By Faith Fistler / Broadcast version by Nadia Ramlagan reporting for the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

While Christina Ray was incarcerated, she experienced the effects of limited feminine hygiene products firsthand.

"When I was incarcerated at Franklin County Jail, literally every morning they would throw in a supply bag and we'd have, like, six rolls of toilet paper and six giant, disgusting pads," Ray said. "And then the women would fight and divvy out everything and there was not always enough."

For many female inmates, access to adequate feminine hygiene products has been a challenge. House Bill 30, introduced in July of 2022, would require all correctional facilities that house female inmates to provide adequate feminine hygiene products, access to showers and proper sanitary disposal methods for inmates.

After 11 months, the bill had its first hearing on June 6, where it received feedback from legislators to help it progress forward.

The primary sponsor of the bill, Rep. Latyna Humphrey, D-Columbus, was first approached about the issue by a Dayton community activist.

"That was a concern for me, but also a personal story for me because I am the daughter of a returning citizen, my mother was incarcerated," Humphrey said. "Her being an activist was helpful, but also kind of having my own personal story with it was the driving force behind why I introduced the bill."

Humphrey said her passion for prison reform stems from her mother's journey, who she and her family were able to support while she was incarcerated.

"But what I will say is that not every inmate and offender is as blessed as my mother was to have me as an adult and her mother and my sister to help in ways that we did," Humphrey said.

The bill would cover the three state correctional facilities, Ohio Reformatory for Women, Dayton Correctional Institution and Northeast Reintegration Center, as well as county-run facilities and city-run jails throughout the state.

"But the reality is only where the women are housed, is where the products would potentially be," Humphrey said.

The bill currently is only focused on county and municipal facilities and does not extend to private prisons.

During Ray's incarceration at both Ohio Reformatory for Women and Dayton Correctional Institution from 2014 to 2018, pads were provided monthly, and tampons were only available through the commissary.

Now a graduate student in social work at Ohio State, Ray is a member of multiple prison reform advocacy groups. After speaking with several current inmates at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, Ray learned conditions have improved. Inmates are now provided individual pads and tampons.

However, only regular size tampons are readily available for free at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, other sizes have to be purchased. With state pay not rising with the cost of inflation, different sized tampons are more expensive, Ray said.

Cleanliness within the prison is another issue with the majority of the responsibility falling to the inmates themselves.

"Some people would have the showers, some people would be mopping the halls," Ray said. "And while we did our best, we were limited with what cleaning products we have."

Inmates only have access to showers during set times while laundry services are only available during specific days.

"It's really important to be able to have those, so you're literally not walking around in your own blood," she said.

House Bill 30 states that different sized tampons and pads should be available and distributed based on individual needs at no extra cost to the inmates. The bill also stipulates that inmates should have unlimited access to showers during menstruation. However, the bill makes no mention of more accessible laundry services.

"I like to do it little by little and bit by bit," Humphrey said. "If you put too much in a thing, that sometimes can turn some of my colleagues off, whether it's important or not."

"So I think that is something that if we get it, you know, out of the house, and if we get it out of the Senate, I think it's something that we can look back at, or even create another bill for," she said.

A key factor of the improvements already taking effect in correctional facilities could be attributed to Humphrey's work with prison advocacy groups.

Humphrey's collaboration with Ohio Rehabilitation and Corrections has provided a surplus of feminine hygiene products for all three women's correctional facilities since November, Humphrey said.

"It's important again to clarify that things like this could change," she said. "We're advocating, and I'm proud of the advocacy that we started last year, but it's just important to codify it into law, so that won't change."

Humphrey is confident that the bill could become a reality due to actions already being put into effect by prison reform groups.

"Because it's already being done, there is a possibility that this bill could get passed...," she said. "It is not necessarily a bipartisan bill as of yet, but I've received a lot of guidance from my colleagues across the aisle to make this bill essentially the best it could be."

This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.


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More than 60 Pennsylvania counties do not have enough public defenders for their caseloads, forcing some, including in Erie County, to each handle more than 400 cases a year.

A report by Quattrone Center at the University of Pennsylvania said the state needs more than 1,200 full-time public defenders but has about 850.

Sara Jacobson, executive director of the Public Defender Association of Pennsylvania, said the state was one of only two providing no funding for public defense but $7.5 million was allocated in the last two state budgets. Jacobson acknowledged it has helped, although spread across 67 counties, it is not enough to make real change in places like Erie County.

