Ticket quotas are topic of discussion at Ohio hearing

An Ohio bill receiving attention this week at the statehouse is touted to discourage any law enforcement agency from pressuring officers to participate in ticket quotas.

Senators voted unanimously late last month to advance the bill that would outlaw an arrest or ticket mandate. The bill, SB114, establishes that no requirement or suggestion could be made for an officer to meet a quota, nor could a benefit be offered to an officer based on the officer’s quota.

SB114 and its House version were discussed Tuesday, May 13 in the House Public Safety Committee.

The legislation defines a quota as “a mandate of a certain number of arrests made, or citations issued, for any offense that a local or state police officer must meet in a specified time period.”

Law enforcement agencies would be prohibited from using quotas to evaluate, promote, compensate, transfer or discipline a local or state police officer. Agencies would also be forbidden from offering a financial reward or other benefits to officers for meeting quotas.

Law enforcement officials or agencies, however, would be permitted to collect and analyze data on the number of arrests made and citations issued by officers. The information is touted to help ensure officers do not neglect their duties or violate legal obligations.

Additionally, the state’s attorney general would be required to make available a form for officers to use to report the use of quotas. An option would be available for officers to anonymously make the report. The Attorney General would be mandated to investigate quota allegations.

If a determination is made that ticket quotas were used by an agency, the Attorney General’s office would be required to order the official or agency to cease and desist quota usage.

Testified today in support of my bipartisan bill to BAN ticket quotas in Ohio—these arbitrary & unfair quotas require police officers to write a certain number of tickets every day, forcing them to prioritize revenue generation over public safety. This wrong & needs to stop! pic.twitter.com/yruFLEbSYt

— Bride Rose Sweeney (@RepBrideSweeney) April 29, 2025

Officials around Ohio weigh in

Supporters say the new rule is needed to provide law enforcement officers with needed discretion versus “an arbitrary quota system used to generate local revenue.”

Independence, Ohio, Police Chief Robert Butler told the House Public Safety Committee that quotas undermine the very foundation of his profession.

“They erode public trust by creating an environment where officers are pressured to issue citations or make arrests not based on the merits of each situation, but to meet arbitrary numbers,” Butler stated.

Carolyn Brakey, a Geauga County commissioner, provided testimony at a prior Senate committee hearing that when enforcement decisions put revenue targets over public safety, the entire moral basis for law enforcement is compromised.

“Quotas invert the purpose of policing,” Brakey said. “They turn a protective function into a predatory one.”

She said SB114 would restore balance.

“It affirms that our law enforcement officers are professionals, not revenue agents. It reminds the public that the law exists to protect, not to plunder.”

Sen. Tom Patton, R-Strongville, told lawmakers the ticket quota issue was brought to his attention by the Ohio Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association and the Fraternal Order of Police “in response to the quota mandates of a few bad actors.”

“To be clear, we very much want our traffic laws monitored appropriately,” Patton testified. He said his bill would only prohibit using ticket quotas as the basis for evaluation or compensation.

‘Our law enforcement officers are responsible for keeping us safe, and they should not be saddled with the unreasonable burden of generating revenue for bureaucracies through ticket quotas.” LL

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