Ohio bill aims to fix GPS monitoring failures nine years after Ohio State students’ murder

Lauren Savitsky
Fri, 03 Apr 2026 01:06:57 +0000
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Reagan Tokes (far left) with her mom, Lisa McCrary-Tokes (center right) and her family pose for a photo while on vacation. Credit: Courtesy of Lisa McCrary-Tokes

Ohio lawmakers are advancing new legislation to strengthen GPS monitoring of violent offenders, the latest effort tied to the 2017 murder of Ohio State student Reagan Tokes.

The bill, officially named the Reagan Tokes and Patrick Heringer Act, was introduced by state Rep. Cindy Abrams (R-Harrison) in January, aiming to repair weaknesses in the system that were revealed after the murders of Tokes and Heringer. The Tokes family continues to fight for justice, guided by the memory of their daughter whose impact still reaches the Ohio State community.

“The system is flawed. It failed Reagan, it failed our family and she ultimately paid the price with her life in such a brutal, tragic fashion,” Lisa McCrary-Tokes, Reagan’s mother, said.?

Tokes was a fourth-year in psychology when she was abducted, robbed, raped and then killed by Brian Golsby after leaving her Shorth North job in February 2017, per prior Lantern reporting.??

A violent offender on post-release control, Golsby had tampered with his ankle monitor and violated his parole three times before murdering Tokes — an example of the kind of failure the Tokes family said must not be allowed to happen again among released violent offenders.

“We give more credence to criminals at this point than we do to this innocent population,” McCrary-Tokes said. “How many other lives have to be lost and how many other victims do we have to have that are subject to the hands of violence or evil before we actually do something to start and stop crimes from occuring?”?

The second name listed in the bills title is Patrick Heringer, a man from Cincinnati who was fatally stabbed in his home by a violent offender also on post-release control in June 2025. According to Cincinnati police, Heringer’s killer had cut off his ankle bracelet many months before and was not being monitored at the time of the murder.?

“Crime doesn’t care whether you’re a male or a female. It doesn’t care your race, your ethnicity, your age — it doesn’t matter,” McCrary-Tokes said.?

According to the Ohio House of Representatives website, the bill focuses on several key changes. These include real-time GPS monitoring, the use of a single vendor, improved law enforcement access to tracking databases and a requirement that parole officers issue a warrant within 48 hours if an offender violates release terms.

“If nothing else it gives a huge peace of mind to the community, not just the friends and family who are affected by the offender,” Sgt. James Fuqua of the Columbus Division of Police said.

McCrary-Tokes agreed, and said this bill will save lives, help prevent crimes and keep law enforcement safe doing their jobs.?

Currently, officers do not continuously monitor GPS ankle bracelets. Instead, the whereabouts of violent offenders on post-release control — a form of supervision required after incarceration for certain offenses — are logged in large databases, alerts being recorded if an offender strays or violates their terms, but no notification to local law enforcement.

McCrary-Tokes said she thinks there is a misconception of safety caused by the way ankle monitors currently function and had a law requiring real-time alerts to law enforcement, Tokes’ case may have had a different outcome.

“What false sense of security are you giving the public if they think this is actually a preventative measure?” McCrary-Tokes said.?

McCrary-Tokes has been collaborating with Abrams for the past year on this bill. McCrary-Tokes said that passing this legislation would correct the system that had previously failed her daughter and Heringer.

“It just lets everybody feel a little bit safer within whatever community they live in knowing that there’s going to be stiffer penalties for these offenders,” Fuqua said.?

This is not the first bill the Tokes family has backed in honor of their daughter.?

Per prior Lantern reporting, the Reagan Tokes Act was signed into law in March 2019. It was originally introduced in 2017 and included two House bills and one Senate bill, all addressing separate shortcomings related to Tokes’ murder.?

Despite some success, the portion of the bill addressing GPS monitoring was never passed — a key component incorporated into the Reagan Tokes and Patrick Heringer Act that McCrary-Tokes said she and Abrams hope will finally be solidified into Ohio law.?

Fuqua said he hopes this bill creates more trust between the community and CPD to keep the neighborhoods of Columbus safe.

Reflecting on years of advocacy in honor of her daughter’s life, McCrary-Tokes said she is hopeful the bill will move swiftly through the House and Senate and ultimately be signed into law after eight years of effort.

McCrary-Tokes said she urges the Ohio community to write to their local legislators and support HB 667 to protect the state of Ohio from violent offenders.?

“They need to be really vocal in their communities about expecting a safer society to live in,” McCrary-Tokes said. “It is my hope that we are finally going to get tough on crime in the state of Ohio.”

The headline was corrected on April 3 at 8:31 a.m.