Government of Ohio#Legislative Branch

The daily administration of the state’s laws are carried out by six elected statewide officials; the chief executive the Governor, and their second in command the Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General, the State Treasurer, the State Auditor, and by the staff and employees of the executive branch agencies.

{{Gallery

|File:Gov-Mike-DeWine.jpg|Mike DeWine (R)
Governor

|File:Jim Tressel 2025 portrait (cropped).jpg|Jim Tressel (R)
Lieutenant Governor

|File: Dave Yost at Federalist Society 1 (cropped).jpg|Dave Yost (R)
Attorney General

|File:LaRose-6 (cropped).JPG|Frank LaRose (R)
Secretary of State

|File:Ohio Senate 130th General Assemby 2013-2014 - DPLA - 4dd33bcc8c6b71853ab731d33616f568 (page 2).jpg|Keith Faber (R)
State Auditor

|File:Robert Sprague 2018 rally (cropped 2).jpg|Robert Sprague (R)
State Treasurer

|title=Statewide Elected Executive Officials}}

All are elected statewide for four-year terms, all on a partisan ballot, with the Governor and Lieutenant Governor elected on a single ticket.

{{main|Cabinet of the Governor of Ohio}}

The state government is primarily organized into several cabinet or administrative departments:{{cite book|chapter=The Ohio Executive Branch|pages=263–264|title=Ohio Politics|first=John J.|last=Gargan|editor-first=Mary Anne|editor-last=Sharkey|year=1994|publisher=Kent State University Press|isbn=0-87338-509-8|lccn=94-7637|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v7hkbUXIQdwC&pg=PA264}}Ohio Revised Code § 121.01 et seq. Ohio Revised Code § 5703.01 et seq. Ohio Revised Code § 3301.13.

• Department of Administrative Services
• Department of Aging
• Department of Agriculture
• Office of Budget and Management File:Rhodes Tower1.jpg in Columbus]]
• Department of Commerce
• Department of Development
• Department of Developmental Disabilities
• Department of Education
• Environmental Protection Agency
• Department of Health
• Department of Insurance
• Department of Job and Family Services
• Department of Medicaid
• Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services
• Department of Natural Resources
• Department of Public Safety
• Department of Rehabilitation and Correction
• Department of Taxation
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Veterans Services
• Department of Youth Services

Notices and proposed rules are published in the Register of Ohio,{{cite book|title=Tapping State Government Information Sources|page=306|first1=Lori L.|last1=Smith|first2=Daniel C.|last2=Barkley|first3=Daniel C.|last3=Cornwall|first4=Eric W.|last4=Johnson|first5=J. Louise|last5=Malcomb|year=2003|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=1-57356-387-0|lccn=2002044846|ref={{harvid|Smith et al.|2003}}|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4zo-J7chfmMC&pg=PA306}} which are codified in the Ohio Administrative Code (OAC).{{cite book|title=Ohio Legal Research Guide|first1=Melanie K.|last1=Putnam|first2=Susan M.|last2=Schaefgen|year=1997|page=[https://archive.org/details/ohiolegalresearc0000putn/page/198 198]|publisher=Wm. S. Hein Publishing|isbn=1-57588-087-3|lccn=96-16186|url=https://archive.org/details/ohiolegalresearc0000putn|url-access=registration}}{{cite web|title=Ohio Legal Research|publisher=Supreme Court of Ohio|access-date=30 August 2013|url=http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/Publications/lib_series/9.pdf}}

{{Main|Ohio General Assembly}}

File:Ohio House of Representatives.jpg]]

The legislative branch, the Ohio General Assembly, is made up of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives is composed of 99 members elected from single-member districts of equal population. Each of the 33 senate districts is formed by combining three house districts. Senators serve four-year staggered terms and representatives serve two-year terms. The General Assembly, with the approval of the Governor, draws the U.S. congressional district lines for Ohio's 15 seats in the United States House of Representatives. The Ohio Apportionment Board draws state legislative district lines in Ohio.

In order to be enacted into law, a bill must be adopted by both houses of the General Assembly and signed by the Governor. If the Governor vetoes a bill, the General Assembly can override the veto with a three-fifths supermajority of both houses. A bill will also become a law if the Governor fails to sign or veto it within 10 days of its being presented. The session laws are published in the official Laws of Ohio.{{sfn|Putnam|Schaefgen|1997|pp=31-32}} These in turn have been codified in the Ohio Revised Code.{{sfn|Putnam|Schaefgen|1997|pp=65-66}}

{{main|Judiciary of Ohio}}

The judicial branch is headed by the Ohio Supreme Court, which has one chief justice and six associate justices, each elected to staggered six-year terms.

