H.B. 500 Summary

• Eliminates mandatory bindover provisions that automatically transferred certain juveniles to criminal court, replacing them with discretionary transfer requiring judicial review of factors like victim harm, child's maturity, and amenability to rehabilitation.

• Repeals the "reverse bindover" process that allowed cases to be sent back to juvenile court, with limited exceptions for cases involving murder or attempts to commit murder.

• Establishes discretionary serious youthful offender (SYO) dispositions that require prosecuting attorney initiation and allow juvenile courts to impose both juvenile and adult sentences with the adult portion stayed pending successful completion of juvenile disposition.

• Modifies transfer procedures to require comprehensive investigations into the child's background and amenability to rehabilitation, with specific criteria courts must consider before transferring cases to criminal prosecution.

• Repeals former section 2152.121 and makes conforming amendments to multiple Ohio Revised Code sections governing juvenile delinquency proceedings, criminal identification records, and appellate jurisdiction.