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Committee Accepts Amendment to Increase Penalties for Obstructing Emergency Responders; FOP Backs Zone Proposal
Summary
The committee accepted a Representative Hall amendment to House Bill 20 that heightens penalties for obstructing official business when the victim is an emergency responder; the Fraternal Order of Police urged a "zone" to deter harassment of officers.
The House Public Safety Committee on its second hearing for House Bill 20 accepted a three-page amendment from Representative Hall that removes a prior 'no offense' provision and increases the offense of obstructing official business to a first-degree misdemeanor if the victim is an emergency services responder who was lawfully performing duties and had issued a warning.
Representative Hall told the committee the change was developed with the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association and policy staff. The motion to adopt Amendment 136-0458-2 was agreed to without objection.
In related testimony, Mike Wyman, director of government affairs for the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, spoke in support of HB 20 and said the bill would establish a protective zone around first responders to deter harassment and menacing by bystanders and 'First Amendment auditors.' He said enforcement requires a prior warning and that filming of officers is not prohibited by the bill; rather, the measure targets aggressive interference such as shoving cameras into an officer’s face.
The committee accepted the amendment and concluded the second hearing; no roll-call vote was recorded on final passage of the bill at this meeting.
