Current Status:

• Ohio General Assembly Online: www.legislature.state.oh.us/search.cfm
  
  
• Ohio Capitol Connection: Staff use only.
  
  
• Lexis: OHIO Library; OHTRCK file
  
  
• Westlaw: OH-BILLTRK Database
  
  
• Ohio Legislative Hotline: 1-800-282-0253

Old Bills, not Enacted:

• Ohio General Assembly Online: 1997 to current.
  
  
• Ohio Capitol Connection: Staff use only. 1989 - current.

Enacted Laws:

• Ohio General Assembly Online: www.legislature.state.oh.us/search.cfm: 1997 to current.
  
  
• Ohio Capitol Connection: Staff use only. 1989 - current.
  
  
• Laws of Ohio: KFO25.A3 - State published (Official) session laws, usually a few years behind
  
  
• Baldwin's Ohio Legislative Service: KFO15.B34 - Published monthly. 1974 to current. On Westlaw: OH-LEGIS and OH-LEGIS-OLD. 1988 to current
  
  
• Page's Ohio Revised Code Bulletin: KFO30 1953 P3 - Published monthly
  
  
• Ohio Advanced Legislative Service: Lexis OHALS file. 1991 to current session
  
  
• Ohio Legislative Service Commission: KFO15.L43 - Summary of Enactments, a quick synopsis

Legislative History:

• Overview:
  Ohio Legal Research Guide, by Melanie K. Putnam and Susan M. Schaefgen (KFO 75.P88 1996)
  

  A Guide to Legislative History in Ohio, Prepared by: David M. Gold, LSC Attorney, Reviewed by: Rich Merkel, LSC Division Chief. Columbus, Ohio : Legislative Service Commission, [2010].
  Internet Access: www.lsc.state.oh.us/membersonly/128legislativehistory.pdf

  Guide to State Legislative and Administrative Materials by William H. Manz. Buffalo, New York: William S. Hein & Co., Inc., [2002]. Contains legislative history research guides for all 50 states.
  

• Pages or Baldwin's Ohio Revised Code
  Following the text of the statute, there may be reprints of committee comments or other language indicating intent.
  
  
• Debates and Hearings:
  Not officially recorded. Video recordings of floor debates going back to 1997 available at: The Ohio Channel
  
  

• Testimony and Committee Reports:
  Ohio Capitol Connection (118th GA forward); also includes reporters' notes of Committee activity. Some testimony is filmed for inclusion with the LSC bill analyses prepared by the Legislative Service Commission. Notes of hearings taken by Legislative Service Commission staff may include some testimony, and is available at the Legislative Service Commission library. Committee notebooks available at the House and Senate clerk's office for the past 2 sessions. Older committee notebooks at the Ohio Historical Society.

• Bills: (besides the text of the changes, additions or deletions to the revised code sections, the bill may contain other language indicating intent)
  Ohio government website: www.lsc.state.oh.us/(1997 and later)
  Ohio Capitol Connection (1989 and later)
  
  
• House and Senate Journals:
  Contain only procedural accounts of the legislative activity of each chamber. Contain voting records. The library has in print up to 1998. The journals for the 125th and 126th General Assemblies are available at Ohio General Assembly Legislative Search Page.
  
  
• Ohio Legislative Service Commission Analysis
  
  • Ohio Legislative Service Commission: 1997 to present
    
  • Ohio Capital Connection: Staff use only. 1989 - current. Also contains Fiscal Notes
    
  • Microfilm: 1961 - present
    
  • Summaries of Enactments (books): 1959 to present
    
  
  
  
• General Assembly Committee Files:
  At the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus, Ohio. Contains transcripts of hearings, reports, voting records, copies of bills and reference materials.
  
  
• Materials directly from the Legislature:
  Contacting the sponsor of the bill or committee chairman, who may have more information or documents.
  
  
• Law Review Articles and Treatises
  May contain a discussion of why a piece of legislation was enacted.
  
  
• Bar Association Reports
  Available from Ohio State Bar Association or Ohio State University Moritz Library
  
  
• Quick Fix:
  Find the code section in Page's or Baldwin's Ohio Revised Code.
  Look at the History references following the statute.
  Look up each reference in the Laws of Ohio to see what changes were made.

Print Sources:

• Baldwin's Ohio Revised Code Annotated, updated by the Ohio Legislative Service.
  
  

• Page's Ohio Revised Code, updated by monthly Bulletins.

Electronic Sources:

• Baldwin's Ohio Revised Code Annotated on Westlaw as OH-ST-ANN or OH-ST. Historical Annotated Statutes available for the past 10 years, see for example OH-STANN04.
  
  
• Page's Ohio Revised Code on Lexis in the Ohio Library as CODE. Codes from the past 10 years in the Legislative Archive file.
  
