A bipartisan group of lawmakers have introduced legislation to end the death penalty in Ohio.
Senate Bill (SB) 101 sponsored by state Senators Steve Huffman (R-Tipp City), Michele Reynolds (R-Canal Winchester), Hearcel Craig (D-Columbus), and Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) aims to remove the death penalty in Ohio and instead pursue life without parole for capital crimes.
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In order to completely clean up the scene of a flaming train derailment that happened last month in the small town of East Palestine, Ohio, Norfolk Southern has decided to only work with Ohio-based companies.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced on Wednesday that he believed it was a good idea for the railroad to recruit businesses from throughout the state to carry out the work, which may take two years to complete.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit against several pharmacy benefit management firms on the grounds that they have erroneously raised the cost of medications like insulin.
Yost claims that the companies, one of which is based in Switzerland, have maintained dominance over most of the pharmaceutical market due to industry consolidation. Yost named Ascent Health Services LLC, Express Scripts Inc., Cigna Group, Evernorth Health Inc., Prime Therapeutics LLC, Humana Pharmacy Solutions Inc., and Humana Inc. as defendants in the lawsuit. Yost filed the lawsuit on Monday in the Delaware County Common Pleas Court.
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On Friday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education urging the department to maintain a regulation that mandates public universities to uphold the First Amendment or risk losing grant funding.
In accordance with the current rule, which was put in place in 2020 to carry out Supreme Court precedent, public universities are not allowed to deny religious student organizations “any right, benefit or privilege that is otherwise afforded to other student organizations at the public institution” because of the group’s “beliefs, practices, policies, speech, membership standards or leadership standards, which are informed by sincerely held religious beliefs.”
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Alan Shaw, CEO of Norfolk Southern, drank a glass of East Palestine, Ohio, tap water in front of a group of reporters at a media round-table on Thursday while promising to clear the scene of a horrific train derailment and contribute to rebuilding the community.
According to Shaw, he is sorry for what happened and wants to make it right.
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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Friday ordered states to stop preventing the transportation of contaminated debris from an Ohio train disaster that resulted in a fire from reaching hazardous waste storage facilities around the country.
This announcement follows Ohio Governor Mike DeWine calling on both the EPA and Norfolk Southern Railway to authorize more sites to take East Palestine’s contaminated soil due to some states with sites that are certified to take in hazardous materials not accepting it.
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After more than two years, Attorney General Dave Yost’s civil lawsuit against FirstEnergy, former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder, and others connected to the House Bill (HB) 6 scandal is once more being permitted to move forward.
Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge Chris Brown has granted Yost’s motion to lift the stay on proceedings in the case.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost released a statement outlining the next steps in the House Bill (HB) 6 scandal following the guilty verdicts declared against Larry Householder and Matt Borges in federal court on March 9th.
According to Yost, with the completion of the federal prosecution the state’s racketeering lawsuit should be able to resume.
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The Ohio Supreme Court has formally accepted an appeal by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost in a case involving the state’s six-week abortion ban.
The court announced on Tuesday morning that it will only consider two of the three legal issues Yost asked the court to consider: whether he has the right to appeal a lower court’s decision to put the heartbeat law on hold and whether abortion clinics have “standing” or the legal authority to challenge the law in the first place.
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The two-star commander of the Ohio National Guard is not facing charges despite the outcry generated by police body camera video that appeared to show the general shoving a journalist during a news conference last month.
Captain Jenna Walton, State Public Affairs officer for the Ohio National Guard told The Ohio Star that “there have been no charges, either civilian or military, filed against MG John Harris, Jr.”
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Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy assigned Matthew Byrne, a Twelfth District Court of Appeals judge, this week to preside over a state appeal of a preliminary injunction on Ohio’s abortion law.
Byrne takes over for newly appointed Ohio Justice Joe Deters, who recused himself after the abortion clinic plaintiffs argued that he couldn’t rule on the state’s heartbeat bill ban because he was an original defendant on the case when serving as Hamilton County Prosecutor.
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Ohio Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose told The Ohio Star that he is actively considering running for U.S. Senate against Ohio Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2024.
“I’m giving it a lot of thought. No announcements yet,” LaRose told The Star.
