Overview
- Senate Bill 295 before the Judiciary Committee would extend the period to restore competency from one year to five years for aggravated murder and murder defendants.
- The measure mandates that state hospitals notify courts within 14 days when a defendant refuses court-ordered medication and pauses the restoration clock during those refusals.
- Officer Jamieson Ritter’s parents and Cuyahoga County prosecutors urged passage in testimony, arguing current limits let defendants run out the clock.
- Attorney General Dave Yost endorsed the bill in a letter to senators, citing the De’Lawnte Hardy case as evidence of a loophole that hinders prosecution.
- Legal and medical experts warned the extension lacks clinical justification and could fuel litigation over involuntary medication, as the governor reviews the hospital’s handling of Hardy’s care.