:

(1)(a) The individual was charged with a violation of a section of the Revised Code by an indictment or information, and the violation charged was an aggravated felony, felony, or misdemeanor.

(2) The (b) Except in the case of an Alford plea, the individual was found guilty of, but did not plead guilty to, or was adjudicated a delinquent child for, but did not admit to, the particular charge or a lesser-included offense by the court or jury involved, and the offense of which the individual was found guilty or adjudicated a delinquent child was an aggravated felony, felony, or misdemeanor.

(3) (c) The individual was sentenced to an indefinite or definite term of imprisonment incarceration in a state correctional institution detention facility for the offense of which the individual was found guilty or was adjudicated a delinquent child.

(4)(d) The individual's conviction or adjudication was vacated, dismissed, or reversed on appeal or the individual was granted a pardon and all of the following apply:

(a)(i) No criminal or delinquency proceeding is pending against the individual for any act associated with that conviction or adjudication or any act associated with that pardon.

(b) The (ii) If the individual's conviction or adjudication was vacated, dismissed, or reversed on appeal, the prosecuting attorney in the case, within one year after the date of the vacating, dismissal, or reversal, has not sought any further appeal of right or upon leave of court, provided that this division does not limit or affect the seeking of any such appeal after the expiration of that one-year period as described in division (C)(3) of this section.

(c)(iii) The prosecuting attorney, city director of law, village solicitor, or other chief legal officer of a municipal corporation, within one year after the date of the vacating, dismissal, or reversal, or pardon, has not brought a criminal or delinquency proceeding against the individual for any act associated with that conviction or adjudication or for any act associated with that pardon, provided that this division does not limit or affect the bringing of any such proceeding after the expiration of that one-year period as described in division (C)(3) of this section.

(5)(e) Subsequent to sentencing or during or subsequent to imprisonment incarceration, an error in procedure was discovered that occurred prior to, during, or after sentencing, that involved a violation of the Brady Rule which violated the individual's rights to a fair trial under the Ohio Constitution or the United States Constitution, and that resulted in the individual's release, or it was determined by the court of common pleas in the county where the underlying criminal or delinquency action was initiated either that the offense of which the individual was found guilty or was adjudicated a delinquent child, including all lesser-included offenses, was not committed by the individual or that no offense was committed by any person. In addition to any other application of the provisions of this division regarding an error in procedure that occurred prior to, during, or after sentencing, as those provisions exist on and after the effective date of this amendment March 22, 2019, if an individual had a claim dismissed, has a claim pending, or did not file a claim because the state of the law in effect prior to the effective date of this amendment March 22, 2019, barred the claim or made the claim appear to be futile, those provisions apply with respect to the individual and the claim and, on or after that effective date March 22, 2019, the individual may file a claim and obtain the benefit of those provisions.

(B)(1) A person may file a civil action to be declared a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual in the court of common pleas in the county where the underlying criminal or delinquency action was initiated. That civil action shall be separate from the underlying finding of guilt or adjudication. Upon the filing of a civil action to be determined a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, the attorney general shall be served with a copy of the complaint and shall be heard.

(2) When the court of common pleas in the county where the underlying criminal or delinquency action was initiated determines that a person is a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, the court shall provide the person with a copy of this section and orally inform the person and the person's attorney of the person's rights under this section to commence a civil action against the state in the court of claims because of the person's wrongful imprisonment incarceration and to be represented in that civil action by counsel of the person's own choice.

(3) The court described in division (B)(1) of this section shall notify the clerk of the court of claims, in writing and within seven days after the date of the entry of its determination that the person is a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, of the name and proposed mailing address of the person and of the fact that the person has the rights to commence a civil action and to have legal representation as provided in this section. The clerk of the court of claims shall maintain in the clerk's office a list of wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individuals for whom notices are received under this section and shall create files in the clerk's office for each such individual.

(4) Within sixty days after the date of the entry of the determination by the court of common pleas in the county where the underlying criminal or delinquency action was initiated that a person is a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, the clerk of the court of claims shall forward a preliminary judgment to the president of the controlling board requesting the payment of fifty per cent of the amount described in division (E)(2)(b) of this section to the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual. The board shall take all actions necessary to cause the payment of that amount out of the emergency purposes special purpose account of the board.

(5) If an individual was serving, at the time of the wrongful imprisonment incarceration, concurrent sentences on other convictions or other adjudications that were not vacated, dismissed, or reversed on appeal, or pardoned, the individual is not eligible for compensation as described in this section for any portion of that wrongful imprisonment incarceration that occurred during a concurrent sentence of that nature.

