Interested party urges adding parks and playgrounds to residency protections in HB168

During the hearing on House Bill 168, interested party Angie Hall urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to adopt Amendment 136‑0786 to explicitly include public parks and playgrounds in statutory residency and loitering restrictions for registered sex offenders.

Hall said the current Ohio Revised Code exclusion left parks and playgrounds out of the prohibited places and described the omission as a serious failure that allows predators to live unnoticed within close proximity to public spaces children use. She requested that HB168 be used as the vehicle to include the parks/playground prohibition and said the amendment was drafted by the legislative service commission and grandfathered current occupants in place.

Committee members had no questions and the testimony was made part of the record; HB168 was recorded as standing as the third hearing for the bill.