Section 2967.194 | Earning days of credit.
(A)(1) Beginning April 4, 2024, the provisions of this section shall apply, in the manner described in division (G) of this section, to persons confined on or after that date in a state correctional institution or in the substance use disorder treatment program.
(2) Except as provided in division (C) of this section and subject to the maximum aggregate total specified in division (A)(4) of this section, a person confined in a state correctional institution or placed in the substance use disorder treatment program may provisionally earn one day or five days of credit, based on the category set forth in division (D)(1) or (2) of this section in which the person is included, toward satisfaction of the person's stated prison term, as described in division (F) of this section, for each completed month during which the person, if confined in a state correctional institution, productively participates in an education program, vocational training, employment in prison industries, treatment for substance abuse, or any other constructive program developed by the department of rehabilitation and correction with specific standards for performance by prisoners or during which the person, if placed in the substance use disorder treatment program, productively participates in the program. Except as provided in division (C) of this section and subject to the maximum aggregate total specified in division (A)(4) of this section, a person so confined in a state correctional institution who successfully completes two programs or activities of that type may, in addition, provisionally earn up to five days of credit toward satisfaction of the person's stated prison term, as described in division (F) of this section, for the successful completion of the second program or activity. The person shall not be awarded any provisional days of credit for the successful completion of the first program or activity or for the successful completion of any program or activity that is completed after the second program or activity. At the end of each calendar month in which a person productively participates in a program or activity listed in this division or successfully completes a program or activity listed in this division, the department of rehabilitation and correction shall determine and record the total number of days credit that the person provisionally earned in that calendar month. If the person in a state correctional institution violates prison rules or the person in the substance use disorder treatment program violates program or department rules, the department may deny the person a credit that otherwise could have been provisionally awarded to the person or may withdraw one or more credits previously provisionally earned by the person. Days of credit provisionally earned by a person shall be finalized and awarded by the department subject to administrative review by the department of the person's conduct.
(3) Except as provided in division (C) of this section, unless a person is serving a mandatory prison term or a prison term for an offense of violence or a sexually oriented offense, and notwithstanding the maximum aggregate total specified in division (A)(4) of this section, a person who successfully completes any diploma, equivalence, program, or criteria identified in divisions (A)(3)(a) to (g) of this section shall earn ninety days of credit toward satisfaction of the person's stated prison term or a ten per cent reduction of the person's stated prison term, whichever is less, for each such diploma, equivalence, program, or criteria successfully completed. The diplomas, equivalences, programs, and criteria for which credit shall be granted under this division, upon successful completion, are:
(a) An Ohio high school diploma or Ohio certificate of high school equivalence certified by the Ohio central school system;
(b) A therapeutic drug community program;
(c) All three phases of the department of rehabilitation and correction's intensive outpatient drug treatment program;
(d) A career technical vocational school program;
(e) A college certification program;
(f) The criteria for a certificate of achievement and employability as specified in division (A)(1) of section 2961.22 of the Revised Code;
(g) Any other constructive program developed by the department of rehabilitation and correction with specific standards for performance by prisoners.
(4) Except for persons described in division (A)(3) of this section, the aggregate days of credit provisionally earned by a person for program or activity participation and program and activity completion under this section and the aggregate days of credit finally credited to a person under this section shall not exceed fifteen per cent of the total number of days in the person's stated prison term.
(B) The department of rehabilitation and correction shall adopt rules that specify the programs or activities for which credit may be earned under this section, the criteria for determining productive participation in, or completion of, the programs or activities and the criteria for awarding credit, including criteria for awarding additional credit for successful program or activity completion, and the criteria for denying or withdrawing previously provisionally earned credit as a result of a violation of prison rules, or program or department rules, whichever is applicable.
(C) No person confined in a state correctional institution or placed in a substance use disorder treatment program to whom any of the following applies shall be awarded any days of credit under division (A)(2) or (3) of this section:
(1) The person is serving a prison term that section 2929.13 or section 2929.14 of the Revised Code specifies cannot be reduced pursuant to this section or this chapter or is serving a sentence for which section 2967.13 or division (B) of section 2929.143 of the Revised Code specifies that the person is not entitled to any earned credit under this section.
(2) The person is sentenced to death or is serving a prison term or a term of life imprisonment for aggravated murder, murder, or a conspiracy or attempt to commit, or complicity in committing, aggravated murder or murder.
(3) The person is serving a sentence of life imprisonment without parole imposed pursuant to section 2929.03 or 2929.06 of the Revised Code, a prison term or a term of life imprisonment without parole imposed pursuant to section 2971.03 of the Revised Code, or a sentence for a sexually oriented offense that was committed on or after September 30, 2011.
(D) This division does not apply to a determination of whether a person confined in a state correctional institution or placed in a substance use disorder treatment program may earn any days of credit under division (A)(2) of this section for successful completion of a second program or activity. The determination of whether a person confined in a state correctional institution may earn one day of credit or five days of credit under division (A)(2) of this section for each completed month during which the person productively participates in a program or activity specified under that division shall be made in accordance with the following:
(1) The offender may earn one day of credit under division (A)(2) of this section, except as provided in division (C) of this section, if the offender is serving a stated prison term that includes a prison term imposed for a sexually oriented offense that the offender committed prior to September 30, 2011.
(2) Except as provided in division (C) of this section, if division (D)(1) of this section does not apply to the offender, the offender may earn five days of credit under division (A)(2) of this section.
(E) The department annually shall seek and consider the written feedback of the Ohio prosecuting attorneys association, the Ohio judicial conference, the Ohio public defender, the Ohio association of criminal defense lawyers, and other organizations and associations that have an interest in the operation of the corrections system and the earned credits program under this section as part of its evaluation of the program and in determining whether to modify the program.
(F) Days of credit awarded under this section shall be applied toward satisfaction of a person's stated prison term as follows:
(1) Toward the definite prison term of a prisoner serving a definite prison term as a stated prison term;
(2) Toward the minimum and maximum terms of a prisoner serving an indefinite prison term imposed under division (A)(1)(a) or (2)(a) of section 2929.14 of the Revised Code for a felony of the first or second degree committed on or after March 22, 2019.
(G) The provisions of this section apply to persons confined in a state correctional institution or in the substance use disorder treatment program on or after April 4, 2024, as follows:
(1) Subject to division (G)(2) of this section, the provisions apply to a person so confined regardless of whether the person committed the offense for which the person is confined in the institution or was placed in the program prior to, on, or after April 4, 2024, and regardless of whether the person was convicted of or pleaded guilty to that offense prior to, on, or after April 4, 2024.
(2) The provisions apply to a person so confined only with respect to the time that the person is so confined on and after April 4, 2024, and the provisions of section 2967.193 of the Revised Code that were in effect prior to April 4, 2024, and that applied to the person prior to that date, including the provisions of division (A)(4) of that section as amended by this act , apply to the person with respect to the time that the person was so confined prior to April 4, 2024.
(H) As used in this section:
(1) "Sexually oriented offense" has the same meaning as in section 2950.01 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Substance use disorder treatment program" means the substance use disorder treatment program established by the department of rehabilitation and correction under section 5120.035 of the Revised Code.
Last updated October 3, 2023 at 2:15 PM
Available Versions of this Section
- April 4, 2023 – Enacted by Senate Bill 288 - 134th General Assembly [ View April 4, 2023 Version ]
- October 3, 2023 – Amended by House Bill 33 - 135th General Assembly [ View October 3, 2023 Version ]