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The Ohio Attorney General’s Office certified the petition summary on Thursday for “The Right to Reproductive Freedom with Protections for Health and Safety,” a proposed constitutional amendment that would legalize abortion throughout the state. The amendment would add Section 22 to Article 1 of the state Constitution.
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On Wednesday, independent journalist Nick Sortor confronted Ohio Governor Mike DeWine regarding the controlled burn in East Palestine, Ohio.
DeWine returned for his fourth visit to East Palestine Wednesday to meet with various officials cleaning up the toxic Norfolk Southern train derailment from Feburary 3rd.
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A group of Ohioans wants to try again to change the state’s Constitution to permit lawsuits against government employees.
By placing the proposed amendment on the general election ballot for 2024, the Ohio Coalition to Eliminate Qualified Immunity (OCEQI) aims to close what it refers to as a legal loophole – qualified immunity. Similar measures have been rejected twice before for various reasons.
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Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted has started laying the framework for a future run for statewide office.
Husted’s office announced on Wednesday that the Ohio Secretary of State’s office had received a “Designation of Treasurer” from the lieutenant governor which establishes who will oversee the purse strings of a campaign committee.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has filed lawsuits against three companies in Columbus, alleging bad business practices.
Yost’s office accused two Columbus contractors of doing subpar driveway resurfacing work, and two used car shops of resetting odometers and selling ruined cars in a statement released on Friday.
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Two pro-abortion organizations announced Thursday plans to join forces in their ongoing fight against the constitutional rights of the unborn.
Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom and Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights plan to collaboratively file a ballot initiative to insert legalized abortion in the Ohio Constitution.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced on Wednesday that his office is dropping the charges against a NewsNation reporter, who law enforcement arrested, while covering the railway crash in East Palestine.
Evan Lambert, a Washington DC-based correspondent with NewsNation, was thrown to the ground, handcuffed, and arrested for trespassing last week while covering Governor Mike DeWine‘s public press conference regarding the derailing of a train transporting hazardous materials. Local prosecutors filed misdemeanor criminal trespassing and resisting arrest charges against Lambert, but they requested that Yost’s office take over the case from there due to the complex nature of the parties involved.
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Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, are requesting more details about the railway crash that released toxic chemicals into the area. More than a week after the train derailed, representatives from local, state, and federal agencies met Wednesday night for an open house-style gathering to field questions. A crucial organization, Norfolk Southern, wasn’t present, according to officials, despite the event’s intention to provide residents with further information about the environmental impact of the train crash. Before the event, Norfolk Southern declared that no staff would be going because of safety reasons.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office will handle the case involving a TV journalist who the East Palestine Police Department arrested while he was documenting a railway wreck in East Palestine.
Columbiana County Prosecutor Vito Abruzzino confirmed on February 10th that Yost will be in charge of the investigation surrounding Evan Lambert’s arrest.
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The Abortion Fund of Ohio (AFO) launched the “Legal Access Program” on February 3rd that will undermine parental rights in Ohio. This program aims to help minors get abortions without parental consent in addition to provide free legal guidance, case management, and link patients with pro bono attorneys.
An unemancipated minor in Ohio under 18 years old may not obtain an abortion unless one of her parents or her guardian has given written consent or she obtains a court order known as a judicial bypass, in which case the judge authorizes the procedure. The Legal Access Program is Ohio’s first judicial bypass program.
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Democratic leaders in Cincinnati have proposed two new ordinances for City Councils consideration that aim to extend gun restrictions in the city.
These ordinances come after a Fairfield County judge denied a request from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to block firearm regulations recently enacted by the city of Columbus.
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U.S. Senator JD Vance (R-OH) in collaboration with Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Mike Braun (R-IN), and Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the PARTS Act on Monday, to prevent the thefts of catalytic converters by making the highly sought-after auto part traceable.
The PARTS Act, Preventing Auto Recycling Thefts, is a piece of bipartisan legislation that aims to reduce catalytic converter thefts by requiring new vehicles to have the VIN stamped onto the converter, allowing law enforcement officers to link stolen parts to the originating vehicles.
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A male stating he is a female has been charged with three counts of public indecency for using the women’s changing facilities at the Xenia YMCA. This comes just weeks after Green County prosecutor David Hayes requested an opinion from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost clarifying if Ohio civil rights law requires local governments to permit individuals to use public restrooms according to their stated gender identity rather than their biological sex.
