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The Legislative Service Commission staff updates the Revised Code on an ongoing basis, as it completes its act review of enacted legislation. Updates may be slower during some times of the year, depending on the volume of enacted legislation.

Chapter 3761 | Assemblies; Mobs

 
 
 
Section
Section 3761.01 | Assemblies - mob definitions.
 

As used in sections 3761.01 to 3761.10, inclusive, of the Revised Code:

(A) "Mob" means a collection of people assembled for an unlawful purpose and intending to do damage or injury to anyone, or pretending to exercise correctional power over other persons by violence and without authority of law.

(B) "Lynching" means an act of violence by a mob upon the body of any person.

(C) "Serious injury" means such injury as permanently or temporarily disables the person receiving it from earning a livelihood, by manual labor.

Section 3761.02 | Damages in case of assault.
 

A person taken from officers of justice by a mob, and assaulted with whips, clubs, missles, or in any other manner, may recover from the county in which the assault is made, damages not to exceed one thousand dollars.

Section 3761.03 | Damages in case of lynching.
 

A person assaulted and lynched by a mob may recover, from the county in which such assault is made, a sum of not to exceed five hundred dollars; or, if the injury received therefrom is serious, a sum of not to exceed one thousand dollars; or, if such injury results in permanent disability to earn a livelihood by manual labor, a sum of not to exceed five thousand dollars.

Section 3761.05 | Person suffering death or injury from a mob trying to lynch another.
 

Sections 3761.01 to 3761.10, inclusive, of the Revised Code shall apply to a person suffering death or injury from a mob while it is attempting to lynch another person. Such person, or his legal representatives, shall have a like right of action as one purposely injured or killed by such mob.

Section 3761.06 | Order to include amount of judgment.
 

When a recovery is had under sections 3761.02 to 3761.05, inclusive, of the Revised Code, the court shall include as a part of its judgment an order requiring the board of county commissioners to include the amount of the judgment in the next succeeding tax levy for such county.

Section 3761.07 | County's right of action against member of mob.
 

The county, in which a lynching occurs, may recover from any of the persons composing a mob the amount of a judgment and costs rendered against it, under sections 3761.01 to 3761.10, inclusive, of the Revised Code, in favor of the legal representatives of a person killed or seriously injured by such mob. A person present, with hostile intent, at a lynching is a member of the mob and is liable under this section.

Section 3761.08 | County's right of action against another county.
 

If a mob carries a prisoner into another county, or comes from another county to commit violence on a prisoner brought from such county for safekeeping, the county in which the lynching is committed may recover the amount of the judgment and costs, rendered against it under sections 3761.01 to 3761.10, inclusive, of the Revised Code, from the county from which the mob came, unless there was contributory negligence on the part of officials of the county bringing the action in failing to protect such prisoner or to disperse such mob.

Section 3761.09 | Limitations of action.
 

Actions for the recoveries provided in sections 3761.01 to 3761.10, inclusive, of the Revised Code, must be commenced, within two years from the date of the lynching, in any court having original jurisdiction of an action for damages for malicious assault.

Section 3761.10 | Person concerned in lynching not immune from prosecution.
 

Sections 3761.01 to 3761.10, inclusive, of the Revised Code shall not relieve a person concerned in such lynching from prosecution for homicide or assault for engaging therein.

Section 3761.12 | Prohibition against conspiracy while wearing disguise.
 

No person shall unite with two or more others to commit a misdemeanor while wearing white caps, masks, or other disguise.

Section 3761.16 | Areas threatened by riot or mob.
 

(A) As used in this section, "mob" has the same meaning as in section 3761.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) The chief administrative officer of a political subdivision with police powers, when engaged in suppressing a riot or a mob or when there is a clear and present danger of a riot or a mob, may cordon off any area or areas threatened by the riot or the mob and prohibit persons from entering the cordoned off area or areas except when carrying on necessary and legitimate pursuits and may prohibit the sale, offering for sale, dispensing, or transportation of dynamite or other dangerous explosives in, to, or from the cordoned off areas.

(C) The chief administrative officer of a political subdivision with police powers, when engaged in suppressing a riot or a mob or when there is a clear and present danger of a riot or a mob, may cordon off any area or areas threatened by the riot or the mob and prohibit persons from entering the cordoned off area or areas except when carrying on necessary and legitimate pursuits and may not prohibit the otherwise legal sale, offering for sale, dispensing, or transportation of firearms, other dangerous weapons, or ammunition by a person in a cordoned off area under either of the following circumstances:

(1) The cordoned off area encompasses the person's residence or business, or the person is accompanied by another person who resides or owns a business in the cordoned off area.

(2) The cordoned off area encompasses the person's place of employment.

(D) Divisions (C)(1) and (2) of this section do not apply to prisons or jails.

Last updated March 1, 2023 at 2:46 PM

Section 3761.99 | Penalty.
 

Whoever violates section 3761.12 of the Revised Code is guilty of a felony of the fourth degree.