(C)(1) In a civil action under this section, a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual has the right to have counsel of the individual's own choice.

(2) If a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual who is the subject of a court determination as described in division (B)(2) of this section does not commence a civil action under this section within six months after the entry of that determination, the clerk of the court of claims shall send a letter to the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, at the address set forth in the notice received from the court of common pleas pursuant to division (B)(3) of this section or to any later address provided by the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, that reminds the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual of the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual's rights under this section. Until the statute of limitations provided in division (H) of this section expires and unless the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual commences a civil action under this section, the clerk of the court of claims shall send a similar letter in a similar manner to the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual at least once each three months after the sending of the first reminder.

(3) If an individual has been determined by the court of common pleas in the county where the underlying criminal or delinquency action was initiated to be a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, as described in division (A) of this section, both of the following apply:

(a) The finding under division (A)(4)(b)(A)(4)(d)(ii) of this section does not affect or negate any right or authority the prosecuting attorney in the case may have to seek, after the expiration of the one-year period described in that division, a further appeal of right or upon leave of court with respect to the conviction or adjudication that was vacated, dismissed, or reversed on appeal, and the prosecuting attorney may seek such a further appeal after the expiration of that period.

(b) The finding under division (A)(4)(c)(A)(4)(d)(iii) of this section does not affect or negate any right or authority the prosecuting attorney in the case may have under any other provision of law to bring, after the expiration of the one-year period described in that division, a criminal or delinquency proceeding against the individual for any act associated with the conviction or adjudication that was vacated, dismissed, or reversed on appeal or for any act associated with the pardon, and the prosecuting attorney may bring such a proceeding after the expiration of that period as provided under any other provision of law.

(D) Notwithstanding any provisions of this chapter to the contrary, a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual has and may file a civil action against the state, in the court of claims, to recover a sum of money as described in this section, because of the individual's wrongful imprisonmentincarceration. The court of claims shall have exclusive, original jurisdiction over such a civil action. The civil action shall proceed, be heard, and be determined as provided in sections 2743.01 to 2743.20 of the Revised Code, except that if a provision of this section conflicts with a provision in any of those sections, the provision in this section controls.

(E)(1) In a civil action as described in division (D) of this section, the complainant may establish that the claimant is a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual by submitting to the court of claims a certified copy of the judgment entry of the court of common pleas associated with the claimant's conviction or adjudication and sentencing, and a certified copy of the entry of the determination of the court of common pleas that the claimant is a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual under division (B)(2) of this section. No other evidence shall be required of the complainant to establish that the claimant is a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, and the claimant shall be irrebuttably presumed to be a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual.

(2) In a civil action as described in division (D) of this section, upon presentation of requisite proof to the court of claims, a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual is entitled to receive a sum of money that equals the total of each of the following amounts:

(a) The amount of any fine or court costs imposed and paid, and the reasonable attorney's fees and other expenses incurred by the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual in connection with all associated criminal or delinquency proceedings and appeals, and, if applicable, in connection with obtaining the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual's discharge from confinement in the state correctional institution detention facility;

(b) For each full year of imprisonment incarceration in the state correctional institution detention facility for the offense of which the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual was found guilty or was adjudicated a delinquent child, forty thousand three hundred thirty dollars or the adjusted amount determined by the auditor of state pursuant to section 2743.49 of the Revised Code, and for each part of a year of being so imprisoned incarcerated, a pro-rated share of forty thousand three hundred thirty dollars or the adjusted amount determined by the auditor of state pursuant to section 2743.49 of the Revised Code;

(c) Any loss of wages, salary, or other earned income that directly resulted from the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual's arrest, prosecution, conviction or adjudication, and wrongful imprisonmentincarceration;

(d) The amount of the following cost debts the department of rehabilitation and correction or the department of youth services recovered from the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual who was in custody of the department or under the department's supervision:

(i) Any user fee or copayment for services at a detention facility, including, but not limited to, a fee or copayment for sick call visits;

(ii) The cost of housing and feeding the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual in a detention facility;

(iii) The cost of supervision of the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual;

(iv) The cost of any ancillary services provided to the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual.

