Ohio

Recent / Pending Legislation

• SB 425 (2026, pending) – Establishing the violent crime reduction grant program – case clearance rate legislation (including DNA). Includes performance monitoring. Some funding may be used for DNA, among other purposes.

Arrestees: Yes. Booking Station Rapid Ready.

Qualifying Crimes: Any felony arrest.

Time of Collection: For arrestees: during the intake process at the jail, community-based correctional facility, detention facility, or law-enforcement office or station to which the person is taken after arrest. For persons charged with a felony by court summons rather than arrest: the court orders submission within 24 hours of the court appearance.

Expungement: A person found not guilty by a jury or court, named as the defendant in a dismissed complaint, indictment, or information, or no-billed by a grand jury may apply to the court for an order sealing or expunging the official records of the case. (2023 update: H.B. 33, effective October 3, 2023, made true expungement — permanent destruction — available for such non-conviction records.) Records cannot be expunged if the case involves the following offenses: a violation of any section contained in the commercial driver’s licensing, driver’s license law, driver’s license suspension, cancellation or revocation, traffic laws (operation of motor vehicles), or motor vehicle crimes chapters of Ohio’s code (or a violation of a municipal ordinance that is substantially similar to any section contained in any of those chapters), a felony offense of violence that is not sexually oriented, a sexually oriented offense when the offender is subject to the Sexual Predators, Habitual Sex Offenders, Sexually Oriented Offenders chapter of Ohio’s code (as it existed prior to January 1, 2008), an offense involving a victim who is under 13 (except for an offense under nonsupport or contributing to nonsupport of defendants), a felony of the first or second degree, a violation of domestic violence or violating protection order laws (or a violation of a municipal ordinance that is substantially similar to either section), a violation that is a felony of the third degree if the person has more than one prior conviction of any felony or, if the person has exactly one prior conviction of a felony of the third degree, the person has more prior convictions in total than a third degree felony conviction and two misdemeanor convictions.

Statutes / Case Law

OHIO REV. CODE § 2901.07. DNA SPECIMEN COLLECTION PROCEDURE

OHIO REV. CODE § 2953.33 SEALING OF OFFICIAL RECORDS AFTER NOT GUILTY FINDING, DISMISSAL OF PROCEEDINGS, GRAND JURY NO BILL, OR PARDON

Ohio v. Keith, 62 N.E.3d 649 (Ohio Ct. App. 2016) (“The court suppressed the DNA sample and any subsequent test results of that specimen on the ground that [the detective] was not statutorily authorized to collect the DNA sample from [the defendant]. The trial court noted that R.C. 2901.07(B)(1)(a) authorizes collection of a DNA specimen from an adult arrested for a felony during the intake process at the jail; however, although [the defendant] was under arrest, [the detective] obtained the sample prior to [the defendant]’s being booked into the county jail.”).

Crabbs v. Scott, 786 F.3d 426 (6th Cir. 2015) (“The statute mandates DNA collection ‘during the intake process.’”).

Ohio v. Bolton, 2012 WL 171039 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012) (“[In the context of law enforcement, the taking of a DNA sample is akin to the taking of a fingerprint and does not unduly infringe on an offender’s privacy interests. Accordingly, the DNA sample taken from appellant while he was in prison on an unrelated charge was not unconstitutional pursuant to R.C. 2901.07”).

Convicted Offenders: Yes.

Qualifying Crimes: Every felony — whether by adult conviction or juvenile delinquency adjudication — plus the following misdemeanors:

Unlawful sexual conduct with a minor (including a misdemeanor violation, attempt to commit a misdemeanor violation, or complicity in committing a misdemeanor violation); Misdemeanor arising out of same facts and circumstances and same act as did a charge of aggravated murder, murder, kidnapping, rape, sexual battery, unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, gross sexual imposition, or aggravated burglary; Interference with custody; or A sexually oriented offense or a child-victim oriented offense, if the offender is a tier III sex offender/child-victim offender

Time of Collection: Always during intake: at the reception facility designated by the director, for state correctional terms; at the jail, community-based correctional facility, or other county, multicounty, municipal, municipal-county, or multicounty-municipal detention facility, for local terms; and during the intake process for adjudicated delinquents.

