What needs to change in Ohio.

• Clergy expressly named at ORC § 2151.421(A)(4)(a)

  Subsection (A)(4)(a) names a 'cleric' — and any non-volunteer church, religious-society, or faith leader, official, or delegate acting in an official or professional capacity — as a mandated reporter. The cleric category is the only one in the statute with its own subsection-level reporting framework (A)(4)(a)-(e). 'Cleric' itself is defined by cross-reference to **ORC § 2317.02(C)**, which covers clergy members, rabbis, priests, Christian Science practitioners, and regularly ordained, accredited, or licensed ministers of an established and legally cognizable religious body.

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• Three-layer privilege architecture at (A)(4)(b)-(d)

  Subsection (A)(4)(b) preserves nonreporting for communications received in a cleric-penitent relationship where ORC § 2317.02(C) would bar testimony. Subsection (A)(4)(c) deems that privilege waived, compelling a report, when the penitent is a child under 18 (or a person under 21 with a developmental disability or physical impairment), the cleric has reasonable cause to believe the penitent has suffered or faces abuse or neglect, and the communication does not concern a parental-notification abortion under ORC § 2151.85. Subsection (A)(4)(d) then re-exempts any communication that would 'violate the sacred trust,' defined by ORC § 2317.02 as a confidential communication in the cleric's ecclesiastical capacity 'in the course of discipline enjoined by the church.' The waiver is real; the re-exception above it is also real.

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• The religious body defines what counts as 'discipline enjoined by the church'

  The operative phrase in the sacred-trust definition is 'discipline enjoined by the church.' Ohio statute does not constrain how a religious body draws that line. A religious body that defines a particular sacramental rite, pastoral counseling format, or office-based confidential conversation as part of its enjoined discipline can fold those exchanges into (A)(4)(d) and out of the reporting duty. The (A)(4)(c) child-penitent waiver, which on a first read looks like the closure, is subordinate to whatever the religious body itself recognizes as sacramental.

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• ORC § 2151.99 — elevated penalty when reporter and abuser share the same faith

  Failure to report under ORC § 2151.421 is generally a fourth-degree misdemeanor. ORC § 2151.99 elevates that to a **first-degree misdemeanor** when a clergy reporter under (A)(4) knowingly fails to report abuse by a cleric or designated non-volunteer leader, and both the reporter and the abuser belong to the same church, religious society, or faith. The provision specifically targets intra-faith concealment: Ohio elevates the penalty when a clergy reporter knows the abuser is also clergy in the same religious body. The escalation operates only outside the privilege; communications that fall within (A)(4)(b)-(d) never reach the penalty in the first place.

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• AG Opinion 2001-035 limits the duty to disclosures about current children

  Ohio Attorney General Opinion 2001-035 concludes that ORC § 2151.421(A) does not require a report when an adult discloses, in counseling or other professional contact, that they were abused as a child. The opinion frames the statute as aimed at the protection of children currently at risk, anchored by the 24-hour PCSA investigation structure. The opinion narrows whose disclosure triggers the duty; it does not narrow the sacred-trust carveout.

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What it takes to close the gap.

Bills in motion right now.

• HB 346passed one chamber

  Enact V.J.'s Law — require dual reporting to peace officer and PCSA

  Amends ORC § 2151.421 and § 2151.99 to require mandatory reporters, including clergy under (A)(4), to notify both a peace officer AND the public children services agency, rather than one or the other. Inspired by an Ohio infant ('V.J.') who was a victim of sexual assault. Tightens the procedural reporting channel for the clergy reporter category but does not amend the (A)(4)(b)-(d) privilege architecture, so the sacred-trust carveout remains intact. Referred to House Judiciary in June 2025; reported as a substitute and passed by the House on June 9, 2026, and is now pending in the Senate.

  SponsorsRep. Kishman, Rep. Williams, Rep. Angela N. King, Rep. Sharon A. Ray
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• HB 371committee

  Add elected officials to the mandatory-reporter list

  Expands ORC § 2151.421(A) by adding elected officials to the enumerated mandatory-reporter list. Does not touch the clergy provisions in (A)(4) or the cleric-penitent privilege architecture, but confirms that mandatory-reporting reform is active in the 136th General Assembly. Referred to House Public Safety on September 15, 2025.

