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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 7 | Process; Publication

 
 
 
Section
Section 7.01 | Form for process.
 

Process shall be under the seal of the court from which it issues, shall be styled "The State of Ohio, _______________ County," shall be signed by the clerk of such court, and shall bear the date of the day it actually is issued.

Section 7.10 | Legal advertisements, notices, and proclamations.
 

For the publication of advertisements, notices, and proclamations, except those relating to proposed amendments to the Ohio Constitution, required to be published by a public officer of the state, a benevolent or other public institution, a trustee, assignee, executor, or administrator, or by or in any court of record, except when the rate is otherwise fixed by law, publishers of newspapers may charge and receive for such advertisements, notices, and proclamations rates charged on annual contracts by them for a like amount of space to other advertisers who advertise in its general display advertising columns.

For the publication of advertisements, notices, or proclamations required to be published by a public officer of a county, municipal corporation, township, school, or other political subdivision, publishers of newspapers shall establish a government rate. The government rate shall not exceed the lowest classified advertising rate and lowest insert rate paid by other advertisers.

Legal advertising appearing in print, except that relating to proposed amendments to the Ohio Constitution, shall be set up in a compact form, without unnecessary spaces, blanks, or headlines, and printed in not smaller than six-point type. The type used must be of such proportions that the body of the capital letter M is no wider than it is high and all other letters and characters are in proportion.

Except as provided in section 2701.09 of the Revised Code, all legal advertisements, notices, and proclamations shall be printed in a newspaper of general circulation and shall be posted by the publisher of the newspaper on the newspaper's internet web site, if the newspaper has one. A publisher of a newspaper shall not charge for posting legal advertisements, notices, and proclamations that are required by law to be published in a newspaper of general circulation on the newspaper's internet web site.

Section 7.101 | Publication of proposed amendments to the Ohio constitution.
 

For publication of proposed amendments to the Ohio constitution, ballot language, and explanations and arguments both for and against proposed amendments, referenda, or laws proposed by initiative petitions, publishers of newspapers may charge and receive rates charged on annual contracts by them for a like amount of space to other advertisers who advertise in its general display advertising columns.

Legal advertising of proposed amendments to the constitution shall be printed in display form and shall meet the following specifications. The advertisements shall contain a headline entitled "proposed amendment to the Ohio constitution" printed in not smaller than thirty point type. The ballot language, and explanations and arguments both for and against the proposed amendments, shall be printed in type not smaller than ten point type. For referenda and laws proposed by initiative petitions, the advertisement shall contain a headline entitled "referendum" or, when appropriate, "proposed law" printed in not smaller than thirty point type. All advertisements shall contain such normal spaces and blanks as contribute to clarity and understanding and the entire section of each publication shall be enclosed by a black border line of the same point type size as corresponds to the type size of the ballot language. The notice shall be printed in two or more columns if necessary to contribute to clarity or understanding or if necessary to accommodate the black border outline.

All legal advertisements or notices under this section shall be printed in newspapers published in the English language only.

Section 7.11 | Publication in newspaper of general circulation.
 

A proclamation for an election, an order fixing the time of holding court, notice of the rates of taxation, bridge and pike notices, notice to contractors, and such other advertisements of general interest to the taxpayers as the county auditor, county treasurer, probate judge, or board of county commissioners deems proper shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation, as defined in section 7.12 of the Revised Code at the county seat. In counties having cities of eight thousand inhabitants or more, not the county seat of such counties, additional publication of such notice shall be made in a newspaper of general circulation, as defined in such section, in such city.

The cost of any publication authorized by this section, which shall be printed in display form, shall be the government rate established by such newspaper under section 7.10 of the Revised Code.

Section 7.12 | Qualifications for newspapers publishing legal notices.
 

(A) Whenever a state agency or a political subdivision of the state is required by law to make any legal publication in a newspaper, the newspaper shall be a newspaper of general circulation. As used in the Revised Code, "newspaper" or "newspaper of general circulation," except daily law journals in existence on or before July 1, 2011, and performing the functions described in section 2701.09 of the Revised Code for a period of three years immediately preceding any such legal publication required to be made, is a publication bearing a title or name that is regularly issued at least once a week, and that meets all of the following requirements:

(1) It is printed in the English language using standard printing methods, being not less than eight pages in the broadsheet format or sixteen pages in the tabloid format.

