Attorney General Opinions

Among the many duties of the Ohio Attorney General is that of providing formal advice by way of written opinions. The Attorney General issues formal opinions on questions of law to either house of the General Assembly, when so requested by resolution, R.C. 109.13, the prosecuting attorneys of the several counties respecting their duties in all complaints, suits, and controversies in which the state is, or may be, a party, R.C. 109.14, and the law directors of home rule townships, id.

The Attorney General also furnishes legal opinions to the agencies, officers, boards, commissions, and departments of state government, in all matters relating to their official duties, R.C. 109.12. The Opinions Section researches, writes, and prepares for issuance and publication all formal opinions of the Attorney General.

The Attorney General's web site includes all formal opinions issued from 1994 to the present, in full-text format. You may print copies of these opinions from that site. If you are looking for a formal opinion issued before 1994, you may write the Opinions Section at:

Attorney General
c/o Opinions Section
30 East Broad Street, 15th Floor
Columbus, OH 43215

You may also email OpinionsRequest@ag.state.oh.us to request a copy of the previously-issued opinion.

The Opinions Section does not provide legal advice in response to inquiries received via e-mail. The Attorney General and the Opinions Section do not render formal or informal opinions via e-mail.

The Compatibility of Public Offices or Positions serves as a reference guide to the many Attorney General opinions that have addressed the compatibility of particular public offices or positions.

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The Formal Opinions Process

The Attorney General’s Opinions Section prepares and issues numerous formal opinions each year on a wide range of legal subjects. A request for an opinion must be submitted, in writing, by an entity or official to whom the Attorney General may render advice. The Attorney General does not issue opinions to private citizens. A formal opinion cannot address questions committed to another branch of government, questions about the constitutionality of a state or federal statute, or matters that are in litigation. A formal opinion cannot resolve disputed matters of fact.

The formal opinions process begins when a person submits a letter to the Attorney General requesting a legal opinion on a specific question of law. The letter is acknowledged by the Opinions Section, docketed, and assigned to an attorney in the Section. A summary of the request’s subject matter is published in the Ohio State Bar Association Report and posted on the Requests for Opinions page of the Attorney General’s web site. Parties interested in a particular request are invited to submit comments or analysis to the Opinions Section by way of letter, memorandum, or other written format.

The attorney to whom the request is assigned will, if necessary, contact the requester for further factual or legal information, and then conduct a thorough and detailed review of the law pertinent to the questions presented. Once that research is completed, the attorney prepares a draft opinion, which then proceeds through several levels of review before it is presented to the Attorney General for approval and signature.

Following signature by the Attorney General, the opinion is issued to the requester. The opinion is also published in the appropriate annual volume of the Ohio Attorney General Opinions. Each formal opinion is also posted on the Attorney General’s web site.

While state law does not impose a deadline for responding to opinion requests, it is the Attorney General’s goal to issue each formal opinion within 90 days of its docketing by the Opinions Section.