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How Ohio got here.

• 2001
  AG Opinion 2001-035

  Ohio AG opinion narrows the ORC § 2151.421(A) duty to disclosures concerning current children. Adult disclosures of past childhood abuse are not mandated reports.

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• 2017
  ORC § 2151.99 intra-faith penalty escalation

  Current penalty structure takes effect: failure to report under (A)(4) is a fourth-degree misdemeanor by default, elevated to a first-degree misdemeanor when reporter and clergy abuser belong to the same religious body.

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• 2025
  HB 96 amends ORC § 2151.421 (effective Sept 30, 2025)

  Most recent amendment to the principal statute, carried by HB 96 of the 136th General Assembly. Prior recent amendments include HB 33 (eff. Oct 3, 2023 and Jan 1, 2025) and SB 196 (eff. March 20, 2025). The clergy-reporter language and the (A)(4)(b)-(d) privilege architecture have been carried forward through these amendments without substantive change.

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• 2025-06
  HB 346 introduced

  Rep. Kishman and Rep. Williams introduce V.J.'s Law, requiring dual reporting to peace officer and PCSA. Referred to House Judiciary on June 10, 2025. Does not amend the privilege carveout.

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• 2025-09
  HB 371 introduced

  Bill adding elected officials to the ORC § 2151.421(A) enumerated reporter list is referred to House Public Safety on September 15, 2025. Confirms active legislative attention on the mandatory-reporter statute during the 136th General Assembly.

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Public-record sources UCO is tracking.

Always verify against the underlying statute or filing before quoting.

• Ohio Laws & Administrative Rules (Ohio LSC)· effective September 30, 2025
  ORC § 2151.421 — Reporting child abuse or neglect

  Principal statute. Subsection (A)(4)(a) names cleric and non-volunteer church-designated leaders as mandated reporters. (A)(4)(b) preserves the cleric-penitent privilege from ORC § 2317.02(C); (A)(4)(c) creates the child-penitent waiver; (A)(4)(d) re-carves sacred-trust communications out of even that waiver. Amendment history through HB 96 (eff. Sept 30, 2025) of the 136th General Assembly.

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• Ohio Laws & Administrative Rules (Ohio LSC)· effective April 9, 2025
  ORC § 2317.02 — Privileged communications

  Cross-referenced statute defining 'cleric' and 'sacred trust' for purposes of ORC § 2151.421. Division (C) establishes the cleric-penitent testimonial privilege and defines sacred trust as a confession or confidential communication made in the cleric's ecclesiastical capacity, in the course of discipline enjoined by the church. The operative source for the privilege architecture.

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• Ohio Laws & Administrative Rules (Ohio LSC)· effective March 14, 2017
  ORC § 2151.99 — Penalty

  Sets the default fourth-degree misdemeanor for failure to report under § 2151.421(A)(4) and elevates the offense to a first-degree misdemeanor when reporter and clergy abuser belong to the same church, religious society, or faith. The atypical intra-faith escalation that distinguishes Ohio.

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• Ohio General Assembly· introduced 2025-06-10
  Bill Status HB 346 (136th General Assembly)

  Official bill page for HB 346 ('V.J.'s Law'). Most recent action: referred to the House Committee on Judiciary, June 10, 2025. Tightens procedural reporting; does not amend the (A)(4)(b)-(d) privilege architecture.

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• Ohio Legislative Service Commission
  Child Abuse or Neglect Reporting — Members Brief

  Official LSC briefing for Ohio legislators. Enumerates mandated reporter categories under ORC § 2151.421, incorporates the cleric definition from ORC § 2317.02, and walks through report procedure, confidentiality, and immunity. Authoritative state-government secondary source.

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• Child Welfare Information Gateway, U.S. HHS Children's Bureau· May 2023
  Clergy as Mandatory Reporters of Child Abuse and Neglect — Ohio

  Federal state-statute summary. Independently confirms that Ohio expressly names clergy as mandated reporters under § 2151.421(A)(4) and that the cleric-penitent privilege is preserved subject to the child-penitent waiver and sacred-trust carveout. Useful cross-validation of statusBucket and privilegePosture.

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