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S.B. 270 clarifies victim impact statements, notice and record confidentiality for youth commitments
Summary
The bill adds or restates provisions on victim impact statements, confidentiality of victim statements and certain institutional records, and notification requirements to parents, courts, prosecutors, and victims when youths are assigned, disciplined, medicated, or involved in major incidents.
S.B. 270 amends multiple sections of the Revised Code to define and constrain how victim impact statements and departmental records are handled for children committed to the Department of Youth Services. The bill requires preparation and consideration of victim impact statements in delinquency dispositions for felony cases and specifies confidentiality, limited distribution, and return procedures for those statements.
Under the bill, victim impact statements must identify the victim, itemize economic loss and physical injury, and describe psychological and familial impacts as required by the court; the court must consider the statement when determining disposition. The bill also makes the statements confidential and not public records, while permitting the court to furnish copies to the department or, in limited circumstances, to counsel, prosecutors, or officers preparing presentence reports, with strict return requirements.
The bill requires the department to notify parents, guardians, or custodians of certain operational items: the facility name for permanent assignments within three business days, responses about disciplinary measures and medications by the next business day upon request, and prompt notice of "major incidents" (a defined list including escapes, alleged sexual activity, serious injuries, suicide attempts, discovery of controlled substances, or death). It also restricts release of identifying information about youth confined outside juvenile facilities, classifying most such information as confidential and not a public record except to specified officials or by court order.
