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

• HB 5 (121st General Assembly) — effective August 30, 1995. Original enacting act. Created the state DNA database at R.C. § 109.573 and the collection mandate at § 2901.07, requiring convicted offenders of specified crimes to submit blood samples.
• SB 269 (121st General Assembly) — effective July 1, 1996. Expanded the offense categories covered by the collection mandate.
• HB 180 (121st General Assembly) — effective January 1, 1997. Further amendments to the collection categories.
• HB 124 (121st General Assembly) — effective March 31, 1997. Further amendments.
• Am. Sub. SB 111 (122nd General Assembly) — effective March 17, 1998. A large corrections and community-control omnibus amending some seventy sections across Titles 9, 29, 51 and others, including § 2901.07. The DNA amendment rides within a broad rewrite of jail, probation, parole, post-release control, and Department of Rehabilitation and Correction provisions rather than standing alone.
• Am. Sub. HB 526 (122nd General Assembly) — effective September 1, 1998. Amended § 2901.07 to expand the circumstances under which a DNA specimen must be taken from a convicted offender or adjudicated delinquent child. The balance of the act clarified and conformed Juvenile Court Law and Department of Youth Services provisions affected by Am. Sub. HB 1 of the same General Assembly, and reestablished juvenile court authority to place a public safety bed delinquent child in a community corrections facility.
• Sub. HB 427 (124th General Assembly) — effective August 29, 2002. Amended §§ 109.573, 2152.74, 2743.191, 2901.07 and 2935.01 and enacted §§ 109.542 and 2935.011 to expand the offenses for which DNA specimens are collected from delinquent children and criminal offenders. Notably, it delayed implementation of that expansionuntil the Superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation gave official notification that the state DNA laboratory was prepared to accept specimens of that nature — a capacity-gated trigger rather than a fixed date. It funded the added-offense collection costs from the Reparations Fund and removed the requirement that specimens be collected by specified medical practitioners in certain circumstances.
• Am. Sub. SB 5 (125th General Assembly) — effective July 31, 2003. A Sex Offender Registration and Notification Law overhaul adopting most of the Governor’s Sex Offender Registration and Notification Task Force recommendations and conforming Ohio law to federal guidelines. Amended some fifty sections including § 2901.07, adding child-victim oriented offense language to the collection triggers.
• Sub. HB 525 (125th General Assembly) — effective May 18, 2005. Amended §§ 109.573, 313.08, 2152.74, 2743.191, 2901.07, 2953.73, 2953.82 and 5120.021 to require DNA specimen collection from delinquent children and criminal offenders for all felonies. Also extended by one year the period for certain inmates to request post-conviction DNA testing, clarified the applicability of Chapter 5120 to offenders whose offenses predate July 1, 1996 versus those on or after, and specified who collects specimens from juvenile offenders not committed to the Department of Youth Services.
• HB 66 (126th General Assembly) — effective June 30, 2005. The biennial budget act; technical amendments to § 2901.07.
• Sub. SB 262 (126th General Assembly) — effective July 11, 2006, enacted as an emergency measure. Amended §§ 2901.07, 2953.21, 2953.23, 2953.71–2953.74, 2953.78, 2953.80 and 2953.82 and enacted § 2953.84. Eliminated the former two-year window for post-conviction DNA testing applications, allowing an eligible inmate to apply at any time if the criteria are met, and required a court to consider all available admissible evidence in deciding whether the “outcome determinative” criterion is satisfied. Amended § 2901.07(B)(1) to specify that the collection procedures for felons and specified misdemeanants apply regardless of when the conviction occurred or the guilty plea was entered.
• Sub. SB 77 (128th General Assembly) — effective July 6, 2010, with the arrest mandate effective July 1, 2011. The most significant structural expansion. Amended twenty-three sections, enacted nine, and repealed § 2953.82. Provided for collection of DNA specimens from all persons eighteen years of age or older who are arrested for a felony offense; expanded post-conviction DNA testing for certain convicted felons while eliminating the testing mechanism for felons who pleaded guilty or no contest; provided for sealing the official records of persons whose convictions are vacated and set aside due to DNA testing; mandated the preservation and accessibility of biological evidence in criminal and delinquency investigations and proceedings; required improved eyewitness identification procedures and electronic recording of custodial interrogations; and provided that DNA records in the database and fingerprints filed for record cannot be sealed except in specified circumstances.
• Sub. SB 268 (129th General Assembly) — effective August 6, 2012. Amended §§ 2901.07, 2953.51, 2953.52 and 2953.53 to close the gap where no sample was taken at arrest: it provides for taking a DNA sample from a person charged with a felony but not arrested for the offense, or whose sample related to a felony was not taken when required. It also created a sealing remedy — on the person’s request, a court may order BCI to seal DNA specimens, records, and profiles taken from a person who is found not guilty, whose charges are dismissed with prejudice, or whose charges are dismissed without prejudice where the statute of limitations has expired.

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.