(2) It contains at least twenty-five per cent editorial content, which includes, but is not limited to, local news, political information, and local sports.

(3) It has been published continuously for at least three years immediately preceding legal publication by the state agency or political subdivision.

(4) The publication has the ability to add subscribers to its distribution list.

(5) The publication is circulated generally by United States mail or carrier delivery in the political subdivision responsible for legal publication or in the state, if legal publication is made by a state agency, by proof of the filing of a United States postal service "Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation" (PS form 3526) with the local postmaster, or by proof of an independent audit of the publication performed, within the twelve months immediately preceding legal publication.

(B) A person who disagrees that a publication is a "newspaper of general circulation" in which legal publication may be made under this section may deliver a written request for mediation to the publisher of the publication and to the court of common pleas of the county in which is located the political subdivision in which the publication is circulated, or in the Franklin county court of common pleas if legal publication is to be made by a state agency. The court of common pleas shall appoint a mediator, and the parties shall follow the procedures of the mediation program operated by the court.

Section 7.13 | Publishing expenses allowed as costs.
 

The publication of an advertisement, notice, or proclamation, required by law to be published in a newspaper by a trustee, assignee, executor, administrator, receiver, or other officer of the court or a party in a case or proceeding, shall be approved by the court or clerk thereof and allowed as a part of the costs in the case or proceeding.

Section 7.15 | Deposit to cover costs of publication.
 

In any action brought in any court, other than the probate court, in which service by publication is made, the party causing such publication to be made shall deposit with the clerk or other proper officer of such court an amount of money as determined by the clerk to be sufficient to cover the cost of such publication, and the clerk may pay from such deposit the cost of such publication upon its completion and the filing of proof of publication. If court costs are taxed against a party to such action, other than the party making such deposit, the clerk or other proper officer may, upon the payment of such costs, return said deposit to the party who made it.

Section 7.16 | Abbreviated publication.
 

(A) As used in this section:

(1) "State agency" means any organized body, office, agency, institution, or other entity established by the laws of the state for the exercise of any function of state government, including state institutions of higher education, as defined in section 3345.011 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Political subdivision" has the meaning defined in section 2744.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) If a section of the Revised Code or an administrative rule requires a state agency or a political subdivision to publish a notice or advertisement two or more times in a newspaper of general circulation and the section or administrative rule refers to this section, the first publication of the notice or advertisement shall be made in its entirety in a newspaper of general circulation and may be made in a preprinted insert in the newspaper, but the second publication otherwise required by that section or administrative rule may be made in abbreviated form in a newspaper of general circulation in the state or in the political subdivision, as designated in that section or administrative rule, and on the newspaper's internet web site, if the newspaper has one. The state agency or political subdivision may eliminate any further newspaper publications required by that section or administrative rule, provided that the second, abbreviated notice or advertisement meets all of the following requirements:

(1) It is published in the newspaper of general circulation in which the first publication of the notice or advertisement was made.

(2) It is posted by the publisher of the newspaper on the official public notice web site established under section 125.182 of the Revised Code. The publisher shall post the required notice or advertisement on the web site at no additional cost.

(3) It includes a title, followed by a summary paragraph or statement that clearly describes the specific purpose of the notice or advertisement, and includes a statement that the notice or advertisement is posted in its entirety on the official public notice web site. The notice or advertisement also may be posted on the state agency's or political subdivision's internet web site.

(4) It includes the internet address of the official public notice web site and the name, address, telephone number, and electronic mail address of the state agency, political subdivision, or other party responsible for publication of the notice or advertisement.

(C) A notice or advertisement published under this section on an internet web site shall be published in its entirety in accordance with the section of the Revised Code or the administrative rule that requires the publication.

(D) If the official public notice web site established under section 125.182 of the Revised Code is not operational, the state agency or political subdivision shall not publish a notice or advertisement under this section, but instead shall comply with the publication requirements of the section of the Revised Code or the administrative rule that refers to this section.