OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 56 Final Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 56’s Fiscal Note
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Plummer and White
Effective date: October 24, 2024
Effective date:
Margaret E. Marcy, Attorney CORRECTED VERSION*
SUMMARY
Fleeing law enforcement
▪ Increases the penalty for willfully eluding or fleeing a police officer using a motor vehicle
from a first degree misdemeanor to a fourth degree felony.
▪ Relatedly, increases the penalty from a fourth degree felony to a third degree felony if
the flight is immediately after the commission of a felony.
▪ Also relatedly, increases the possible prison term for circumstances when the flight:
 Was the proximate cause of serious physical harm to persons or property; or
 Caused a substantial risk of serious physical harm to persons or property.
Policy for pursuit
▪ Requires a law enforcement entity, when adopting a policy for pursuing criminal
offenders in a motor vehicle, to consider pursuit policy standards and best-practice
recommendations from the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board or a
similar accrediting entity and to train its peace officers on the policy.
Stunt driving and street takeover
▪ Prohibits any person from knowingly participating in stunt driving (i.e., burnouts,
doughnuts, drifting wheelies, or allowing passengers to ride partially or fully outside the
vehicle) on any public road, street, or highway, or private property open to the general
public.
* This version corrects the effective date.
August 2, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
▪ Prohibits a person from knowingly participating in a street takeover (i.e., blocking or
impeding the regular flow of vehicle or pedestrian traffic for the purpose of street racing
or stunt driving) on any public road, street, highway, or private property that is open to
the general public.
▪ Makes the two new criminal offenses a first degree misdemeanor, with a possible driver’s
license suspension of 30 days to three years, and requires the assessment of six points on
the offender’s driver's license.
▪ Specifies that anyone rendering assistance to stunt driving or street takeover must be
charged the same as the participants.
▪ Prohibits street racing on private property open to the public and applies the current law
penalties for street racing on public roads, streets, and highways to the offense.
▪ Exempts competitive operation of vehicles on public or private property from the above
prohibitions when either the political subdivision with jurisdiction of the location or the
owner of the property knowingly allows the operation of the vehicles at that location.
Vehicular homicide and assault
▪ Adds a utility vehicle and a mini-truck to the list of vehicles that can be used to commit a
vehicular homicide or assault offense.
▪ Corrects a reference pertaining to consecutive prison terms for certain license suspension
and OVI offenses committed in conjunction with involuntary manslaughter.
Third-party driver’s exam administrators
▪ Clarifies who may be a third-party administrator for the standard motor vehicle skills test,
which includes a clerk of the court of common pleas.
▪ Requires any fees collected by a clerk of the court of common pleas serving as a third-
party administrator to be deposited into the existing Certificate of Title Administration
Fund.
▪ Requires fees that have been so collected by clerks serving as third-party administrators
between April 12, 2021, and October 24, 2024 (the act’s effective date), be deposited into
that fund.
Indigent Defense Support Fund: funding restoration
▪ Restores a provision from prior law that allocated increased amounts of the
reinstatement fee associated with failure to maintain proof of financial responsibility to
the Indigent Defense Support Fund.
P a g e |2 H.B. 56
Final Analysis
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Fleeing law enforcement
The act increases the penalties for willfully eluding or fleeing a police officer using a motor
vehicle. Under prior law, the base offense was a first degree misdemeanor. The act increases the
base offense to a fourth degree felony. If the jury or judge (as trier of fact) finds beyond a
reasonable doubt that the flight was immediately after the commission of a felony, the act
increases the penalty from a fourth degree felony to a third degree felony. The act retains the
third degree felony designation for eluding or fleeing a police officer that either (1) was the
proximate cause of serious physical harm to persons or property, or (2) caused a substantial risk
of serious physical harm to persons or property. However, to differentiate flight after a felony
from flight that caused or risked serious physical harm, the act increases the possible prison term
for the latter offense.1
The implications of the act’s penalty increases are listed in the tables below.