"Erie got in 2023-2024 a little over $102,000. The second appropriation: $106,723," Jacobson pointed out. "The problem is that when you add the cost of an attorney's salary and benefits, the money that's there is not enough when it gets divided up."

The report found Erie County would need 28 full-time attorneys to handle the large caseload but currently has nine full-time and eight part-time attorneys. At a recent news conference, Clinton County Commissioner Jeff Snyder said the state's allocation of funding for indigent defense would have to double, to $15 million a year to handle the growing need.

Jacobson noted heavy caseloads cause delays, both for public defenders and clients. She added prior to the pandemic, Erie County had top public defender pay but now, some attorneys are leaving for better-paying work in the Erie conflict office.

"Conflict Counsel in Erie County gets paid more and has a far lower caseload," Jacobson explained. "Every time someone leaves, their 400 or however many cases have to be distributed among the other lawyers. So those caseloads go up and the service to those clients goes down because of it."

Jacobson cited a Vanderbilt Law School study, which found each exoneration for a wrongful conviction costs a state $6.1 million. With at least 140 exonerations, it adds up to $856 million in costs for Pennsylvania.

Indiana lawmakers continue to debate THC rules while surrounding states move forward with marijuana legalization.

Senate Bill 478 targets packaging and branding rules for legal THC products sold to people 21 and older. Lawmakers want to prevent the products from mimicking candy or snacks, which might appeal to minors. The bill would require testing and stricter packaging for craft hemp flower and other THC items.

Rep. Jake Teshka, R-North Liberty, sponsored the bill.

"This market right now is the wild, wild West," Teshka contended. "I think what this bill attempts to do is to ensure that the safety of Hoosier youth and Hoosier consumers comes first and primary in our efforts to regulate this product."

Delta 8, Delta 9 and Delta 10 products-chemicals with THC levels under 0.3% remain legal in Indiana and often appear in gas stations, smoke shops and dispensaries. Committee members provided input for possible changes to the bill and recessed before acting but plan to reconvene soon.

Although marijuana sales remain illegal in Indiana, nearby states allow both recreational and medical use. Across the country, nearly 40 states allow medical marijuana and 24 permit recreational sales.

Rep. Timothy Wesco, R-Osceola, said in conference committee Monday the current bill offers far too many permits.

"In the future, if there are additional permits needed we could always come back and increase that number of permits," Wesco argued. "But the 20,000 is essentially more than 200 locations per county in our state on average, and I think is far too accessible and available."

The House has passed two amendments to the bill this session. One limits sales near schools and another changes the definition of e-liquids.


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Parents of students killed or injured in school-zone crosswalks are backing a measure in the Ohio General Assembly to increase the penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony.

The bill, entitled "Aspen Runnel's Law," was introduced after 15-year-old Aspen Runnels was struck and killed in a crosswalk outside Lakota East Freshman School in Butler County last year.

Aspen's mother, Christina Alcorn, said the 30-day sentence given to the driver is not enough of a deterrent for speeding in a school zone.

"We're hoping that people will start paying a little bit more attention," said Alcorn, "because we all have children in our lives - whether it's our own children, grandchildren, godchildren, nieces, nephews, whatever it may be. Almost everybody has a child in their life that they want to see come home safely."

The driver pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in Aspen's death and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 60 days of house arrest, probation, and community service.

The new law would make vehicular homicide in a school zone a felony, with six to 18 months in prison and fines of up to $5,000.

Alcorn is working to pass the bill with another Ohio mother, Trisha Parnell, whose daughter Maddy was struck and seriously injured in 2018 in a collision in a school zone in the same district.

Alcorn said she was shocked by how lenient the school zone penalties were compared to other types of collisions.

"We were a little baffled," said Alcorn. "Most people that we've spoken to about this have been, first of all, surprised that this wasn't already a law on the book, but also that the children in the school zone were not considered protected like a construction zone would be."

House Bill 203 awaits a hearing before the Ohio House Judiciary Committee. Alcorn said she wants tougher consequences so drivers think twice before speeding in a school zone.

"The main thing is that the charges are elevated," said Alcorn, "and that people feel a deterrent for speeding or distracted driving in school zones."

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. According to the National Highway Safety Administration, more than 3,200 people were killed in 2023 by distracted drivers.

This story was produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.



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