House Bill 487 would create a repeat-offender specification for felony drug trafficking. It could apply when a person is convicted of trafficking after at least two prior convictions for the same crime, covering marijuana, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl-related compounds.
The specification would affect both the underlying sentence and the added penalty. If prosecutors include it and prove it, a judge would have to impose the maximum sentence for the trafficking offense, then add a mandatory term of one to 10 years; the judge could set the length of that additional term but could not waive it, according to Cleveland.com. A third-degree felony generally carries nine to 36 months in prison under current law, so a qualifying offender convicted of that level of offense could receive three years, followed by another one to 10 years.
Why Supporters Say the Bill Is Needed
Republican Reps. Josh Williams, of Sylvania, and Phil Plummer, of Dayton, are sponsoring the bill. Plummer, a former Montgomery County sheriff, has described it as a response to Ohio's long-running overdose crisis. Williams has argued that habitual dealers may consider short prison stays an acceptable cost of doing business. Supporters more broadly say the state has focused heavily on addiction treatment while being too lenient toward suppliers; the bill would not increase penalties for drug possession itself.
What Ohio's Overdose Data Show
Ohio Department of Health data provide context for the bill's focus on fentanyl: illicit fentanyl or fentanyl analogs were involved in 78% of the state's 2023 unintentional drug overdose deaths, often alongside other drugs, according to the Ohio Department of Health's 2023 Ohio Unintentional Drug Overdose Report.
Louis Tobin, who represents the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, has argued that drug traffickers are responsible for thousands of deaths across Ohio each year and that the illegal drug trade fuels violence, organized crime and gun crime. He has called for greater emphasis on reducing drug supply and compared Ohio's approach to repeat trafficking with policies in Michigan, Indiana and Pennsylvania.
Concerns About Scope and Sentencing Discretion
Opponents say the proposal could impose lengthy terms on low-level offenders, give prosecutors too much influence over sentences and add pressure to Ohio's prison system. The Ohio Public Defender's Office argued that the specification would shift sentencing discretion from judges to prosecutors. It also offered the example of two fifth-degree felony trafficking convictions from 30 years earlier that could still count, and warned that someone who occasionally sold drugs to support an addiction could receive the same designation as a large-scale dealer because the bill does not distinguish prior trafficking felonies by severity.
Gary Daniels, who represents the ACLU, said lawmakers do not know how many current trafficking cases would qualify or how much longer defendants would serve under the bill. He warned that longer sentences could worsen staffing, capacity and financial pressures in Ohio's prisons. Opponents also note that the bill sets no cutoff for how old a prior conviction can be.
Potential Costs and Existing Penalties
Ohio prisons received 14,289 committed people in fiscal year 2025, including more than 1,200 whose commitments were for drug-trafficking convictions. The Legislative Service Commission estimated the marginal cost of each additional mandatory year under the bill at roughly $4,900. On that estimate, a full 10-year enhancement would cost up to $49,000 per person; the overall taxpayer cost of the bill's longer sentences remains unknown.
The proposal would add another sentencing mechanism to existing laws. Ohio's repeat violent offender specification allows a maximum sentence plus up to 10 additional years in qualifying cases, while a major drug offender provision applies to cases involving large quantities of drugs. Qualifying fentanyl cases under that provision already carry an additional mandatory three to eight years.
Committee Amendment Would Make Penalties Add Up
The House Judiciary Committee voted 6-2 in favor of an amendment requiring the new repeat-offender term to be added to other mandatory sentences rather than overlap with them. Williams has said that allowing the terms to run concurrently would undermine the purpose of the additional penalty, according to the same report.
