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Ohio Legal Research Guide: Legislation

 

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"Current" Revised Code:

While these Revised Codes may be certified by the Ohio Secretary of State, they are not the official statutes of Ohio. The Session laws are the official statutes.

    For a Chart showing the relationship between current and historical statutes and session laws: Click here
     

    Historical Codes:

    1952-1910: General Code KFO 30 1910 .A24 [Ohio Room] - The 1953 Ohio Revised Code was created by revising and renumbering the General Code. The General Code was created by revising and renumbering the Revised Statutes.

    1910-1880: Revised Statutes KFO 30 1880 .D38 [Ohio Room]-The first complete codification of Ohio Laws

    Before 1880: Various compilations of Ohio statutes and laws of the Northwest Territory were published, such as:

  • The Revised Statutes of the State of Ohio, of a General Nature, in Force August 1, 1860 / collated by Joseph R. Swan; KFO30 1860 .A4 [Ohio Room]
  • The Statutes of Ohio and of the Northwestern Territory : Adopted or Enacted from 1788 to 1833 Inclusive; Together with the Ordinance of 1787, the Constitutions of Ohio and of the United States / edited by Salmon P. Chase KFO30 1788 .C32 [Ohio Room]
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    Session Laws

    Session laws may enact, repeal or amend numerous Ohio Revised Code Sections – for example see 2006 SB 185

The session laws are the official statutes of the State of Ohio. The Ohio Secretary of State certifies the language of commercially produced codes, such as Page's and Baldwin's. Should a discrepancy arise between the language of a session law and a commercially produced Revised Code, the language of the session law prevails. See Ohio Rev. Code 1.53; Ohio Legal Research Guide by Putnam and Schaefgen, p. 68., KFO75.P88 1997.

Session laws can be used to update an Ohio Revised Code section or to find prior versions of an Ohio Revised Code section.

Official sources for session laws:

  • Laws of Ohio. KFO 25 .A23 [Ohio Room] Library has vol. 1- (1803 -). Uncodified laws and laws vetoed by the governor are included.
  • Acts of the State of Ohio (State Session Laws - Ohio)KFO 25 .A23 [Microforms] Library has v.1 - 146 (1803 - 1996)

Unofficial sources for session laws:

The Session Laws contain only bills that have passed. For CURRENTLY PENDING BILLS:

  • Legislative Information Search - Ohio General Assembly's web site
  • Lexis - Full Text Bills contains the full text of bills pending in the Ohio legislature. OH Bill Tracking contains a summary and legislative chronology of all pending Ohio legislation in the current legislative session.
  • Westlaw - The OH-BILLTXT database contains the full text of bills from the current session. The OH-BILLTRK database contains summaries and status information on current Ohio legislation.
  • Ohio Capitol Connection - a searchable electronic resource - If you know the bill number, use "Find a Bill" on the home page. To search for bills in the current session, click on Search>Bill Text.
  • Gongwer News Service Ohio- a searchable electronic resource - Click on Legislation for a list of current bills and to search current bills.

For bills, both passed and failed, from PRIOR GENERAL ASSEMBLIES:

Further Reading:
Navigating a Bill in Ten Easy Steps , provided by the Legislative Service Commission, describes how to read an Ohio bill. 

 

 

SA, July 3, 2007

 

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