Ohio

Session Laws

Code of Statutes

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Administrative Code

Appeals Court Opinions

Supreme Court Opinions

Publications Title Laws of Ohio Ohio Revised Code Register of Ohio Ohio Administrative Code Ohio Official Reports Ohio Official Reports

Official Status

(Notes)

Yes No Yes No Yes Yes
Only official publication of the enactments of the General Assembly (GA). (Guidebook, chapter 5)

Secretary of State is required by statute to publish the session laws, in print or electronic format at the end of each biennial session of the GA. R.C. 149.091

As of 2007, online only, no print (Sampson, et. al., Ohio Legal Research, p.117).

LAWriter provides free online access to the non-annotated text of the Ohio Revised Code.

Page’s and Baldwin’s are commercially produced, unofficial, annotated codes, available online and in print (Lexis and Westlaw). The language is certified by the Secretary of State, but the language of the session laws controls if there are any discrepancies between the commercial code and the session laws (R.C. 1.53).

Published by the Legislative Service Commission, which “recognizes the official notice and information functions performed by the Register of Ohio….” (Notices and Disclaimers)

“The ‘Register of Ohio’ is an electronic publication that functions as a gazette to which members of the public may readily resort for notice of and information about rule-making processes.” R.C. 103.051

“Unless explicitly provided otherwise by statute, if a document is required by statute to be published in the register of Ohio, its publication in the register is sufficient to give notice of the content of the document to a person who is subject to or affected by the content.” R.C. 119.037

LAWriter provides free online access to the text of the Ohio Administrative Code. “The Supreme Court hereby designates the Supreme Court website as the Ohio Official Reports for opinions of the courts of appeals and the Court of Claims as of July 1, 2012.” Rep.Op.R. 3.2 As of July 1, 2012, “All opinions of the Supreme Court shall be promptly posted to the Supreme Court website and reported in advance sheets and bound volumes of the Ohio Official Reports.” Rep.Op.R. 2.1

Authentication

(Notes)

Partial No No No No No
Disclaimer: Effective dates posted on the SOS website for 129th GA (2011-2012) through current 132nd GA, are not authoritative.

124th through 128th do not have that disclaimer.

127th (2007-2008) through 130th (2013-2014) each have “Certification of General Laws” – attached PDF certifying that the documents posted on the SOS website are “true copies of the original.”

No indication that ORC on LAWriter is authenticated. The Register displays documents submitted by Ohio’s rule-making agencies, and makes no warranty that the documents are complete, accurate, timely, lawful, and where links to other Internet sites are provided, assumes no responsibility for those links or their content. (Notices and Disclaimers) No indication that OAC on LAWriter is authenticated. “All opinions of the Supreme Court, the courts of appeals, and the Court of Claims reported in the bound volumes of the Ohio Official Reports shall control as to accuracy over the same opinions as reported in any other printed source or posted to the Supreme Court website or any other electronic database.” Rep.Op.R. 4.2 “All opinions of the Supreme Court, the courts of appeals, and the Court of Claims reported in the bound volumes of the Ohio Official Reports shall control as to accuracy over the same opinions as reported in any other printed source or posted to the Supreme Court website or any other electronic database.” Rep.Op.R. 4.2

Online Preservation

(Notes)

No No No No Yes Yes
Only has session laws back to 2007-2008 session. Then has list of acts with effective dates for 2001-2006, but not full text of acts.

SoS “shall have charge of and safely keep the laws and resolutions passed by the general assembly and such other papers and documents as are required to be deposited in the secretary of state’s office.” (R.C. 111.08)

LAWriter site only has the current version.

Historical versions of ORC available from commercial publishers online (Lexis, Westlaw).

Register follows a strict Publication and Purgation Schedule. LAWriter site only has the current version.

Historical versions of OAC available from commercial publishers online (Lexis, Westlaw).