Penalties for fleeing police officer with motor vehicle2
Prior law Under the act
Degree of offense 1st degree misdemeanor 4th degree felony
Financial sanctions Up to $1,000 Up to $5,000
Confinement Jail term: up to 180 days, served Prison term: between 6 to 18 months,
concurrently to any other jail or prison served consecutively to any other jail
term imposed or prison term imposed
Driver’s license Class 5 suspension (6 months to 3 Class 2 suspension (3 years to life)
suspension years)
1 R.C. 2921.331(C) and 2929.14(A)(3)(a).
2 R.C. 2921.331(C)(3) and 2929.14; R.C. 2929.18, 2929.24, 2929.28, and 4510.02, not in the act.
P a g e |3 H.B. 56
Final Analysis
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Penalties for fleeing police officer with motor vehicle after committing felony3
Prior law Under the act
Degree of offense 4th degree felony 3rd degree felony
Financial sanctions Up to $5,000 Up to $10,000
Confinement Prison term: between 6 to 18 months, Prison term: between 9 to 36 months,
served consecutively to any other jail served consecutively to any other jail
or prison term imposed or prison term imposed
Driver’s license Class 2 suspension (3 years to life) No change
suspension
Penalties for fleeing police officer with motor vehicle and either causing or risking serious physical
harm to persons or property4
Prior law Under the act
Degree of offense 3rd degree felony No change
Financial sanctions Up to $10,000 No change
Confinement Prison term: between 9 to 36 months, Prison term: between 12 to 60 months,
served consecutively to any other jail served consecutively to any other jail
or prison term imposed or prison term imposed
Driver’s license Class 2 suspension (3 years to life) No change
suspension
Policy for pursuit
The act alters the requirement that each law enforcement entity adopt a policy for the
pursuit of a motor vehicle. Specifically, it requires the policies to be written and expressly requires
officers to be trained on the policy. The act, in the same manner as in prior law, does not specify
details for what must be included in the policy. However, it does require a law enforcement entity
to consider pursuit policy standards and best-practice recommendations, as established by the
3 R.C. 2921.331(C)(4) and 2929.14; R.C. 2929.18 and 4510.02, not in the act.
4 R.C. 2921.331(C)(5) and 2929.14; R.C. 2929.18 and 4510.02, not in the act.
P a g e |4 H.B. 56
Final Analysis
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board or a similar law enforcement accrediting
entity.5
Street racing, stunt driving, and street takeover
The act creates two new offenses related to, but distinct from, street racing: specifically,
stunt driving and street takeover. First, it prohibits a person from knowingly participating in stunt
driving (i.e., performing burnouts, doughnuts, drifting, wheelies, or allowing a passenger to ride
either partially or fully outside of the vehicle) on any public road, street, or highway, or on private
property open to the general public. Second, it prohibits a person from knowingly participating
in street takeover (i.e., blocking or impeding the regular flow of vehicle or pedestrian traffic for
the purpose of street racing or stunt driving) in those same spaces. Anyone rendering assistance
to stunt driving or street takeover must be charged the same as the participants, consistent with
those rendering assistance to street racing under continuing law.6
Like the new offenses, continuing law prohibits street racing (i.e., operating two or more
vehicles from a point side-by-side at accelerating speeds in a competitive attempt to out-distance
each other or timing vehicles that start and end at the same point) on public roads, streets, or
highways. The act expands the prohibition to include private property open to the general
public.7
Penalties
The act applies the existing penalties for street racing on a public road, street, or highway
to stunt driving and street takeover and to street racing on private property open to the public.
Those penalties are a first degree misdemeanor, a 30-day to one three-year driver’s license
suspension, and six points assessed on the offender’s driver’s license.8
Exemption
The act exempts the competitive operation of vehicles on public or private property from
the prohibitions against street racing, stunt driving, or street takeover when either the political
subdivision with jurisdiction or the property owner knowingly allows such operation of the
vehicles at that location.9 Thus, an authorized vehicle race or monster truck rally at a county fair,
closed track, or city event would not be subject to the prohibitions. A similar exemption exists in
5 R.C. 2935.031. More information on the Ohio Collaborative Community-Police Advisory Board may be
found on the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services’ website at ocjs.ohio.gov.