(F)(1) If the court of claims determines in a civil action as described in division (D) of this section that the complainant is a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, it shall enter judgment for the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual in the amount of the sum of money to which the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual is entitled under division (E)(2) of this section. In determining that sum, the court of claims shall not take into consideration any expenses incurred by the state or any of its political subdivisions in connection with the arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment incarceration of the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, including, but not limited to, expenses for food, clothing, shelter, and medical services. The court shall reduce that sum by the amount of the payment to the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual described in division (B)(4) of this section.

(2) If the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual was represented in the civil action under this section by counsel of the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual's own choice, the court of claims shall include in the judgment entry referred to in division (F)(1) of this section an award for the reasonable attorney's fees of that counsel. These fees shall be paid as provided in division (G) of this section.

(3) If the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual owes any debt to the state or any of its political subdivisions, the court of claims, in the judgment entry referred to in division (F)(1) of this section, shall deduct the amount of any such debts that are known from the sum of money to which the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual is entitled under division (E)(2) of this section. The court shall include in the judgment entry an award to the state or a political subdivision, whichever is applicable, of any amount deducted pursuant to this division. These amounts shall be paid as provided in division (G) of this section.

(4)(a) If, at the time of the judgment entry referred to in division (F)(1) of this section, the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual has won or received a qualifying monetary award or recovery that arose from any conduct that resulted in or contributed to the person being determined to be a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, all of the following apply:

(i) The court of claims, in the judgment entry, shall deduct the amount of the award or recovery in the action that the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual actually collected prior to the time of the judgment entry, after the payment of the individual's attorney's fees and costs related to the litigation, from the sum of money to which the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual is entitled under division (E)(2) of this section. If the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual has won or received two or more qualifying monetary awards or recoveries of the type described in division (F)(4)(a) of this section, the court shall aggregate the amounts of all of those awards or recoveries that the individual actually collected prior to the date of the judgment entry, and the aggregate amount shall be the amount deducted under this division from the sum of money to which the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual is entitled under division (E)(2) of this section. The court shall include in the judgment entry an award to the state of any amount deducted pursuant to this division. These amounts shall be paid as provided in division (G) of this section.

(ii) If the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual actually collects any amount of the qualifying monetary award or recovery after the date of the judgment entry referred to in division (F)(1) of this section, the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual shall reimburse the state for the sum of money paid under the judgment entry referred to in division (F)(1) of this section, after the deduction of the individual's attorney's fees and costs related to the litigation, for the amount of the qualifying monetary award or recovery actually collected after that date. A reimbursement required under this division shall not exceed the amount that the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual actually collects under the qualifying monetary award or recovery. If the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual has won or received two or more qualifying monetary awards or recoveries of the type described in division (F)(4)(a) of this section and actually collects any amount of two or more of those qualifying monetary awards or recoveries after the date of the judgment entry referred to in division (F)(1) of this section, the court shall apply this division separately with respect to each such qualifying monetary award or recovery.

(iii) The total amount a court deducts under division (F)(4)(a)(i) of this section with respect to a qualifying monetary award or recovery plus the total amount of a reimbursement required under division (F)(4)(a)(ii) of this section with respect to that same qualifying monetary award or recovery shall not exceed the amount that the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual actually collects under that qualifying monetary award or recovery.

(b) If division (F)(4)(a) of this section does not apply and if, after the time of the judgment entry referred to in division (F)(1) of this section, the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual wins a qualifying monetary award or recovery that arose from any conduct that resulted in or contributed to the person being determined to be a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual shall reimburse the state for the sum of money paid under the judgment entry referred to in division (F)(1) of this section, after the deduction of the individual's attorney's fees and costs related to the litigation. A reimbursement required under this division shall not exceed the amount that the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual actually collects under the qualifying monetary award or recovery. If the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual has won or received two or more such qualifying monetary awards or recoveries, the court shall apply this division separately with respect to each such qualifying monetary award or recovery.

(c) Divisions (F)(4)(a) and (b) of this section apply only with respect to judgment entries referred to in division (F)(1) of this section that are entered on or after the effective date of divisions (F)(4)(a) and (b) of this section March 22, 2019.

(5) If, after the time of the judgment entry referred to in division (F)(1) of this section, the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual is convicted of or pleads guilty to an offense that is based on any act associated with the conviction that was vacated, reversed, or dismissed on appeal or any act associated with the pardon and that was the basis of the person being determined to be a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual shall reimburse the state for the entire sum of money paid under the judgment entry referred to in division (F)(1) of this section.