Expungement: Subject to multiple-charge exceptions, an eligible offender may apply for sealing or expungement of the case record — to the sentencing court for Ohio convictions, or to a court of common pleas for out-of-state or federal convictions — except as to the following convictions: convictions under the commercial driver’s licensing, driver’s license law, driver’s license suspension, cancellation or revocation, traffic laws (operation of motor vehicles), or motor vehicle crimes chapters of Ohio’s code (or a conviction of a municipal ordinance that is substantially similar to any section contained in any of those chapters), convictions of a felony offense of violence that is not sexually oriented, convictions of a sexually oriented offense when the offender is subject to the Sexual Predators, Habitual Sex Offenders, Sexually Oriented Offenders chapter of Ohio’s code (as it existed prior to January 1, 2008), convictions of an offense involving a victim who is under 13 (except for convictions under nonsupport or contributing to nonsupport of defendants), convictions of a felony of the first or second degree, convictions of a violation of domestic violence or violating protection order laws (or a conviction for violation of a municipal ordinance that is substantially similar to either section), convictions of a felony of the third degree if the person has more than one prior conviction of any felony or, if the person has exactly two convictions of a felony of the third degree, has more convictions in total than those two third degree felony convictions and two misdemeanor convictions.

Statutes / Case Law

OH ST. § 2901.07 DNA specimen collection procedure

OH ST. § 2152.74. DNA specimen collection procedure for adjudicated delinquents

OH ST. § 2953.32 Sealing or expungement of record of conviction record or bail forfeiture; exceptions

Crabbs v. Scott, 786 F.3d 426 (6th Cir. 2015) (“The statute mandates DNA collection ‘during the intake process.’”). Ohio v. Bolton, 2012 WL 171039 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012) (“[I]n the context of law enforcement, the taking of a DNA sample is akin to the taking of a fingerprint and does not unduly infringe on an offender’s privacy interests. Accordingly, the DNA sample taken from appellant while he was in prison on an unrelated charge was not unconstitutional pursuant to R.C. 2901.07”)

Office of Attorney General Opinion No. 2005-037 (“[A] juvenile court must order the collection of a DNA specimen from a juvenile placed on some form of probation supervision pursuant to [applicable law].”

Legislative History

House Bill 5, 121st General Assembly — Eff. August 30, 1995 Original enacting bill. Created the DNA database (ORC § 109.573) and the collection mandate (ORC § 2901.07). Required convicted offenders of specified crimes to submit blood samples.

Senate Bill 269, 121st General Assembly — Eff. July 1, 1996 Expanded offense categories covered by the collection mandate.

House Bill 180, 121st General Assembly — Eff. January 1, 1997 Further amendments to collection categories.

House Bill 124, 121st General Assembly — Eff. March 31, 1997 Further amendments.

Senate Bill 111, 122nd General Assembly — Eff. March 17, 1998 Expanded covered offenses.

House Bill 526, 122nd General Assembly — Eff. September 1, 1998 Further amendments.

House Bill 427, 124th General Assembly — Eff. August 29, 2002 “DNA specimens collected — expand offenses.” Sponsored by Rep. Ann Womer Benjamin. Expanded the offense categories triggering mandatory DNA collection.

Senate Bill 5, 125th General Assembly — Eff. July 31, 2003 Added child-victim oriented offense language to the collection trigger categories.

House Bill 525, 125th General Assembly — Eff. May 18, 2005 Major rewrite of subsections (B), (D), and (E); reorganized and expanded collection procedures.

House Bill 66, 126th General Assembly — Eff. June 30, 2005 Biennial budget bill; technical amendments to § 2901.07.

Senate Bill 262, 126th General Assembly — Eff. July 11, 2006 Complete rewrite of § 2901.07, enacted as an emergency measure. Explicitly declared collection applies retroactively to all covered offenders regardless of conviction date. Sponsored by Sen. David Goodman.

Senate Bill 77, 128th General Assembly — Eff. July 6, 2010 (arrest mandate Eff. July 1, 2011) Most significant structural expansion. Added pre-conviction, arrest-based DNA collection for all adults arrested on felony charges. Also mandated preservation of biological evidence and recorded custodial interrogations. Sponsored by Sen. David Goodman.

Senate Bill 268, 129th General Assembly — Eff. August 6, 2012 Current version. Addressed gap where DNA sample was not collected at arrest — added court-ordered collection at arraignment, sentencing, or via sheriff/chief of police. Sponsored by Sen. John Eklund.

Some sort of pilot program, but no law. First Rapid DNA program funding in 2021 and then extended into 2024-2025 budget. “Rapid DNA Pilot Project”.

There appears to be a dedicated unit that uses FGG. See GOLD Unit. Tackles all major categories of DNA. Genealogy. Lawfully Owed DNA, SAKI, Cold Case Homicides. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor. Funding given by Ohio BCI.

• The “Lawfully Owed” Crisis
  • Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) found about 15,000 arrestees/offenders (2011–2017) whose DNA was never collected; its SAKI LODNA task force (FY2016 + FY2019, $1M each) ran a census and collection. Collection governed by Ohio Admin. Code 109:5-5-02. SAKI grantee table

No legislation on law found.