Darren Glines was accused of three charges of public indecency at Xenia Municipal Court for instances that occurred in September, November, and a third time between November 2021 and 2022 and involved three young girls. The accusations are all misdemeanors in the fourth degree.
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Republicans swept the statewide positions, beginning with the governor, in the November general election. However, a probable Republican candidate for the upcoming 2026 election for governor has already been identified.
Former president of the conservative policy organization Buckeye Institute, Matt Mayer now serves as president of Opportunity Ohio. Due to the time and resources required to create that campaign, he has decided to launch an exploratory campaign for the Republican nomination for governor in 2026.
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Taking her ceremonial oath of office on Wednesday, Ohio’s new Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy promised “a new day” at the high court and could cast the deciding vote on crucial topics in the state like abortion and redistricting.
Kennedy, who becomes the second female justice to preside over the state’s highest court, said she didn’t initially picture the moment.
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Ohio’s plea for a preliminary injunction to stop the city of Columbus’ most recent gun control measures was denied by a court in Fairfield County. According to Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, the restrictions are now in place as of midnight on January 21st.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is suing a “home warranty” firm and its administrator due to misleading and unethical business tactics.
Since 2018, more than 1,200 consumers combined have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau and the Ohio Attorney General’s Office about Amazon Home Warranty, a Wyoming company based in New Jersey that uses a Columbus customer-service address, and Amazon Warranty Administrators, which lists a Dublin address but is not, as required by state law, registered with the Ohio Secretary of State’s Office.
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Republican State Senator Matt Dolan (R-Chagrin Falls) has announced he’s running for U.S. Senate against Ohio Democratic U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2024.
“I am unapologetically committed to putting the needs of Ohio first and delivering results as our next U.S. Senator. With the courage of my convictions, clarity of purpose, and a resolute focus on the challenges and opportunities facing our beloved state, I am ready to lead,” Dolan said in a statement.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s decision to briefly “retire” prior to taking the oath for a second term in the same position has renewed discussion among public officials over pension “double dipping.”
The practice of retiring in order to trigger the collection of a pension while simultaneously drawing a public paycheck is legal.
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In what the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is describing as one of their biggest arrests in years, authorities recovered eight pounds of methamphetamine from a Columbus apartment and detained two people.
DEA agents in collaboration with officers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol raided the Columbus apartment on Wednesday. Inside, more meth was discovered than the DEA had ever found in a single arrest in Central Ohio.
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Attorney General Dave Yost is requesting that the Ohio Supreme Court reinstates the heartbeat law as readily as possible, which blocks the majority of abortions once a fetal heartbeat is found.
In accordance with the 2019 Ohio law, doctors are not permitted to perform abortions once heart activity has been identified, or around six weeks into a pregnancy. The law went into effect the same day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24th, 2022.
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The Republican State Central and Executive Committee of Ohio passed a resolution during their January meeting to reject proposed changes to broaden the definition of sex-based harassment and discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation for LGBTQ students.
The committee resoundingly passed the resolution to “support parents, schools, and districts in rejecting harmful, coercive, and burdensome gender identity policies and to protect federal funding subject to Title IX.”
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Monday that all 88 county sheriffs in the state received new cameras to improve the routine registration procedure for convicted sexual offenders.
“Ohio’s sex offender registration system plays a critical role in holding convicted offenders accountable, and in the hands of our county sheriffs, these tools ensure that photographs are clear and uniform across the state. Our job is to support local law enforcement, and that’s exactly what we’re doing with this grant,” Yost said.
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Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced Wednesday, the completion of Charitable University, also known as CharitableU, is now mandatory for nonprofits who want to seek grant money from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office to promote organizations to be fraud-free this year.
According to Yost, CharitableU is a new training and accountability tool for Ohio charity organizations. The program ensures that they run their companies properly and prevent the squandering of crucial donations due to incompetence, carelessness, or fraud.
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In 2022 alone, the law enforcement task forces established under the Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission (OOCIC) seized illicit substances worth more than $64 million. Attorney General Dave Yost claims that eliminating Ohio’s drug trafficking industry will inevitably save lives.
