As Introduced
136th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 36
2025-2026
Representatives Stewart, Plummer
Cosponsors: Representatives Click, King, Hiner, Fowler Arthur, Newman, Young,
Mathews, T., Bird, Barhorst, Miller, K.
A B I L L
To amend sections 2921.24, 2949.22, 2949.221, and
2949.25 of the Revised Code to add nitrogen
hypoxia as a method of execution and to prohibit
the disclosure of execution identifying
information.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 2921.24, 2949.22, 2949.221, and
2949.25 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 2921.24. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Correctional employee" and "youth services employee"
have the same meanings as in section 149.43 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Execution identifying information" has the same
meaning as in section 2949.221 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Peace officer" has the same meaning as in section
2935.01 of the Revised Code.
(B) No officer or employee of a law enforcement agency or
court, or of the office of the clerk of any court, shall
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disclose during the pendency of any criminal case the home
address of any peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting
attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee,
or youth services employee who is a witness or arresting officer
in the case.
(B)(C) Except as required by division (B)(4) of section
2949.221 or section 2949.222 of the Revised Code, no person
shall recklessly disclose execution identifying information.
(D) Division (A) (B) of this section does not prohibit a
peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant
prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, or youth services
employee from disclosing the peace officer's, parole officer's,
prosecuting attorney's, assistant prosecuting attorney's,
correctional employee's, or youth services employee's own home
address, and does not apply to any person who discloses the home
address of a peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting
attorney, assistant prosecuting attorney, correctional employee,
or youth services employee pursuant to a court-ordered
disclosure under division (C) (E) of this section.
(C) (E) The court in which any criminal case is pending
may order the disclosure of the home address of any peace
officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant
prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, or youth services
employee who is a witness or arresting officer in the case, if
the court determines after a written request for the disclosure
that good cause exists for disclosing the home address of the
peace officer, parole officer, prosecuting attorney, assistant
prosecuting attorney, correctional employee, or youth services
employee.
(D) (F) Whoever violates division (A) of this section is
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guilty of disclosure of confidential information, a misdemeanor
of the fourth degree.
(E) As used in this section:
(1) "Peace officer" has the same meaning as in section
2935.01 of the Revised Code.
(2) "Correctional employee" and "youth services employee"
have the same meanings as in section 149.43 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 2949.22. (A) Except as provided in division (C)
divisions (B), (C), and (E) of this section, a death sentence
shall be executed by causing the application to the person, upon
whom the sentence was imposed, of a lethal injection of a drug
or combination of drugs of sufficient dosage to quickly and
painlessly cause death. The application of the drug or
combination of drugs shall be continued until the person is
dead. The warden of the correctional institution in which the
sentence is to be executed or another person selected by the
director of rehabilitation and correction shall ensure that the
death sentence is executed.
(B) Except as provided in division (E) of this section, a
person upon whom a death sentence was imposed may elect to have
the death sentence executed by lethal injection or by nitrogen
hypoxia. The choice shall be made in writing and shall be
submitted to the director of rehabilitation and correction one
week prior to the day designated in division (D) of this
section. If a person timely elects nitrogen hypoxia, the death
sentence shall be executed by causing the application to the
person, upon whom the sentence of death was imposed, of a lethal
quantity of nitrogen gas of sufficient dosage to quickly cause
death. The application of the nitrogen gas shall be continued
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until the person is dead. The warden of the correctional
institution in which the sentence is to be executed or another
person selected by the director of rehabilitation and correction
shall ensure that the death sentence is executed.
(C)(1) Except as provided in division (C)(2) of this
section, if a person does not timely elect nitrogen hypoxia,
does not elect either nitrogen hypoxia or lethal injection, or
elects lethal injection, the death penalty shall be executed by
lethal injection pursuant to division (A) of this section.
(2) If, at the time a death sentence is to be executed,
the death sentence cannot be executed by lethal injection, the
death sentence shall be executed by nitrogen hypoxia, as if the
person upon whom the death sentence was imposed had elected
nitrogen hypoxia under division (B) of this section.
(D) A death sentence shall be executed within the walls of
the state correctional institution designated by the director of
rehabilitation and correction as the location for executions,
within an enclosure to be prepared for that purpose, under the
direction of the warden of the institution or, in the warden's
absence, a deputy warden, and on the day designated by the judge
passing sentence or otherwise designated by a court in the
course of any appellate or postconviction proceedings. The
enclosure shall exclude public view.
