Ohio Constitution News (OCN) is a blog that tracks developments relating to the Ohio Constitution, including Ohio Supreme Court cases, ballot initiatives, state legislation, lectures, and seminars. The blog also reports on new material added to the Ohio Constitution: Law and History website and other items of interest concerning state constitutional law and the Ohio Constitution. Developed by Dean Emeritus and Professor Emeritus Steven H. Steinglass and maintained by the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law Library, OCN is not affiliated with the Ohio Supreme Court or with the State of Ohio.
Posted in Uncategorized on Mar 5th, 2015
The City of Akron filed a lawsuit in order to stop recent traffic camera legislation from going into effect. SB 342 requires that a police officer be present when a traffic camera is in operation, making traffic cameras economically infeasible for most cities. The new law also creates procedural requirements and states that motorists can […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Feb 17th, 2015
The Ohio Supreme Court held that City of Munroe Falls’ ordinances requiring drillers to get a conditional zoning certificate, pay a deposit for a performance bond, hold a public hearing and a wait a year before drilling were preempted by State law regulating drilling. Justice French wrote the lead opinion joined by Justices O’Connor and […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jan 30th, 2015
Recently enacted Ohio legislation, H.B. 5, imposes numerous changes on municipal taxes, including: Employers do not have to withhold municipal tax for an employee until the employee has worked 20 days in the municipality (it used to be 12). For municipal tax purposes, companies can carry forward net operating losses for five years to offset […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Dec 18th, 2014
The Ohio Supreme Court held that administrative appeals of traffic camera tickets did not unconstitutionally usurp the powers of municipal courts as set forth in the Ohio Constitution. The case involved the City of Toledo’s practice of diverting challenges to traffic camera violation notices to an administrative hearing officer set up within the police department. […]
Posted in Appellate & Common Pleas Court Cases on Nov 25th, 2014
In Bass Energy, Inc. v. City of Broadview Heights, Cuyahoga Common Pleas Court Case no. CV-14-828074, two oil and gas companies sued the City of Broadview Heights, seeking a declaratory judgment to declare the city’s ban on drilling invalid. The City claims the ban is protected by the Home Rule provision of the Ohio Constitution, […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 12th, 2014
The Ohio Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on January 14, 2015 on whether Cleveland’s 2% municipal income tax on professional sports players from visiting teams violates the player’s Equal Protection rights under the U.S. and Ohio Constitutions. See Hillenmeyer v. City of Cleveland Board of Review, Ohio Supreme Court Case No. 2014-0285. The City of […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Jan 21st, 2014
City of Cleveland v. State of Ohio, 2014-Ohio-86. The state law governing tow-truck operations (R.C. 4921.25) is a general law, however, the second sentence of the statute violates the Ohio Constitution’s Home Rule Amendment. The following language is severed from the statute, “Such an entity is not subject to any ordinance, rule, or resolution of […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Sep 23rd, 2013
The Ohio Supreme Court will decide whether 2004 Ohio HB 278, which preempts municipalities and other local governments from regulating oil and gas drilling, violates the Ohio Constitution’s Home Rule provision, Ohio Constitution Article XVIII, Section 7. H.B. 278 declared that the Division of Mineral Resources Management in the Department of Natural Resources has […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Aug 19th, 2013
The Ohio Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in City of Cleveland v. State of Ohio, Case no. 2012-1616 on Wednesday, August 21, 2013. The issue is whether state law governing tow-truck operations (R.C. 4921.25) is a comprehensive, statewide legislative framework and a general law that meets the Supreme Court’s test in Canton v. State, […]
Posted in Uncategorized on Nov 15th, 2012
Ohio Supreme Court Decision: Public utility tariff did not violate the Home Rule provision of the Ohio Constitution, although it conflicted with city ordinance requiring electric utility to bear costs of relocating overhead electric lines underground. In re Complaint of Reynoldsburg, 2011-Ohio-1274.
