Ohio Statehouse

The Ohio Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would eliminate mandatory license suspension for drug offenses.

(The Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Ohio Senate on Tuesday advanced a bill that would eliminate mandatory driver's license suspensions for minor drug offenses.

Instead, judges would be allowed to suspend driver's license on a case-by-case basis for no more than five years. License suspension would still be mandatory for offenses while driving under the influence of drugs.

The Ohio Senate unanimously approved Senate Bill 204 on Tuesday. Bill sponsor Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican, said mandatory license suspension unnecessarily keeps people from being able to drive to work or take their kids to school. Seitz said 150,000 Ohioans currently have their licenses suspended for something that had nothing to do with driving.

Seitz said the change has been in the works for years, but couldn't take place because until lawmakers formally objected to a 1990s federal law. That happened in the form of a 2014 resolution.

"We're not doing anything radical -- we're kind of catching up to the crowd," Seitz said.

Ohio decriminalized marijuana in the 1970s; possessing less than 100 grams is a minor misdemeanor that carries no jail time and does not create a criminal record. But, per state law, any drug conviction carries a mandatory driver's license suspension for at least six months.

Under home rule authority, many Ohio cities and townships have eliminated or reduced the driver's license suspension.

No one publicly opposed the bill, and it now goes to the House for consideration. If passed, Ohioans who have had their license suspended under the mandatory rule could petition the court to have the suspension lifted.