(C) (E) If a person is sentenced to death, and if the
execution of a death sentence by lethal injection or nitrogen
hypoxia has been determined to be unconstitutional by the Ohio
supreme court under the Ohio constitution , the death sentence or
has been determined to be unconstitutional by the United States
supreme court under the United States constitution, or if the
United States supreme court declines to review any judgment
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holding a method of execution to be unconstitutional under the
United States constitution made by the Ohio supreme court or the
United States court of appeals that has jurisdiction over Ohio,
then all persons sentenced to death shall be executed by using
any different manner of execution prescribed by law subsequent
to the effective date of this amendment instead of by causing
the application to the person of a lethal injection of a drug or
combination of drugs of sufficient dosage to quickly and
painlessly cause death, provided that the subsequently
prescribed different manner of execution has not been determined
to be unconstitutional. The use of the subsequently prescribed
different manner of execution shall be continued until the
person is dead. The warden of the state correctional institution
in which the sentence is to be executed or another person
selected by the director of rehabilitation and correction shall
ensure that the sentence of death is executed.
(D) No change in the law made by the amendment to this
section that took effect on October 1, 1993, or by this
amendment constitutes a declaration by or belief of the general
assembly that execution of a death sentence by electrocution is
a cruel and unusual punishment proscribed by (F) No sentence of
death shall be reduced as a result of a determination that a
method of execution is declared unconstitutional under the Ohio
Constitution or the United States Constitution. In any case in
which an execution method is declared unconstitutional, the
death sentence remains in force until the sentence can be
lawfully executed by any valid method of execution.
Sec. 2949.221. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Person" has the same meaning as in section 1.59 of
the Revised Code.
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(2) "Licensing authority" means an entity, board,
department, commission, association, or agency that issues a
license to a person or entity.
(3) "Public office" has the same meaning as in section
117.01 of the Revised Code.
(4) "Execution identifying information" means any record
or information that directly or indirectly reveals a name,
residential or business address, residential or business
telephone number, day and month of birth, social security
number, or professional qualifications of:
(a) Any person who participates in or administers the
execution of a death sentence;
(b) Any person that manufactures, compounds, imports,
transports, distributes, prescribes, prepares, administers, or
otherwise supplies any drugs or combination of drugs, active
pharmaceutical ingredients, gas, or other material used in the
execution of a death sentence, or any equipment used to
administer any drugs or combination of drugs, active
pharmaceutical ingredients, gas, or other material to any person
during the execution of a death sentence.
(B) If, at any time prior to the day that is twenty-four
months after the effective date of this section, a person
manufactures, compounds, imports, transports, distributes,
supplies, prescribes, prepares, administers, uses, or tests any
of the compounding equipment or components, the active
pharmaceutical ingredients, the drugs or combination of drugs,
the medical supplies, or the medical equipment used in the
application of a lethal injection of a drug or combination of
drugs in the administration of a death sentence by lethal
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injection as provided for in division (A) of section 2949.22 of
the Revised Code, notwithstanding Notwithstanding any provision
of law to the contrary, all of the following apply regarding any
information or record in the possession of any public office
that identifies or reasonably leads to the identification of the
person and the person's participation in any activity described
in this divisioncontains execution identifying information :
(1) The information or record shall be classified as
confidential, is privileged under law, and is not subject to
disclosure by any person, state agency, governmental entity,
board, or commission or any political subdivision as a public
record under section 149.43 of the Revised Code or otherwise.
(2) The information or record shall not be subject to
disclosure by or during any judicial proceeding, inquiry, or
process, except as described in division (B)(4) of this section
or in section 2949.222 of the Revised Code.
(3) The information or record shall not be subject to
discovery, subpoena, or any other means of legal compulsion for
disclosure to any person or entity, except as described in
division (B)(4) of this section or in section 2949.222 of the
Revised Code.
(4)(a) If the information or record pertains to the
manufacture, compounding, importing, transportation,
distribution, or supplying of any of the items or materials
described in division (B) of this section, the person or entity
that maintains the information or record shall disclose the
information or record to the Ohio ethics commission and the
commission may use the information or record, subject to
division (B)(1) of this section, only to confirm the following:
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(i) That the relationship between the person and the
department of rehabilitation and correction is consistent with
and complies with the ethics laws of this state;
(ii) That at the time of the specified conduct, the person
has all licenses required under the laws of this state to engage
in that conduct and the licenses are valid.
(b) If the Ohio ethics commission receives any information
or record pursuant to division (B)(4)(a) of this section, the
commission shall complete its use of the information or record
for the purposes described in that division within fourteen days
of its receipt and shall promptly report its findings to the
director of rehabilitation and correction.
