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Bill Would Allow Attorney General To Prosecute Those Who Damage State Buildings

The Statehouse News Bureau | By Jo Ingles,
Jo Ingles
Published July 8, 2020 at 5:23 PM EDT
Red paint used by protestors in a demonstration against police brutality in June took several days to remove.
Karen Kasler
Red paint used by protestors in a demonstration against police brutality in June took several days to remove.

Recent vandalism to the Ohio Statehouse and other high- profile government buildings has prompted an outcry from some of the state’s top leaders. Now, Ohio lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow the Ohio Attorney General to go after those who damage public buildings.

Republican Rep. Jeff LaRe (R-Canal Winchester) says prosecutors ended up dismissing about 60 charges against people accused of damaging the Statehouse and Ohio Supreme Court buildings. So, his bill would allow the AG to handle those situations.

“Hopefully having the attorney general with that authority, we will put a stop to this because essentially not prosecuting these crimes is like endorsing that behavior," 

LaRe says taxpayers should not be footing the bill to repair these state buildings. In the Statehouse alone, 28 windows were broken, totaling almost $159,000.

Copyright 2020 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.

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Government & Politics Columbus protestersvandalismOhio StatehouseFrom WKSU
Jo Ingles
Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.
See stories by Jo Ingles
Jo Ingles
Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment.
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