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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: Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney
When renewal or replacement special levies are designated specifically for the provision of health and human or social services under R.C. 5705.191, the taxing authority has no authority to utilize funds for the wholly separate purpose of constructing permanent improvements. 1963 Ohio Atty.Gen.Ops. No. 63-154 followed.
Requested by: Noble County Prosecuting Attorney
Regarding whether a crime victim may be charged the cost of retrieving a vehicle when a law enforcement agency directed its towing and storage.
Requested by: Fairfield County Prosecuting Attorney
A drainage maintenance fund established under the drainage petition laws may be applied only to the repair, upkeep, and permanent maintenance of drainage improvements that were constructed in accordance with R.C. Chapter 940, 6131, 6133, or 6135. The board of county commissioners may not use the collected assessments for any other purpose. A board of county commissioners cannot convert multiple drainage maintenance districts created under R.C. 6137.04 into a single drainage fund assessed under R.C. 6117.02(D). Rather, the drainage fund and rates assessed under R.C. 6117.02 finance the maintenance of drainage facilities that are part of a county sewer district.
Requested by: Lawrence County Prosecuting Attorney
A county land reutilization corporation is not a financial institution within the meaning of R.C. 505.86(F). A township, therefore, does not have the authority to borrow money from a county land reutilization corporation.
Requested by: Lake County Prosecuting Attorney
The protection afforded a crime victim by R.C. 2930.07 against disclosure of identifying information applies and attaches to case documents associated with criminal or delinquent cases but only in limited circumstances in civil matters. A clerk of court’s duty to redact a victim’s information from all records relating to a civil protection order is triggered only when the order is violated, but the redaction requirement for a violation of a protection order, an offense of violence, or a sexually oriented offense applies automatically when the matter is filed with the clerk of courts and without any request by the victim.