CHILLICOTHE — More than a year after the fatal inmate assault on a Ross Correctional Institution officer, a new law has been passed through the House of Representatives, 82-3, and now awaits the Senate’s approval after its first hearing on March 25.
The bill is named in honor of Andrew Lansing, a corrections officer at Ross Correctional Institution who was killed by an inmate on Christmas Day, 2024.
According to State Representative Mark Johnson, “Andy’s Law” was introduced on June 5, 2025, and is intended to protect those serving in Ohio prisons by “restoring order, accountability and deterrence through a series of sweeping reforms.”
Darren Price, chairperson of the Andy’s Law Coalition, said the drug use in prisons is skyrocketing, and that is why the bill will mandate a permanent K-9 presence at all high-security facilities to discourage individuals who attempt to bring in drugs and contraband into Ohio prisons.
“In 2025, there were 22,790 instances of inmates being intoxicated, which means they were high on drugs to the point that they had to seek medical attention,” Price said. “From our conversation with correctional staff, that number is low. That’s what’s just reported.”
The bill will include provisions such as a mandatory sentence of life without parole if an inmate murders a Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections or a Department of Youth Services employee and creates a mandatory, seven-year sentence if an inmate commits a felonious assault against an employee.
“Staff continues to be assaulted, so under Andy’s Law, it protects the officers and their overall safety by increasing penalties for those who are violent offenders,” Price said.
According to Johnson, when Andrew Lansing was killed, his wife was told she was losing her insurance just a few short days after his death. The survivor benefits will require the State of Ohio to provide medical, dental, and vision insurance at no cost to the surviving spouse and dependents if their correctional staff member was killed in the line of duty.
“Other operational security reform would make it so there will be no-contact visiting for level three and four inmates,” Price said. “That’s where the majority of the drugs are coming in, through those contact visits.”
Price said those on level three or four will no longer have access to higher education if this bill is passed. This would mean that those at higher levels would still have access to GED programs and vocational training, but would have to work to lower their security level to access anything more.
“Treating this as an incentive that incentivizes rehabilitation and good behavior, versus an entitlement,” Price said.
In the end, Price said this bill is in remembrance of Lansing and the person he was.
“We need to make sure Andy Lansing did not die in vain,” Price said.
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: What’s next for the Andy’s Law bill?
Reporting by Destiny Torres, Chillicothe Gazette / Chillicothe Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
