Burdensome Ohio student-safety law repealed

The Kentucky Enquirer reports that a law aimed at increasing safety for students in public schools, “grew into a wide-ranging, omnibus law of too many costly regulations that strayed far from the original intent of protecting school children from obvious dangers.” As a consequence, the Ohio legislature, in a rather remarkable action, repealed legislation known as “Jarod’s Law.”

Impacts of this specific law – which was enacted in an emotional reaction to a child’s accidental death – were, according to Ohio State Rep. Randy Gardner of Bowling Green, “more costly and more regulation” than legislators intended.

Make no mistake – we need realistic and effective rules for public safety. But, those rules need to be carefully crafted to avoid serious unintended consequences. Apparently, in a remarkable all all to rare case of self-appraisal, the Ohio legislature realized that in the case of Jarod’s Law, they had simply gone too far.