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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: Summit County Prosecuting Attorney
Neither R.C. 307.07 nor R.C. 307.85(A) provide an Ohio county or a multi-county joint office of economic development the authority to apply for and accept a grant of authority from the Foreign-Trade Zones Board to be a foreign trade zone grantee under 15 C.F.R. 400.12. A foreign trade zone grantee may be either a port authority or a corporation organized and chartered for the purpose of establishing, operating, and maintaining a foreign trade zone.
Requested by: Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney
In accordance with R.C. 2930.07, a public office that maintains case documents with a crime victim’s identifying information has discretion, but no obligation, to share the unredacted records with another public office or official that is charged with knowing a crime victim’s information. A public office or official is charged with knowing a victim’s identifying information only if they have duties related to the individual victim beyond a general concern or interest in public safety. A public office or official that receives unredacted case documents must not disclose a victim’s identifying information to an unauthorized person or the public if the victim previously requested to have information redacted or otherwise qualifies to have that information automatically redacted.
Requested by: Morrow County Prosecuting Attorney
A person may serve as both township fiscal officer and member of the board of zoning appeals in the same township, provided that the township fiscal officer refrains from assisting in the preparation of the township’s budget with respect to the board of zoning appeals.
Requested by: Brown County Prosecuting Attorney
The position of county bridge inspector/safety manager in a county engineer’s office and the position of township fiscal officer in the same county are compatible where the duties assigned to the bridge inspector/safety manager are limited to inspecting county bridges, overseeing safety, and conducting safety training for the county highway department, provided that the person, as township fiscal officer, refrains from assisting in the preparation or presentation of the township's budget for bridge infrastructure projects.
Requested by: Highland County Prosecuting Attorney
When real or personal property is forfeited to the county pursuant to a court order under R.C. Chapter 2981, the board of county commissioners must receive clear title to the forfeited property before any sale by auction. Depending on the type of property and the specifics of the court order, a law enforcement agency may physically possess and use the forfeited property even though the commissioners hold title to it as county property. The board of county commissioners must follow R.C. 2981.11 to 2981.13, as well as the court’s forfeiture order, in disposing of forfeited property. If the property is not destroyed, sold by auction, or used by the law enforcement agency, the county commissioners may dispose of it only in a manner the court determines appropriate.