COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio House passed the remaining parts of the Reagan Tokes Act Wednesday, signaling a victory for many, including Tokes' family.
"To have forward movement and traction on these dates, which are already very difficult dates and time frame. It gives me hope that we will have success," Lisa McCrary-Tokes said.
"In northwest Ohio, there's been a lot of conversation about how will this bill continue to progress, and I think it's a bit poetic here on the five-year anniversary of this tragedy that we are coming together to vote on this bill," state Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg, said before the bill passed 92-1.
For the last five years, legislators and the Tokes family have been fighting to improve the tracking of criminal offenders on parole. Tokes' killer, Brian Golsby, was a recently-released offender who was assigned an ankle monitor.
The additions to the bill would strengthen the monitoring of ex-prisoners. The bill would also reduce the number of cases a parole officer deals with.
"Obviously, there is a shortage of [parole] personnel. The fact that the law can require this, how you put it into effect, is the big question," Lucas County Commissioner Gary Byers said.
Byers believes parts of the Reagan Tokes Act can be an effective tool in the tracking of released offenders.
"It's passed through the House, next it goes on to the Senate. They'll have refinements as well," Byers said. "Hopefully, they'll be able to accomplish smaller caseloads for parole officers, so that they can do their job with individuals more effectively."
Tokes' mother says now is the time to act, to make sure what happened to Reagan doesn't happen to others.
"The fact that we made forward progress yesterday and today, I want to springboard off of that and get this over the finish line," McCrary-Tokes said.