(A) The department of rehabilitation and correction or the adult parole authority may require or allow a parolee, a releasee, or a prisoner otherwise released from a state correctional institution to reside in a halfway house or other suitable community residential center that has been licensed by the division of parole and community services pursuant to division (C) of this section during a part or for the entire period of the offender's or parolee's conditional release or of the releasee's term of post-release control. The court of common pleas that placed an offender under a sanction consisting of a term in a halfway house or in an alternative residential sanction may require the offender to reside in a halfway house or other suitable community residential center that is designated by the court and that has been licensed by the division pursuant to division (C) of this section during a part or for the entire period of the offender's residential sanction.

(B) The division of parole and community services may negotiate and enter into agreements with any public or private agency or a department or political subdivision of the state that operates a halfway house, reentry center, or community residential center that has been licensed by the division pursuant to division (C) of this section. An agreement under this division shall provide for the purchase of beds, shall set limits of supervision and levels of occupancy, and shall determine the scope of services for all eligible offenders, including those subject to a residential sanction, as defined in rules adopted by the director of rehabilitation and correction in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, or those released from prison without supervision. The payments for beds and services shall not exceed the total operating costs of the halfway house, reentry center, or community residential center during the term of an agreement. The director of rehabilitation and correction shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code for determining includable and excludable costs and income to be used in computing the agency's average daily per capita costs with its facility at full occupancy.

The director of rehabilitation and correction shall adopt rules providing for the use of no more than fifteen per cent of the amount appropriated to the department each fiscal year for the halfway house, reentry center, and community residential center program to pay for contracts with licensed halfway houses for nonresidential services for offenders under the supervision of the adult parole authority, including but not limited to, offenders supervised pursuant to an agreement entered into by the adult parole authority and a court of common pleas under section 2301.32 of the Revised Code. The nonresidential services may include, but are not limited to, treatment for substance abuse, mental health counseling, counseling for sex offenders, electronic monitoring services, aftercare, and other nonresidential services that the director identifies by rule.

(C) The division of parole and community services may license a halfway house, reentry center, or community residential center as a suitable facility for the care and treatment of adult offenders, including offenders sentenced under section 2929.16 or 2929.26 of the Revised Code, only if the halfway house, reentry center, or community residential center complies with the standards that the division adopts in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code for the licensure of halfway houses, reentry centers, and community residential centers. The division shall annually inspect each licensed halfway house, licensed reentry center, and licensed community residential center to determine if it is in compliance with the licensure standards.

(D) The division of parole and community services may expend up to one-half per cent of the annual appropriation made for halfway house programs, for goods or services that benefit those programs.

Amended by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 64, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2015.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.127, HB 487, §101.01, eff. 9/10/2012.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.29, HB 86, §1, eff. 9/30/2011.

Effective Date: 12-23-2003 .