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Sponsors urge voluntary statewide database for people with disabilities to aid first responders in House Bill 144 testimony
Summary
House Bill 144 would create a voluntary statewide registry to provide first responders with advance information about people with disabilities; sponsors said the database would be managed by DPS, use existing personnel and be made available to 911 dispatch and responders.
Representatives sponsoring House Bill 144 told the Senate Local Government, Public Safety and Veterans Affairs Committee the bill would create a voluntary statewide communication and disability database to help first responders identify residents with disabilities and tailor their response.
Representative Klick described meeting a constituent known as Keith who has special needs and said local departments use patchwork county registries. Klick said the bill would let the Department of Public Safety, working with disability organizations, maintain a statewide voluntary registry “so that when you get pulled over, no matter where you are in Ohio, on your car or in your driver's license, it'll be marked if you have a special need,” and that the registry “will be made available to the local 911 dispatches for cases like fire and EMS.”
Representative Lorenz, a joint sponsor and parent of a son with autism, said local examples show the registry can reduce dangerous misinterpretations during traffic stops or emergency responses. Lorenz said the measure is voluntary and aimed at improving outcomes for both residents with disabilities and first responders.
Committee members asked about fiscal and training issues. Senator Wilson asked whether the bill had a fiscal‑impact statement; sponsors reported the Legislative Service Commission said costs would be de minimis because existing personnel would be used. Senator Schaeffer described a separate historical case involving a person with diabetes to illustrate how medical conditions can be misread by officers.
Sponsors told the committee that the bill had passed the House and House committee stages with strong support and that additional, unvetted amendments had been suggested; they asked the Senate committee to consider agency‑vetted changes rather than delay passage.
No formal committee vote on House Bill 144 was recorded in the meeting transcript.
