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Opinions
As chief law officer of the state, the Ohio Attorney General provides written opinions on legal questions at the request of designated public officials on issues arising in the course of their duties. The Attorney General’s Office does not prepare opinions for private citizens. The Opinions Section researches, writes, and prepares for issuance and publication all formal opinions of the Attorney General. For more details about the formal opinions process, please visit the Opinions FAQs.
Opinions prior to 1993 can be found under the Opinions Archive.
The Opinions Section also maintains a listing of previous AG Opinions that have been subsequently overruled.
The Opinions Section can be reached:
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Requested by: Trumbull County Prosecuting Attorney
Compatibility: A finance director of a city may not serve simultaneously as a township fiscal officer in a township that contracts with that city for services.
Requested by: Ohio Auditor of State
The annual training requirement of R.C. 3314.037 for community school officials and personnel on the state’s public records and open meeting laws is not constrained by statute to the same training that is certified by the attorney general and conducted either by the attorney general or a third party through a contract with the Attorney General. For the purpose of auditing compliance with R.C. 3314.037 when the statute does not stipulate the specific training requirements, the auditor of state has authority to set a reasonable standard for training necessary to ensure community school personnel know how to comply with the public records and open meetings laws.
Requested by: Champaign County Prosecuting Attorney
A county agricultural society organized under R.C. Chapter 1711 is a political subdivision for purposes of R.C. 9.68.
Requested by: Geauga County Prosecuting Attorney
A township has no obligation to contribute toward the maintenance, construction, or reconstruction of a road outside of its boundaries. R.C. 5573.15 permits boards of township trustees to jointly improve a township road if the road is less than the “legal assessment distance” from the township line, which is the distance within which properties may be statutorily assessed for a township road improvement. A township may also assist another township in an emergency or pursuant to a mutual aid agreement. Generally, township joint road improvements may be paid from the same sources as the funding for roads within a township’s boundaries.
Requested by: Greene County Prosecuting Attorney
A political subdivision may use tax revenue generated from its levies for the purposes described in R.C. 5705.19(I) and (J) to pay a portion of its allocated cost for a countywide public safety answering point that provides access to firefighting, police protection, ambulance, or emergency medical services within the political subdivision. The portion of allocated costs paid with tax revenue from each such levy must be rationally related to the expenses incurred by the public safety answering point for providing such access and must be consistent with the political subdivision’s authorizing resolution and ballot language for the particular tax levy.