File:Ohio Supreme Court.jpg

There are several other levels of elected judiciary in the Ohio court system:

• State court of claims, which has jurisdiction over all civil actions against the State of Ohio in situations in which the state has waived its sovereign immunity.
• State courts of appeal (12 district appeals courts): These are the intermediate appellate courts.
• County courts of common pleas: 88 county common pleas courts{{spaced ndash}}These are the principal courts of first instance for civil and criminal matters. In populous areas, there are often several divisions, such as general, juvenile, probate, and domestic relations.
• Municipal courts and county courts{{spaced ndash}}these courts primarily handle minor matters, such as traffic adjudication and other misdemeanor and small claims.

Judges in Ohio are generally elected, except for the Court of Claims, for which judges sit by assignment of the chief justice. When there are temporary vacancies in elected judgeships, those vacancies are also filled by assignment by the chief justice.

{{main|Administrative divisions of Ohio|Ohio county government}}

File:Columbus-ohio-city-hall.jpg

There are also several levels of local government in Ohio: counties, municipalities (cities and villages), townships, special districts and school districts.

Ohio is divided into 88 counties.{{citation|title=Individual State Descriptions: 2007|series=2007 Census of Governments|date=November 2012|page=235|publisher=United States Census Bureau|url=http://www2.census.gov/govs/cog/isd_book.pdf|ref={{harvid|Census|2007}}}} Ohio law defines a structure for county government, although they may adopt charters for home rule.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}}{{sfn|Putnam|Schaefgen|1997|pp=[https://archive.org/details/ohiolegalresearc0000putn/page/106 106]–114}} Summit County{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}} and Cuyahoga County{{cite web|url=http://council.cuyahogacounty.us/pdf_council/en-US/Legislation/Charter/2018/COUNTY%20CHARTER%20WITH%20EXECUTED%20CERTIFICATE%20PAGE%20AS%20OF%2011-6-2018.pdf |title=Charter |date=2018 |website=council.cuyahogacounty.us |format=PDF |access-date=2019-07-17}} have chosen an alternate form of government. The other counties have a government with a three-member board of county commissioners,Ohio Revised Code § 305.01 et seq. a sheriff,Ohio Revised Code § 311.01 coroner,Ohio Revised Code § 313.01 auditor,Ohio Revised Code § 319.01 treasurer,Ohio Revised Code § 321.01 clerk of the court of common pleasOhio Revised Code § 2303.01 prosecutor,Ohio Revised Code § 309.01 engineer,Ohio Revised Code § 315.01 and recorder.Ohio Revised Code § 317.01

There are two kinds of incorporated municipalities, 251 cities and 681 villages.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}}{{cite book | last = Ohio Secretary of State | title = The Ohio Municipal, Township and School Board Roster | url = http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/publications.aspx#munros}}{{cite web|url=https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_GCTPL1.ST13&prodType=table|title=American FactFinder - Results|publisher=United States Census Bureau|website=factfinder.census.gov|access-date=2019-07-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203070753/https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_GCTPL1.ST13&prodType=table|archive-date=2017-12-03|url-status=dead}} If a municipality has five thousand or more residents as of the last United States Census it is a city, otherwise it is a village.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}}{{cite web|url=http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/703.01 |title=Ohio Revised Code Section 703.01(A) |access-date=2007-09-12 }} Municipalities have full home rule powers, may adopt a charter, ordinances and resolutions for self-government.{{sfn|Putnam|Schaefgen|1997|pp=106-114}} Each municipality chooses its own form of government, but most have elected mayors and city councils or city commissions. City governments provide much more extensive services than county governments, such as police forces and paid (as opposed to volunteer) fire departments.

File:Cleveland City Hall in 2012.jpg

The entire area of the state is encompassed by townships.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}} When the boundaries of a township are coterminous with the boundaries of a city or village, the township ceases to exist as a separate government (called a paper township).{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}} Townships are governed by a three-member board of township trustees.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}} Townships may have limited home rule powers.{{sfn|Putnam|Schaefgen|1997|pp=110-111}}

There are more than 600 city, local, and exempted village school districts providing K-12 education in Ohio, as well as about four dozen joint vocation school districts which are separate from the K-12 districts. Each city school district, local school district, or exempted village school district is governed by an elected board of education.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}} A school district previously under state supervision (municipal school district) may be governed by a board whose members either are elected or appointed by the mayor of the municipality containing the greatest portion of the district's area.{{sfn|Census|2007|p=235}}

• Politics of Ohio
• Law of Ohio

{{reflist}}

• [https://ohio.gov/ Ohio.gov]
• [https://www.usaspending.gov/recipient/962ab0fa-d7c8-1a8a-c096-18c1fccae7b7-P State of Ohio] recipient profile on USAspending.gov

{{Ohio}}

{{Governments of the United States}}

Ohio