In the wake of the death of a Clark County Sheriff’s deputy, Suzanne Hopper, who was killed in 2011 by a man with a criminal history who had been conditionally released from a mental health institution, the Ohio Supreme Court adopted Rule 95 and Form 95 to the Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio.

Effective January 1, 2014, the Rule was approved after a change in Ohio law, known as the Deputy Suzanne Hopper Act, which requires judges to report to law enforcement if they order a mental-health evaluation or treatment of a person convicted of an offense of violence or if they approve conditional release from a mental health institution for a person found incompetent to stand trial or not guilty by reason of insanity.

With the submission by the judge of Form 95 to law enforcement, the date will be entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIS) Supervised Release file kept by the FBI. It is hoped this will help prevent such tragic events as befell Deputy Hopper in the future. Lawyers should be aware that this reporting form is in place.