“All opinions posted to the Supreme Court website prior to July 1, 2012 and all opinions posted to the Supreme Court website on or after July 1, 2012 pursuant to Rep.Op.R. 2.1 and 3.2 shall be permanently available to the public without charge.” Rep.Op.R. 4.3 “All opinions posted to the Supreme Court website prior to July 1, 2012 and all opinions posted to the Supreme Court website on or after July 1, 2012 pursuant to Rep.Op.R. 2.1 and 3.2 shall be permanently available to the public without charge.” Rep.Op.R. 4.3

Permanent Public Access

(Notes)

No No Yes No Yes Yes
Only recent sessions appear available online.

Session laws prior to 2007 must be accessed in print or requested from SoS office.

No guarantee that public access to ORC on LAWriter will continue. Current material always available. Mandated by statute to provide free access via internet. R.C. 103.051 No guarantee that public access to OAC on LAWriter will continue. “All opinions posted to the Supreme Court website prior to July 1, 2012 and all opinions posted to the Supreme Court website on or after July 1, 2012 pursuant to Rep.Op.R. 2.1 and 3.2 shall be permanently available to the public without charge.” Rep.Op.R. 4.3

“The Supreme Court reserves the right to electronically transmit and post its materials and those of the other courts of Ohio (without the enhancement of any publisher) via the Supreme Court’s website, or any other means. Materials posted to the Supreme Court’s website may be maintained indefinitely as a publicly accessible database.” Agreement to Publish the Ohio Official Reports, Sect. 9

“All opinions posted to the Supreme Court website prior to July 1, 2012 and all opinions posted to the Supreme Court website on or after July 1, 2012 pursuant to Rep.Op.R. 2.1 and 3.2 shall be permanently available to the public without charge.” Rep.Op.R. 4.3

“The Supreme Court reserves the right to electronically transmit and post its materials and those of the other courts of Ohio (without the enhancement of any publisher) via the Supreme Court’s website, or any other means. Materials posted to the Supreme Court’s website may be maintained indefinitely as a publicly accessible database.” Agreement to Publish the Ohio Official Reports, Sect. 9

Copyright Claimed

(Notes)

No No No No Yes Yes
No indication of copyright Website shows “Copyright © 2018 Lawriter LLC – All rights reserved.” Seems to be referring to the website content, but not the Code itself. It’s only on the landing page: http://codes.ohio.gov/ Notices and Disclaimers: “The Register is not copyrighted. However, there is no warranty that documents displayed in the Register are free of copyright claims or of other restrictions on use.” Website shows “Copyright © 2018 Lawriter LLC – All rights reserved.” Seems to be referring to the website content, but not the Code itself. It’s only on the landing page: http://codes.ohio.gov/ “The Supreme Court reserves the right to electronically transmit and post its materials and those of the other courts of Ohio (without the enhancement of any publisher) via the Supreme Court’s website, or any other means. Materials posted to the Supreme Court’s website may be maintained indefinitely as a publicly accessible database.” Agreement to Publish the Ohio Official Reports, Sect. 9 “The Supreme Court reserves the right to electronically transmit and post its materials and those of the other courts of Ohio (without the enhancement of any publisher) via the Supreme Court’s website, or any other means. Materials posted to the Supreme Court’s website may be maintained indefinitely as a publicly accessible database.” Agreement to Publish the Ohio Official Reports, Sect. 9
UELMA Adopted No. Legislation has been proposed, but not adopted. Current proposed legislation: SB 139, introduced in the Senate on April 25, 2017, passed Senate on October 25, 2017, and introduced in House on October 26, 2017.
Universal Citation Adopted Yes. Adopted in 2002. Ohio Revised Code 1.01 – “R.C.” for Revised Code. Adopted “WebCite” for citations to court opinions, includes the year of decision, the word “Ohio,” and a unique opinion number (example: 2002-Ohio-2220). Court opinions also include numbered paragraphs and the paragraph number must be included for pinpoint citations. See the Manual for more information.


More Information

Updates by Margaret Kiel-Mors
Last updated 2/14/2018