Bill would tighten rein on ex-offenders
Like everyone who learned of Ohio State University student Reagan Tokes’ murder a year ago this week, I was heartbroken. My thoughts went to her parents and the sorrow surrounding them. But my perspective was more than just one mother praying for another. The killer was being housed in a unit managed by the faith-based nonprofit organization I founded.
We call it the EXIT Program: Ex-offenders In Transition. I started it so homeless offenders released from prison would have a place to stay while saving enough money for a security deposit and rent to get a place of their own. We work closely with state prison authorities, who determine which offenders qualify for our program. Without an effort like this, some newly freed prisoners would live on the street, increasing the risk to public safety.
We’ve seen hundreds of success stories — former offenders who were rehabilitated and are now living productive, law-abiding lives. Yet the man who killed Reagan Tokes chose a different path. A path of evil.
He lived in one of our properties and had a fulltime job. He wore an ankle bracelet that was tracked and monitored by an outside agency. We told him he had to follow our property rules or he would be forced to leave. But he committed his crime miles away from our residence.
There are no words to express the sadness we continue to feel for the Tokes family. This senseless murder affected the entire community and a year later, we’re still trying to understand it. Yet we’ve worked with others who share our concerns to find solutions to prevent tragedies like this.
For the EXIT program, it means reviewing our operations. We’re not a private prison or halfway house. We have no police or parole powers. We provide housing; we’re simply an affordable roof over people’s heads as they transition back into society.
In the case of the Reagan Tokes’ killer, he had only one rule, a curfew — and it was our rule, not his parole officer’s. That curfew could be avoided for only one thing, work, for which a pass was required.
The monitoring system wasn’t ours either. It was attached and monitored by a different agency. And the sad fact is that when a dangerous person seeks to do evil things, a GPS monitor device might show where he is, but not what he’s doing or whom he’s with.
Our entire corrections system is now under appropriate scrutiny. Reasonable questions have been asked. Why was such a violent man with a poor behavioral record in prison allowed to get out of prison? What methods can be employed to more closely track people on parole? Are there enough resources to genuinely protect the public?
One major step taken was a criminal-justice overhaul introduced in the legislature, appropriately entitled the Reagan Tokes Act. House Bill 365 would change sentencing guidelines to ensure that offenders’ records and behavior in prison affect whether they can be released early. It would also reduce parole office workloads, allowing for more direct oversight of ex-offenders in transition. It also would change how GPS monitoring is done, allowing for the creation of zones where a parolee isn’t allowed to go. An ex-offender who travels to an unapproved zone would trigger an immediate alert, allowing the proper authorities to take action. The provisions of this bill could save lives, and we support it.
The EXIT Program seeks to make our community safer. The idea was that returning offenders to the community without a place to go threatens public safety. We provide an intermediate alternative to help transition formerly incarcerated individuals into society by providing clean, safe and affordable housing with the support necessary to help them move forward, keeping recidivism low.
We can’t change what happened a year ago. We can continue to pray for the Tokes family. We can learn. And we will remain committed to being responsible partners with prison officials, other agencies and the community.