Cleveland-Marshall College of Law

Ohio Local Government Law Resource Guide

Introduction
Forms of Ohio Local Government
Ordinances/ Resolutions
Case Law/Local Government Administrative Decisions
Major Treatises and Practice Guides
Study Aids
Journal Articles
Databases and Other Web Resources

Introduction

 

This guide aims to help students identify Ohio's forms of local government and sources for finding the legal resources they produce. For contextual understanding of the state legal structure within which they function, see our Ohio Legal Research Guide. Other Resource Guides addressing specific aspects of local government include Land Use, Planning, and Zoning Law, Public Administration and the Law, Nonprofit Law, and Education Law.

For assistance finding and searching these or related resources, please contact the CM-Law Library Research Services librarians during their regularly scheduled hours, or via email to research.services@law.csuohio.edu

 

 

Forms of Ohio Local Government

Ohio's local governments include counties, townships, municipalities and special districts. They are all creatures of the state, and derive their authority from powers conferred by the state. See:

Forms of Ohio local goverment are proscribed by state law:

Annotated versions of the applicable constitutional and statutory provisions above provide citations to cases and commentary construing the local government laws and include:

Municipalities (and counties) who have adopted a home rule charter as their framework of governmental organization are not restricted by the statutory forms of government. Charters may be published as part of the municipality's codified ordinances. They are increasingly posted or made available electronically through the city web sites, for example:

TIP: To determine whether a governmental entity is operated under a charter or one of the statutory forms, check the Ohio Secretary of State's Municipal, Township and School Board Roster

 

Special Districts are established pursuant to various enabling statutes, and the requirements of the particular statute dictate the form and depository of their organizational documents. For example, Port Authorities (ORC Ch 4582) might be created by municipal ordinance or township or county resolution (ORC 4582.02) , Metropolitan Housing Authorities (ORC Ch 3735) by decision of the Director of Development and organized as per the statute, or, in the case of Regional Water And Sewer Districts (ORC Ch. 6119), by order of the Court of Common Pleas upon granting the petition of one or more political subdivisons, pursuant to their individual legislative authorities. (See ORC 6119.02)

 

TIP:To find a special district's organizational documents, check for a historical narrative on its web site or annual report, which may, in, turn help you identify the time frame and location of relevant court documents, resolutions or decisions.

 

Ordinances/ Resolutions

How and where the local government entity is to publish or distribute its legislative actions or administrative regulations is usually specified in its organizational documents. See, for example, ORC 731.17 et. seq., or City of Cleveland Charter, sec. 33- 37 ; Summit County Charter sec. 3.04, ORC 504.04 Excercise of powers under limited home rule government (Townships)

 

TIP: Check how Ohio's Open Meetings and Public Records laws affect the process of deliberation, enactment, accessibility and distribution of local government legislative actions. See the Ohio Legislative Service Commission's Members Only Briefs Ohio's Open Meetings Law(Vol. 126, Issue 9, Sept. 18, 2006) ; and Public Records Law in Ohio (Vol. 127, Issue 13, Oct. 23, 2008)

 

Because of the technical nature of many of the issues under government control, legislators often adopt code provisions developed by professional standards organizations, enacting them as by incorporated by reference. The local code may include language that the provisions are adopted "as fully as if set out at length herein." See for example: Cleveland Codified Ordinances Part 3 Building Code Chapter 3111 - Ohio Basic Building Code, or The Ohio Fire Code (see its Preface for an introduction)

 

 

 

Case Law/Local Government Administrative Decisions

Ohio's trial courts are established by state statute with specifically defined jurisdiction and powers:

To the extent that decisions of these courts result in reported opinions, they will appear as Ohio Miscellaneous Reports. Some are available via the Ohio Supreme Court pull-down menu (select "Miscellaneous" as the source). The Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas posts some of its opinions on its web site. For other courts, opinions may be available via the courts' web pages or dockets. See Courts & Dockets

Decisions of local government administrative agencies, boards and commissions : If a local goverment board or agency has authority to issue decisions, settle disputes, or hear appeals, there is generally no mandate to publish and distribute them. Check the authority's enabling legislation or regulations for the parameters of its responsibility to report: for example County Boards of Revision, ORC 5715.19; Cleveland Board of Zoning Appeals, Cleveland Codified Ordinances Sec. 329.01 ; Rules and Regulations of the Municipal Civil Service Commission of Columbus, Rule XIV Appeal Hearings and Investigations

 

 

 

 

 

Major Treatises and Practice Guides

 

