Summary
Keith’s Law expands Ohio’s voluntary Disability Database, allowing individuals with disabilities and their families to provide important information about their disability to first responders for use during emergencies.
For individuals with disabilities and their families, interactions with police, firefighters, emergency medical personnel, or other first responders can present unique challenges. A disability may affect how someone communicates, processes instructions, responds to stress, moves, hears, or sees. Without knowing how these functions may be impaired by a disability, a first responder may misunderstand a person’s behavior or needs.
Keith’s Law, which took effect January 19, 2026, expanded Ohio’s existing Communication Disability Database into a broader voluntary statewide Disability Database. Ohioans with disabilities, as well as their parents and guardians, can provide information about their disability that can be available to first responders during an emergency.
What Does Keith’s Law Do?
Keith’s Law expanded the types of disabilities that may be included in the database, including:
- Intellectual disabilities
- Autism
- Traumatic brain injury
- Hearing and visual impairments
- Orthopedic impairments
- Learning disabilities
- Certain mental health conditions
It also expanded access to the database to law enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical services personnel, and county 911 systems.
Participation in this database is voluntary, and the information is not a public record.
Knowing that a person has a disability can provide important context during an emergency. Someone may not immediately respond to a command, may communicate differently, become overwhelmed, or have difficulty moving. These behaviors may be related to a disability rather than a refusal to cooperate.
Why Families Should Know About This Resource
Many people live with disabilities that may not be apparent to someone meeting them for the first time. During an emergency, there may be little time to explain why someone communicates or responds differently.
Keith’s Law gives Ohioans with disabilities and their families another tool to help first responders understand those needs. While registration cannot guarantee how an encounter will unfold, providing information about a disability may help first responders approach an interaction with greater awareness.
Learn More and Apply
You can learn more about Keith’s Law and the Disability Database through the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities. The site also provides the Disability Verification Form.
Learn more and apply here:
https://dodd.ohio.gov/your family/safety security/keithslaw
For individuals with disabilities, parents, guardians, and caregivers, this new resource is worth knowing about. Having important information available during an emergency may help create a safer and better informed interaction for everyone involved.
