Ohio House requires electronic recordings of full parole board hearings; limits access for other hearings

The Ohio House on Monday passed House Bill 31, a measure requiring electronic recordings of full Ohio Parole Board hearings and making recordings of full-board hearings subject to public records requests, while preserving privacy protections for more sensitive institutional and revocation hearings.

Representative Humphrey, sponsor of the bill, said the change addresses a longstanding transparency gap: under current practice parole hearings often produce only a brief summary rather than a preserved record. "This bill seeks to correct a fundamental deficiency in how we document and preserve the decision making of the Ohio Parole Board," Humphrey said.

Under the bill, full board hearings where determinations are made will be recorded and classified as public records; the bill also provides parties (victims, the person subject to the hearing and counsel, and prosecuting attorneys) access to recordings of institutional parole hearings and revocation hearings but prevents wider public disclosure for those proceedings. Humphrey emphasized that the bill prohibits sharing recordings from non-public hearings on social media.

Representative Stewart, a co-sponsor, described the change as aligning parole proceedings with other court processes that already keep full records. "When we have these very weighty decisions being made ... there should be some record of what went on, what was decided, and why," Stewart said.

The House adopted HB 31 by a vote of 90-0. The bill moves to the governor; supporters said it balances transparency with victim privacy protections and provides formal records for appeal and public oversight.