  • Local Government Law -- Municipal / John E. Gotherman, Harold W. Babbit, and James F. Lang, 2004 - (Westlaw - OHMUNL) In print, 2 vols. KFO 431 .A6 G67   Only comprehensive current treatise on Ohio municipal law: includes forms, procedural outlines, table of compatible & incompatible offices. 
  • Local Government Law -- County / William T. Conard II, 2004- . (Westlaw - OCOUNTY) In print: KFO 430 .C64 2004  Only comprehensive current treatise on Ohio county government law .
  • Local Government Law -- Township / Rebecca C. Princehorn , 2004 - . (Westlaw - OHTWPL) In print: KFO 430 .A3 2004  Only comprehensive current treatise on Ohio township law.
  • Ohio Jurisprudence 3d /.  Check topics such as Counties,Townships, and Municipal Corporations; Civil Servants and Other Public Officers and Employees.    (Westlaw - OHJUR ; LexisNexis OHJUR). In print: KFO 65 .O3543 . For a more topical encyclopedic treatment: (Westlaw - OHJUR-MUN)
  • Ohio Municipal Forms, Clauses & Checklists (Westlaw - OH-MUNFORM)
  • Municipal Home Rule in Ohio / George D. Vaubel / W.S. Hein, 1978.   KFO 431.9 .H6 V38 The classic, but dated study of Ohio's municipal home rule issues.
  • Ohio Planning and Zoning Law  (Baldwin’s Ohio Handbook Series), 1997 - . (Westlaw - OHPLZL) In print:   KFO 458 .M42
  • Local Government Law, 3rd ed. / Osborne M. Reynolds, Jr. / West Hornbook Series. KF 5300 .R49 2009
  • Treatise on the Law of Municipal Corporations, 3rd ed., 1939 -/ Eugene McQuillin; Clark A. Nichols and others; Ray Smith, ed. in chief.  (Westlaw - MUNICORP) Print: Multi-vol. set. KF 5305 .M33; McQuillin Municipal Law Report (Monthly) (Westlaw - MUNI-LR) Classic and current, national in scope
  • Local Government Law / C. Dallas Sands and Michael E. Libonati, John Martinez . (Westlaw - LOCGOVTLAW) / In print: 4 vols.       KF 5300 .S26
  • Antieau on Local Government Law, 2d ed. / Lexis (ANLOGV)
  • Home Rule in America A Fifty State Handbook / Dale Krane, Platon N. Rigos, Melvin B. Hill, Jr. / CQ Press. KF 5305 .Z95 K73 2001
  •  Municipal Ordinances: Text and Forms, 2nd ed. / Thomas A. Matthews and Byron S. Matthews /  (Westlaw - MUNIORD)   Multi-volume set.   KF 5313 .M3 1972
  • Ordinance Law Annotations / (Westlaw - ORDLAWANNO ) / KF 5313 .S5

 

In the collection, Local Government Law titles national in scope may be found in call number range: KF 5300 - KF 5332 . OHIO Local Government Law titles  fall into call number ranges KFO 430-439.

 

 

Study Aids

 

  • Government Contracts in a Nutshell, 4th ed. / W. Noel Keyes. KF 850 .K49 2004
  • Local Government Law in a Nutshell, 5th ed. / David J. McCarthy, Jr., Laurie Reynolds.   KF 5300 .Z9 M3 2003
  • State Constitutional Law in a Nutshell, 2nd ed. / Thomas C. Marks, Jr. and John F. Cooper. KF 4550 .Z95 M28 2003
  • Understanding Local Government Law / Sandra M. Stevenson.   KF 5300 .S74 2003
 

 

Journal Articles

See Finding Articles in Law Reviews, Journals and Other Legal Periodicals for an explanation of the legal periodical indexes and databases available to Cleveland-Marshall College of Law students and the CSU community. Selected periodicals/ current awareness services focussing on local government law include:

TIP: Local newspapers can be a great resource for finding information about proposed or enacted ordinances, decisions of local agencies, and background events that lead to the development or restructuring of local governmental units or districts. Search the local Ohio newspaper files in LexisNexis, Westlaw, Ohio Newspapers Newsbank, Ebscohost Newspaper Source, LexisNexis Academic.

 

 News articles, whether from direct electronic sources or via LexisNexis, Westlaw, ProQuest, LexisNexis Academic, etc., or from print newspapers or newsletters, can frequently give clues to facilitate your research on legal issues in this subject area - names of parties in litigation, date of a new piece of legislation, which state level budget cuts may cut expected funds, some words or phrases which may be useful for a full-text search, etc. Check Journal Finder from the Law Library or University Library's home page for a link to a specific newspaper title.

Databases and Other Web Resources

Ohio Township Association - Statewide organization dedicated to promoting and preserving township government in Ohio. Provides updates on legislation affecting townships

County Commissioners' Association of Ohio - Represents Ohio's 87 Boards of County Commissioners and the Summit County Executive and Council.  Promotes best practices in county government administration and managemen. Site includes a range of publications and links to Directory of Elected Officials, including County Commissioners' Handbook

Ohio Municipal League -Statewide non-profit association of municipal and village officials formed tserve the interests of Ohio municipal government. Includes links to Ohio Cities and Villages on the Web 

Ohio Secretary of State's Municipal, Township and School Board Roster

Ohio Capitol Connection State legislative and political information and news, including legislation that could have impact on local governments.

LexisNexis > Legal > Area of Law - By Topic > Municipal Government

Westlaw - Municipal Library Multibase (MUNI)

Urban Documents Microfiche Collection /Region Three - includes Ohio. Indexed in:Index to Current Urban Documents. Print: Vol. 1 (1972/73) - vol. 34 (2006)   Z 7165 .U5 I654

 

 

 

JRN & MR

rev. 11/05/09


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