Section 103.05 | Codification of administrative rules - publications.
(A) The director of the legislative service commission shall be the codifier of the rules of the administrative agencies of the state. In accordance with sections 149.21 to 149.27 of the Revised Code, the commission is the official publisher of the Ohio administrative code.
(B) The director, considering the objectives of uniform codification and the principles of legal drafting, shall publish a rule drafting manual that states standards and procedures to be followed by an agency in drafting a rule that is to be codified into the administrative code. The director shall periodically revise and publish a new edition of the manual to maintain the uniformity of the administrative code. In preparing and updating the rule drafting manual, the director shall consider sections 1.31 and 1.41 to 1.59 of the Revised Code and apply the principles of statutory construction to rule drafting. The rule drafting manual shall prescribe and explain any matters the director determines are pertinent to the uniformity of the administrative code, including:
(1) The rule numbering system an agency shall follow to codify a rule into the administrative code;
(2) The structure of a rule, including:
(a) The rule number;
(b) The subject matter heading, the principal text, any appendices, and the supplemental information, including information with respect to the history of the rule;
(c) A certification that the rule has been lawfully adopted;
(d) The effective date, expiration date, and periodic five-year review date of the rule.
(3) The standard format for drafting an amendment to an existing rule or an appendix if there is one, an enactment of a new rule or appendix, and a rescission of an existing rule or appendix.
(C) When a rule is filed under section 111.15, 119.03, or 119.04 of the Revised Code, the director shall examine the rule.
If the rule does not comply with this section or the rule drafting manual, the director shall give notice of the noncompliance in electronic form to the agency that filed the rule within thirty days after the date on which the rule is filed. The notice shall indicate why the rule does not comply with this section or the rule drafting manual and how the rule can be brought into compliance. The failure of the director to give an agency notice within the thirty-day period presumptively establishes that the rule complies with this section and the rule drafting manual.
(D) Any person may publish an acceptable administrative code. The director shall approve as acceptable any person's publication of the code conforming to the requirements of this division.
An Ohio administrative code approved as acceptable by the director shall:
(1) Contain a compilation of the full text of, or a reference to, each rule filed under section 111.15 or 119.04 of the Revised Code;
(2) Presumptively establish the rules of all agencies adopting rules under section 111.15 or Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that are in effect on the day of its initial publication;
(3) Contain the full text of, or a reference to, each rule adopted after its initial publication and be updated at least quarterly;
(4) Contain an index of the rules and references to rules that are included in the code and each supplement using terms easily understood by the general public;
(5) Be published in electronic or print format following, to the extent possible, the subject matter arrangement of the Revised Code;
(6) Be numbered according to the numbering system devised by the director.
Last updated July 16, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Available Versions of this Section
- September 10, 2012 – House Bill 487 - 129th General Assembly [ View September 10, 2012 Version ]
- August 18, 2019 – Amended by Senate Bill 221 - 132nd General Assembly [ View August 18, 2019 Version ]
- September 30, 2025 – Amended by House Bill 96 - 136th General Assembly [ View September 30, 2025 Version ]