Outside of narcotics, Ohio task forces also seized 437 firearms and $7.7 million in currency last year. With the 2022 figures, the total amount of contraband seized by the task force during Yost’s first term is $239.9 million in drugs, 1,374 guns, and $56 million in cash.
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Approximately 22,000 fentanyl pills and nearly 42 pounds of suspected fentanyl seized in a drug bust by the Central Ohio Major Drug Interdiction/HIDTA Task Force is proof we need a stronger southern border according to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
The task force, created under the state attorney general’s Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission and led by the Columbus Police division intercepted the smuggling of the illegal drugs this week.
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A Republican-supported bill to codify the Tenth Amendment Center in the Ohio Solicitor General’s Office heads to Governor Mike DeWine’s office for signature.
House Bill (HB) 506 sponsored by state Representatives Jeff LaRe (R-Violet Township) and Adam Bird (R-New Richmond) creates a Tenth Amendment center to “actively monitor federal executive orders, federal statutes, and federal regulations for potential abuse or overreach, including assertion of power inconsistent with the United States Constitution.”
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The General Assembly approved a Republican-backed bill aimed to require governmental evidence-retention entities to test rape kits when investigating human trafficking cases through the criminal justice reform package that passed last week.
House Bill (HB) 390 sponsored by state Representatives Marilyn John (R-Shelby) and Laura Lanese (R-Grove City) applies to the current state law for preserving and cataloging evidence of sexual assault examination (SAE) kits for victims and survivors of human trafficking.
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A judge in Fairfield County granted Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s request for a temporary restraining order temporarily stopping Columbus’ new restrictive gun laws from going into effect for 14 days.
Judge Richard Berens issued the ruling Thursday morning, immediately enjoining the ordinances.
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The Ohio Board of Education passed a resolution Tuesday that rejects proposed changes to broaden the definition of sex-based harassment and discrimination to include gender identity and sexual orientation for LGBTQ students.
In a 10-7 vote, board members passed the resolution to “support parents, schools, and districts in rejecting harmful, coercive, and burdensome gender identity policies and to protect federal funding subject to Title IX.”
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The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) elected Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost as president for the year 2023.
The association voted unanimously to elect Yost during the NAAG Capital Forum in Washington.
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Ohio has a court date for the first-of-its-kind lawsuit against Google.
Delaware County Common Pleas Court set May 14 as the date Attorney General Dave Yost begins his case against the internet search giant in an effort to have it declared a common carrier and subject to government regulation.
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A plan to change Ohio law to stop qualified immunity for local government workers hit a snag when a summary of the proposal was rejected by Attorney General Dave Yost.
Yost rejected the summary from a citizens group that wants a new constitutional amendment that would remove qualified immunity for employees of political subdivisions for injury, death or loss of person or property caused by an act or omission from a government employee during their job.
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Ohio lawmakers are working to pass a law that would help protect domestic violence survivors and make strangulation a felony in the state.
Senate Bill 90 introduced by co-sponsors State Senators Stephanie Kunze (R-Hilliard) and Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood), aims to prohibit impeding breathing or circulation of family members.
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The Ohio Supreme Court unanimously dismissed a case on if Governor Mike DeWine had the authority to cut off an extra $300 per week in federal unemployment benefits.
Justices dismissed the case as “moot.” Without a court order requiring the federal government to keep these additional unemployment benefits, it was unclear if the money still existed.
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Senate President Matt Huffman (R-Lima) said after feedback from medical professionals, Republicans in the Ohio Senate are working to clarify language on the six-week limits on abortion.
According to Huffman, they are working to clarify definitions regarding the health and life of the mother. The new limit known as the “heartbeat bill,” prohibits most abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which is at about six weeks of pregnancy.
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A complaint has been filed with the State Medical Board of Ohio over a patient who was reportedly denied proper health care while experiencing a miscarriage.
Medical professionals at an Ohio hospital had reportedly cited the state’s abortion laws for delaying health care. However, Ohio law does not prevent doctors from taking action when a patient’s life or health is at risk.
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Ohio voters will decide in November on a bail reform measure that could move the state toward cash bail and requires judges to consider public safety when setting bail provisions.
Attorney General Dave Yost praised the passage of House Joint Resolution 2 and Senate Joint Resolution 5 as issues that came in response to an Ohio Supreme Court decision upholding an appeals court ruling that public safety cannot be considered when determining bail.
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