(C)(1) If, at any time prior to the day that is twenty-
four months after the effective date of this section, an
employee or former employee of the department of rehabilitation
and correction or any other individual selected or designated by
the director of the department participates or participated in
the administration of a sentence of death by lethal injection ,
as provided for in division (A) of section 2949.22 of the
Revised Code, subject to division (C)(2) of this section and
notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the
protections and limitations specified in divisions (B)(1), (2),
and (3) of this section shall apply regarding any information or
record in the possession of any public office that identifies or
reasonably leads to the identification of the employee, former
employee, or other individual and the employee's, former
employee's, or individual's participation in the administration
of the sentence of death by lethal injection described in this
division.
(2) Division (C)(1) of this section does not apply with
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respect to information or a record that identifies or reasonably
leads to the identification of the director of rehabilitation
and correction or the warden of the state correctional
institution in which the administration of the sentence of death
takes place.
(D) The protections and limitations specified in divisions
(B)(1), (2), and (3) of this section regarding information and
records that identify or may reasonably lead to the
identification of a person described in divisions division (B)
or (C) of this section and the person's participation in any
activity described in the particular division are rights that
shall be recognized as follows:
(1) With respect to a person that is an individual,
without any requirement for the person to take any action or
specifically apply for recognition of such rights .;
(2) With respect to a person that is not an individual,
the rights do not exist unless the person requests to have the
rights recognized by applying in writing to the director of
rehabilitation and correction.
The director of rehabilitation and correction by rule
shall establish the procedure according to which a person who is
not an individual may apply in writing for the rights described
in divisions (B)(1), (2), and (3) of this section. The director
shall approve an application that is submitted in compliance
with the rules. A person whose application is approved is
entitled to the rights for twenty years after the person ceases
the qualifying activity as contemplated by the first paragraph
of division (B) of this section. The director shall notify any
person, who is not an individual and who is entitled to the
rights, of the application procedures.
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(E) If a person or entity that , at any time prior to the
day that is twenty-four months after the effective date of this
section, participates in, consults regarding, performs any
function with respect to, including any activity described in
division (B) of this section, or provides any expert opinion
testimony regarding an execution by lethal injection conducted
in accordance with division (A) of section 2949.22 of the
Revised Code is licensed by a licensing authority,
notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the
licensing authority shall not do any of the following as a
result of that participation, consultation, performance,
activity, or testimony by the person or entity:
(1) Challenge, reprimand, suspend, or revoke the person's
or entity's license;
(2) Take any disciplinary action against the person or
entity or the person's or entity's licensure.
(F) A person may not, without the approval of the director
of rehabilitation and correction, knowingly disclose the
identity and participation in an activity described in the
particular division of any person to whom division (B) of this
section applies and that is made confidential, privileged, and
not subject to disclosure under that division or of an employee,
former employee, or other individual to whom division (C)(1) of
this section applies and that is made confidential, privileged,
and not subject to disclosure under that division. Any person,
employee, former employee, or individual whose identity and
participation in a specified activity is disclosed in violation
of this division has a civil cause of action against any person
who discloses the identity and participation in the activity in
violation of this division. In a civil action brought under this
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division, the plaintiff is entitled to recover from the
defendant actual damages, punitive or exemplary damages upon a
showing of a willful violation of this division, and reasonable
attorney's fees and court costs.
(G) If division (B), (C), or (D) of this section applies
to a person with respect to any conduct or activity of the
person occurring at a time prior to the day that is twenty-four
months after the effective date of this section, the expiration
of that twenty-four-month period does not affect, add to, or
diminish the protections and limitations specified in division
(B) or (C), division (D), and division (E) of this section with
respect to their application to that person.
Sec. 2949.25. (A) At the execution of a death sentence,
only the following persons may be present:
(1) The warden of the state correctional institution in
which the sentence is executed or a deputy warden, any other
person selected by the director of rehabilitation and correction
to ensure that the death sentence is executed, any persons
necessary to execute the death sentence by lethal injection or
nitrogen hypoxia, and the number of correction officers that the
warden thinks necessary;
(2) The sheriff of the county in which the prisoner was
tried and convicted;
(3) The director of rehabilitation and correction, or the
director's agent;
(4) Physicians of the state correctional institution in
which the sentence is executed;
(5) The clergyperson in attendance upon the prisoner, and
not more than three other persons, to be designated by the
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prisoner, who are not confined in any state institution;
(6) Not more than three persons to be designated by the
immediate family of the victim;
(7) Representatives of the news media as authorized by the
director of rehabilitation and correction.
(B) The director shall authorize at least one
representative of a newspaper, at least one representative of a
television station, and at least one representative of a radio
station to be present at the execution of the sentence under
division (A)(7) of this section.
Section 2. That existing sections 2921.24, 2949.22,
2949.221, and 2949.25 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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