Ohio House considers legislation that to require companies to provide cell phone location data in emergencies

The State House of Representatives is considering legislation that would require companies to provide cell phone location data to law enforcement without a subpoena in emergencies.

Reps. Cindy Abrams, R-Harrison, and Eric Synenberg, D-Beachwood, introduced the Kelsey Smith Act earlier this month.

“Keeping people safe is my top priority,” Abrams said in a release. “This bill will help our law enforcement as they serve our communities. I am looking forward to working our bill through the committee process and sending it to the Governor for his signature.”

The act would require mobile and internet service companies to provide the location of a cellphone to law enforcement without a subpoena if the individual’s life is in immediate danger. The legislation would also codify criteria for Ohio’s Endangered Missing Child Alert and create an automatic process to notify necessary law enforcement agencies of the Endangered Missing Child Alert.

It also includes increased penalties for suspects who interfere with custody by removing children out of the state to a foreign nation and requires that interference with custody arrest warrants be entered into LEADS and NCIC with a nationwide pickup radius.

“This legislation began with an advocate who believed Ohio could do more to keep people safe,” Synenberg said in a release. “After dozens of conversations, a year of work, and guidance from the Governor’s Missing Persons Working Group, I’m proud to partner with Rep. Abrams on this bipartisan, commonsense bill that strengthens law enforcement’s ability to do their jobs and makes Ohio safer for everyone.”

The Kelsey Smith Act has been passed in 31 other states and was originally passed in Kansas in 2009. It is named after a Kansas teenager who was abducted and murdered in 2007.

Law enforcement had requested her cell phone location after she was reported missing, but was told to obtain a subpoena.

Smith’s body was found within an hour of law enforcement obtaining the last known location of the cellphone, following three days of searching prior to the subpoena being granted.

Ohio lawmakers previously attempted to pass the act in 2013, but it was put on hold due to privacy concerns after a controversy over the National Security Administration collecting phone records. A federal version of legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in June 2025 and has been referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on the Judiciary.