Database considered for insanity defendants

Associated Press

ENON, Ohio

The fatal shooting of a sheriff’s deputy last New Year’s Day has lawmakers considering how Ohio could track information on suspects who are found not guilty by reason of insanity, possibly by putting their names into a database accessible to law enforcement officers.

The man who killed Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy Suzanne Hopper before he was shot by police at a trailer park had been accused of shooting at officers in 2001. Michael Ferryman had been found not guilty by reason of insanity and lived in a mental institution before receiving a conditional release, but officers responding to the scene a year ago didn’t know that, The Springfield News-Sun reported.

Lawmakers are researching how Ohio could make information about such defendants available to emergency responders in a database.

“We track sex offenders in a very confined and detailed database, but those that are typically adjudicated for mental health illnesses, we don’t have a database for law enforcement officials,” Republican state Sen. Chris Widener of Springfield told the newspaper.

Legal and privacy concerns would have to be considered if legislation to create a tracking system were introduced, said Republican state Rep. Ross McGregor, also from Springfield.