WARREN — Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins is calling again for Ohio to pass a law allowing civil commitment for some violent sex offenders after they leave prison.

Watkins made the request after learning that Scott Grant, convicted in the 1985 murder and rape of 17-year-old Michelle Hayes in Lake County, was released from prison Aug. 20. Grant, now 58, served time at the Lake Erie Correctional Institution in Conneaut. He and another man were found guilty of beating, raping, dismembering and burying Hayes. The other man, Stephen Cohen, died in prison after 25 years.

The victim’s sister, Dawn Hayes, told WKYC-TV that the men knew Michelle and that after she turned down their advances, one hit her in the throat. They then cut off her legs with a handsaw and left her body in a nearby berry patch. The family is now asking people in the area to stay alert since Grant is free and listed as a sex offender.

Watkins’ push comes one month after President Donald Trump signed an executive order called “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets.”

The order supports civil commitment and asks federal agencies to make it easier for states to hold people with mental illness who live on the streets or might harm others. It also urges states to set up similar rules.

Ohio Senate Bill 67 would require sex offenders labeled as violent predators to wear GPS tracking devices after release and pay for them. It also would allow civil commitment for some of them. Civil commitment means holding someone in a secure place after their prison time if a court finds they have a mental issue that makes them likely to commit more crimes.

Watkins linked Grant’s release to a 2009 case in his county. That year, the state parole board let out Juan Wade after he served 23 years for raping three children, ages 6 and 7, in Warren. Two experts had called Wade a pedophile and said he was at high risk to offend again.

Watkins, along with then-Warren Mayor Michael O’Brien and others, wrote letters to state leaders asking them not to free Wade and to pass civil commitment laws.

Back then, Senate Bill 67 was being discussed, but did not pass. It was backed by the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, police groups and victims’ rights organizations. The bill’s co-sponsor was state Sen. Keith Faber, who is now Ohio’s auditor.

Watkins said the law is needed now more than before. “For too long, we have in Ohio shown inertia in enforcing and passing tough laws to incapacitate violent people while at the same time protecting the most vulnerable and innocent in our state,” he said. “We locally backed legislators like former Sen. Keith Faber and others who supported a Constitutionally upheld process to confine sexually violent predators with the approval of civil commitment legislation.”

He also said, “Under all the present circumstances, the releasing of sexual predators back in the community is fraught with danger. Some offenders need more than being placed on a sex offender registry.”

Watkins wants Ohio to follow the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act from 2006, signed by President George W. Bush, which includes civil commitment for sex offenders. About 20 states and the District of Columbia have similar laws, including Texas, Florida, California and Wisconsin.

But the idea faces pushback from mental health and disability rights groups. The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the National Disability Rights Network and the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) have spoken out against it.

Jennifer Mathis, deputy director of the Bazelon Center, said, “This Executive Order appears aimed at upending decades of established Supreme Court precedent and eliminating basic protections that prevent the arbitrary confinement of people based on a disability. We cannot go back to the times when people’s liberty could be taken away with no rhyme or reason, or for reasons like revenge or punishment.”

NAMI CEO Daniel H. Gillison, Jr., said in a statement, “It’s always ideal — and best — for an individual to engage in their own treatment. Yet, too many NAMI families know that isn’t always possible. Unfortunately, yesterday’s order broadly focuses on institutionalization and not on real solutions that we know work in helping people lead better lives.”

These groups say forced commitment takes away freedom and does not fix problems like mental illness or lack of homes. They support more voluntary care in communities and better housing instead.