To enact Alyssa's Law to establish a pilot grant program for public and chartered nonpublic schools to purchase panic alert systems or contract for artificial intelligence firearm detection software and to make an appropriation.
HB106, titled Alyssa’s Law, would create a pilot grant program administered by the Ohio Department of Public Safety through the Ohio School Safety Center. The program would provide $25 million in FY 2026 for grants to school districts, community schools, STEM schools, and chartered nonpublic schools to buy panic alert systems or contract for artificial intelligence firearm detection software. The bill specifies that grants begin on or after January 1, 2026, and that each approved applicant would receive a grant.
The bill sets detailed eligibility and performance standards for both panic alert systems and AI firearm detection software. Schools applying for panic alert funding must not already have a security system in place and must agree to provide devices to appropriate staff, train personnel, and coordinate security data access with local law enforcement. The bill also requires panic alert systems and firearm detection software to meet technical and operational criteria, including integration with 9-1-1 infrastructure or school cameras, vendor monitoring, U.S.-based development, and prior deployment in other districts or organizations. The Department must report program findings to the Governor and General Assembly by December 1, 2027.
HB106 would appropriate state General Revenue Fund dollars to a new school safety grant program and direct the Department of Public Safety to administer it. It would not broadly rewrite school safety law, but it would create a new state-funded mechanism for schools to acquire panic alert technology or AI-based firearm detection tools, while also imposing conditions on participating schools and vendors. The bill would affect public school districts, community schools, STEM schools, and chartered nonpublic schools that apply for and receive grants, as well as local law enforcement agencies that would be given access to certain security data and coordination responsibilities.
Based on the bill text and its early procedural posture, the measure appears to be framed positively as a school safety initiative, with bipartisan-style cosponsorship and no recorded votes or committee testimony in the provided materials. The overall tone of the bill is preventative and security-focused, emphasizing rapid emergency notification and firearm detection in schools. Because the bill is only introduced and has not yet advanced through recorded votes or hearings in the provided context, there is no clear formal record of support or opposition beyond the proposal itself.
The main points of potential contention are likely to be the use of state funds for technology-based school security, the requirement that applicants lack an existing security system, and the bill’s reliance on AI firearm detection software. Privacy, surveillance, data access, and the accuracy or reliability of firearm-detection technology may also be disputed, especially because the bill requires integration with cameras and access to security data by law enforcement. Another possible issue is the bill’s preference for systems developed in the United States without third-party or open-source data and its requirement that vendors operate constantly monitored centers, which could narrow eligible products and raise cost concerns.