(6) The state consents to be sued by a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual because the imprisonment incarceration was wrongful, and to liability on its part because of that fact, only as provided in this section. However, this section does not affect any liability of the state or of its employees to a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual on a claim for relief that is not based on the fact of the wrongful imprisonment incarceration, including, but not limited to, a claim for relief that arises out of circumstances occurring during the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual's confinement in the state correctional institutiondetention facility.

(G) The clerk of the court of claims shall forward a certified copy of a judgment under division (F) of this section to the president of the controlling board. The board shall take all actions necessary to cause the payment of the judgment out of the emergency purposes special purpose account of the board.

(H) To be eligible to recover a sum of money as described in this section because of wrongful imprisonment incarceration, both of the following shall apply to a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual:

(1) The wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual shall not have been, prior to September 24, 1986, the subject of an act of the general assembly that authorized an award of compensation for the wrongful imprisonment incarceration or have been the subject of an action before the former sundry claims board that resulted in an award of compensation for the wrongful imprisonment incarceration.

(2) The wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual shall commence a civil action under this section in the court of claims no later than two years after the date of the entry of the determination of the court of common pleas that the individual is a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual under division (B)(2) of this section.

(I) No determination of a court of common pleas as specified in division (B) of this section or of the court of claims as described in division (D) of this section that a person is a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual, and no finding in the civil action that results in either of those determinations, is admissible as evidence in any criminal or delinquency proceeding that is pending at the time of, or is commenced subsequent to, that civil action.

(J)(1) As used in division (A) of this section, "Brady Rule" means the rule established pursuant to the decision of the United States supreme court in Brady v. Maryland (1963), 373 U.S. 83.

(2) As used in divisions (F)(3) to (5) of this section:

(a) "State" and "political subdivisions" have the same meanings as in section 2743.01 of the Revised Code.

(b) "Qualifying monetary award or recovery" means a monetary award won in, or a monetary recovery received through a settlement in, a civil action under section 1983 of Title 42 of the United States Code, 93 Stat. 1284 (1979), 42 U.S.C. 1983, as amended.

Sec. 2743.49. (A)(1) In January of each odd-numbered year, the auditor of state, in accordance with this division and division (A)(2) of this section, shall adjust the actual dollar figure specified in division (E)(2)(b) of section 2743.48 of the Revised Code or the actual dollar amount determined pursuant to this section. The adjustment shall be based on the yearly average of the previous two years of the consumer price index for all urban consumers or its successive equivalent, as determined by the United States department of labor, bureau of labor statistics, or its successor in responsibility, for all items, Series A.

Using the yearly average for the immediately preceding even-numbered year as the base year, the auditor of state shall compare the most current average consumer price index with that determined in the preceding odd-numbered year and shall determine the percentage increase or decrease. The auditor of state shall multiply the percentage increase or decrease by the actual dollar figure specified in division (E)(2)(b) of section 2743.48 of the Revised Code or the actual dollar figure determined under this section for the previous odd-numbered year and shall add the product to or subtract the product from its corresponding actual dollar figure, as applicable, for the previous odd-numbered year.

(2) The auditor of state shall calculate the adjustment under division (A)(1) of this section on or before the thirty-first day of January of each odd-numbered year. The auditor of state shall base the adjustment on the most current consumer price index that is described in division (A)(1) of this section and that is in effect as of the first day of January of each odd-numbered year.

(B)(1) The auditor of state shall certify the calculations made under division (A) of this section on or before the thirty-first day of January of each odd-numbered year.

(2) On or before the fifteenth day of February of each odd-numbered year, the auditor of state shall prepare a report setting forth the amount that a wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual is entitled to for each full year of imprisonment incarceration in the state correctional institution detention facility for the offense of which the wrongfully imprisoned incarcerated individual was found guilty as provided in division (E)(2)(b) of section 2743.48 of the Revised Code and as calculated in accordance with this section. The report and all documents relating to the calculations contained in the report are public records. The report shall contain an indication of the period in which the calculated amount applies, a summary of how the amount was calculated, and a statement that the report and all related documents are available for inspection and copying at the office of the auditor of state.

(3) On or before the fifteenth day of February of each odd-numbered year, the auditor of state shall transmit the report to the general assembly and to the court of claims.

Section 2. That existing sections 117.52, 2305.02, 2743.15, 2743.48, and 2743.49 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.