6 R.C. 4511.251(A)(6) and (7), (B), and (D).
7 R.C. 4511.251(A)(1) and (B).
8 R.C. 4510.036 and 4511.251(C).
9 R.C. 4511.251(E).
P a g e |5 H.B. 56
Final Analysis
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
continuing law for reckless operation of a vehicle on public and private property that is not a
street or highway.10
Vehicular homicide and assault
The act expands the types of vehicles that can be used to commit a vehicular homicide or
assault offense to include a utility vehicle and a mini-truck. Previously, prohibitions against
committing vehicular homicide or assault only applied when the driver was operating a motor
vehicle, a motorcycle, a snowmobile, a locomotive, a watercraft, and an aircraft.11
A utility vehicle and a mini-truck are “vehicles” for purposes of most traffic laws because
they operate on wheels. However, because they are designed primarily for off-road use and are
not expected to meet the motor vehicle equipment requirements for operating on streets and
highways, they generally are only subject to laws pertaining to vehicles, and not to motor
vehicles.12
As the result of this nuance, the Ohio Supreme Court recently ruled that the operator of
a utility vehicle, who operated it while under the influence of alcohol and injured multiple people
after crashing, was not guilty of aggravated vehicular assault.13 The act directly responds to that
ruling by making the use of utility vehicles and mini-trucks subject to the vehicular homicide and
assault statutes.
Consecutive prison term correction
The act corrects a reference in the criminal sentencing law pertaining to consecutive
prison terms for certain offenses committed in conjunction with involuntary manslaughter.
Generally, an offender must serve a jail term or sentence of imprisonment imposed for a
misdemeanor violation of specified driver’s license suspension-related offenses (e.g., driving
while under a suspension) or OVI offenses consecutively to a prison term imposed for a felony
violation of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, OVI, or involuntary manslaughter involving the
operation of a motor vehicle. The act changes the “motor vehicle” reference to the broader
category of “vehicle,” thus, making the sentencing requirements for involuntary manslaughter
consistent with the involuntary manslaughter statute, which already encompasses all vehicles,
not just motor vehicles.14
10 R.C. 4511.201, not in the act.
11 R.C. 2903.06 and 2903.08.
12 A “vehicle” means everything on wheels or runners, with a few exceptions. A “motor vehicle” means
any vehicle that is propelled or drawn by power other than muscular power or power collected from
overhead electric trolley wires, with certain exceptions that expressly exclude a utility vehicle and a mini-
truck from the meaning of motor vehicle. R.C. 4501.01(A) and (B), not in the act.
13 State v. Fork. 2024-Ohio-1016.
14 R.C. 2929.41(B)(3).
P a g e |6 H.B. 56
Final Analysis
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Third-party driver’s exam administrators
Under Ohio law, the Director of Public Safety may authorize a third party to administer
the standard motor vehicle skills test, which is required for all first-time drivers to obtain an Ohio
driver’s license. Previously, that law did not specify or limit who may serve as a third-party
administrator. The act does not change the Department of Public Safety’s ongoing practice, but
clarifies that any person, any state agency, or any agency, department, or instrumentality of local
government, including a clerk of the court of common pleas, may serve as a third-party
administrator, if approved by the Director.15 Those entities are also expressly eligible to be third-
party administrators for the commercial driver’s license skills test under laws unchanged by the
act.16
Several common pleas clerks already serve as third-party administrators for the motor
vehicle skills test. However, it was unclear where the fees they collected from the skills tests
should be deposited. The act clarifies the issue by requiring the clerks to deposit the fees into the
existing Certificate of Title Administration Fund. That fund is used to pay:
1. The clerk’s costs for processing watercraft and vehicle titles; and
2. The clerk an annual $8,000 supplement for performing the duties of a deputy registrar, if
applicable.
Any excess funds are transferred to the county general fund.17 The act requires that all
fees collected since April 12, 2021, and October 24, 2024 (the act’s effective date), by a clerk
serving as a third party administrator, be deposited into the Certificate of Title Administration
Fund.18
Indigent Defense Support Fund: funding restoration
The act restores a provision from prior law that allocated increased amounts of the
reinstatement fee associated with failure to maintain proof of financial responsibility (i.e., auto
insurance) to the Indigent Defense Support Fund (IDSF). Specifically, it allocates $50 of each $300
reinstatement fee (for a second offense within five years), and $100 of each $600 reinstatement
fee (for a third or subsequent offense within five years) to the IDSF.19
In H.B. 33 of the 135th General Assembly, the General Assembly in 2023 lowered the
reinstatement fee