OHIO – Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced today that additional funding is now available to help law enforcement agencies extradite violent suspects arrested on outstanding warrants.
A total of $200,000 is now available as part of the third round of the Ohio Prisoner Extradition Reimbursement Program. The program, which is available for local law enforcement agencies that have limited funds or personnel, will reimburse the cost of extraditing suspects on warrants for Tier 1 offenses who have been arrested in another state or jurisdiction.
The Ohio Prisoner Extradition Reimbursement Program was developed after a study by Governor DeWine’s Warrant Task Force found that some local law enforcement agencies did not enter all felony warrants into state and federal warrant databases due to a lack of resources to extradite offenders arrested in another county or state.
“Since launching this program in early 2020, we’ve reimbursed local authorities for the cost to return more than 70 offenders to answer for charges including rape, felonious assault, aggravated murder, and aggravated vehicular homicide,” said Governor DeWine. “Not only is this important for public safety, but it’s a matter of officer safety as well. When warrants aren’t entered into the appropriate law enforcement databases, officers don’t know who they’re dealing with when they conduct a traffic stop or answer a call.”
Law enforcement agencies can use the grants to pay for mileage, personnel, and other travel expenses associated with transporting offenders from another state or another Ohio jurisdiction. The grant program is funded in the state’s 2022-2023 operating budget that the Ohio General Assembly passed in June.
Law enforcement agencies must submit qualified extradition applications to the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services no later than June 8, 2022, by completing a form in OCJS’ online grants management system. Law enforcement agencies with an active ocjsgrants.com account can find the form in the My Solicitations section.
