Tagged: Attorney General Mike DeWine

A new report says Ohio should reduce the number of times a child enters and exits the foster care system and give foster parents more input into court proceedings involving the children in their care.

The Ohio Foster Care Advisory Group also recommends improving the system governing court-appointed lawyers who look out for foster children's interests.

Attorney General Mike DeWine said Monday some of the changes will involve action by the Ohio Supreme Court and others need new legislation.

An annual report that looks at Ohio's capital punishment system says 128 inmates sentenced to death over the past three decades have avoided their sentence through court action, commutations or dying of natural causes.

The report by Attorney General Mike DeWine says the state sentenced a total of 316 inmates to death from 1981, when Ohio's current death penalty law was enacted, through 2012.

Eighteen inmates have been spared by Ohio governors, 24 died in prison and eight were found ineligible for execution because they are mentally disabled.

Ohio's attorney general says he'll provide grant money for new regional sexual assault coordinators to oversee direct and comprehensive services for victims of sexual assault.

Attorney General Mike DeWine said Wednesday a recently completed survey found that 52 of Ohio's 88 counties do not offer such services. The attorney general says it is crucial that adequate services are available to anyone who has been sexually assaulted.

The five year, $1.5 million project focuses in its first year on expanding services to Crawford, Meigs, Perry and Wyandot counties.