CINCINNATI — A bill named for slain Hamilton County Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Henderson that would eliminate parole for convicted killers of police officers remains before the Ohio Senate months after clearing the state House.
House Bill 372, the Larry Henderson Act, passed the House 89-4 in March with 51 co-sponsors. The Senate Judiciary Committee has held two hearings on the measure but has not yet voted on whether to advance it.
The bill would change Ohio law so that an adult convicted of aggravated murder of a peace officer, corrections officer, prosecutor, first responder or military member faces only the death penalty or life in prison without parole — closing off the parole eligibility current law allows after 25 or 30 years.
Henderson, a U.S. Marine veteran with more than three decades at the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, was killed May 2, 2025, while directing traffic at the University of Cincinnati’s spring commencement ceremony. He was a husband, father of five and grandfather who had also taken in two young foster children.
Supporters, including the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio and the Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, say the bill spares grieving families from reliving their loss at parole hearings. Opponents, including the Ohio Public Defender’s Office, argue mandatory sentences strip away judicial discretion.
If the Senate approves the measure, it would head to Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk.
