National News
Ohio Habitual OVI Offense Database Error-Ridden
October 30, 2013 posted by Steve Brownstein
Ernest Kirk, of Ross County, doesn’t appear on a database created so the public can track habitually drunken drivers, despite facing his 11th operating a vehicle while under the influence charge after 10 convictions.
He’s not the only one. The registry doesn’t include Mark J. Welsh, a Licking County man serving five years for his ninth OVI, or Steven Cole, a Columbus man arrested last week on his eighth OVI.
The online registry of habitual OVI offenders was established by a 2008 law to inform the public about dangerous drivers — those convicted of at least five OVI offenses within 20 years. But in the five years since its inception, the database has become a clearinghouse of misinformation, according to a CentralOhio.com investigation.
Only 75 courts from 46 counties have submitted data to the habitual OVI offender registry in five years. The registry provided to CentralOhio.com includes 522 names, but 38 are duplicates and two individuals are listed three times.
Richland County Common Pleas Court clerks have submitted 13 names to the registry since 2008, and the most recent entry was in June. Shelby Municipal Court submitted one name in October 2009.
No Crawford County court has submitted data to the registry in five years.
Ohio law requires the state department of public safety to establish and maintain the registry, which includes individuals whose fifth or subsequent OVI conviction occurred after Sept. 30, 2008. A person with five OVI convictions before 2008 would not be listed on the registry.
Courts are responsible for submitting accurate information on specific forms to the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles within 30 days of offenders’ convictions, Ohio Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Lindsey Bohrer wrote in an email.
“Whatever the courts send us, that is what goes into the database,” Bohrer said.
Part of the confusion might stem from OVIs being handled in multiple courts.
Muskingum County Clerk of Courts Todd Bickle said he has not reported any names to the registry because previous convictions should have been reported by the lower courts, such as Muskingum County Court or Zanesville Municipal Court, which record less-serious offenses.
Three-fourths of Ohio’s common pleas court clerks did not report any OVI offenders to the registry. That includes Ross County Common Pleas Court, where Kirk was sentenced for his 10th OVI, and Licking County Common Pleas Court, where Welsh was sentenced for his eighth OVI.
Sen. Randy Gardner, R-Bowling Green, a co-sponsor on the bill that created the registry, said he needs a better understanding of why courts have not submitted information to the habitual OVI offender registry.
“If there’s a reason this isn’t being utilized, we need to make sure there’s some accountability,” Gardner said. Ohio law details no penalties if courts do not comply.
Even when information is submitted, it’s not always maintained accurately. Individuals with fewer than five convictions in the past 20 years must be removed from the registry, according to Ohio law.
However, a Knox County man is listed online with four offenses in the past 20 years, and a Richland County man is listed with six OVI offenses even though three were more than 20 years ago.
The database’s goal was to establish a statewide accountability and information system to help law enforcement and the public, Gardner said.
Law enforcement officers can check Bureau of Motor Vehicles and court records to determine a person’s history of impaired driving, said Rob Calesaric, co-chairman of the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers’ DUI committee. A database on the Department of Public Safety’s website simply wastes time and money, he said.
“That record has no value at all. I’m not so sure why it’s there,” Calesaric said.