  
• The Library has Anderson's, West's, Loislaw's and Casemaker's versions of the Ohio Revised Code. Loislaw is available remotely to library members.
  
  
• Internet Sources: Ohio Revised Code (unannotated) is available on the LAWriter® website.

• Recent ones are on the Ohio Secretary of State and Ohio Governor's webpage. Ohio Capital Connection maintains a file of executive orders from 1999 and later. Ohio Capital Connection intends to make these available on its online database sometime in the near future. Older executive orders can be obtained at the Ohio Historical Society, or possibly by contacting the Ohio Secretary of State or the Governor's office. The Cleveland Law Library has a few older executive orders on file.

• Regulations promulgated by state agencies are published in Baldwin's Ohio Administrative Code which is updated by the Ohio Monthly Record. For updates beyond the latest edition of Ohio Monthly Record, and for proposed rule changes, see Register of Ohio and Joint Commission on Agency Rule Review. The Register of Ohio has information about the administrative rule making process. Especially see the guide to Abbreviations and Definitions.
  
  Note: Occasionally you will encounter regulations "adopted by reference." This means you will not find the full text of these regulations within the code. This is especially true in the building code, but the Ohio Basic Building Code sometimes contains the full text of these regulations. The Ohio Legislative Service Commission can provide the text of the regulations adopted by reference.

• The Ohio Administrative Code is available on the LAWriter® website.
  
  
• An Overview of Administrative Rule-Making Procedure in Ohio
  
  

• Proposed regulations can be tracked on the Ohio Legislative Service Commission's Register of Ohio They can also be tracked on either Lexis (OHIO Library, OHRGTR file) or Westlaw (OHREGTRK).

Revised Codes:

• Baldwin's has separate volumes for court rules; Page's has a separate volume for the Civil Rules but includes the others in relevant titles, such as the Criminal Rules in Title 29.

Deskbooks:

• Ohio Rules of Court-State (West)
  Rules Governing the Courts of Ohio (Anderson)
  
  
• Online: Ohio Supreme Court

Law Library Collection of Local Rules:

• The Library tries to maintain a current collection of local rules for every county in Ohio and also links to court websites under Ohio Courts on its Internet Legal Websites Page.

Secondary Sources:

• Anderson's Ohio Civil Practice: Pleading-Procedure-Forms
  
  
• Klein Darling Civil Practice (Baldwin's Ohio Practice)
  
  
• Ohio Civil Rules Practice with Forms (McCormac)

"Legislative History" or Background Materials for Rules:

• The Ohio Supreme Court's Website may have commentary available via the Rule Amendments Search
  
  
• Try Baldwin's Ohio Legislative Service Annotated (a.k.a. Ohio Legislative Service Pamphlet). In the final volume for the year in which the rule was passed or amended, look in the index table for the rule number. The index will tell you the volume and page number where you can find the rule changes, and possibly commentary on the rule. (example: 3R-16 is volume 3 page R-16)
  
  
• Page's Ohio Revised Code Annotated or Baldwin's Ohio Revised Code may reprint committee comments in the rules volumes.
  
  
• Law review and journal articles may discuss why a particular rule was enacted or changed.
  
  
• You may want to contact the Ohio Supreme Court and/or the court committee that enacted the rule to see if more materials are available.

The history of Ohio case reporting is complex, and the number of reporters that have appeared over time is great. However, this is the current situation:

• Ohio State Reports 3d Series
  Print: Beginning with V.61 in 1991, this series is published separately.
  CD-ROM: Anderson and West.
  Internet: Ohio Supreme Court website www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/
  Services: Lexis, Loislaw, Westlaw, Casemaker
  
  
• Ohio Appellate Reports 3d Series
  Print: Beginning with V.61 in 1991, this series is published separately.
  CD-ROM: Anderson and West.
  Internet: Ohio Supreme Court website www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/ and various sites gathered at the Law Library's Internet Legal Sites/Ohio Courts
  Services: Lexis, Loislaw, Westlaw, Casemaker
  
  
• Ohio Miscellaneous Reports 2d Series
  Print: Volumes 61-63 (1991-1993) were published separately. Beginning with V.64, this series is combined with Ohio Appellate Reports 3d Series.
  CD-ROM: Anderson and West.
  Services: Lexis, Loislaw, Westlaw, Casemaker
  
  
• Unreported Decisions
  With the creation of Web Citations, the difference in precedential value for reported and unreported cases has been eliminated for cases decided on and after May, 2002. See Supreme Court - Revisions to the Manual of Citations and Rules for Reporting Opinions
  Internet: Many courts are now putting their decisions on their websites. See the Law Library's Internet Legal Sites/Ohio Courts and Ohio Supreme Court website www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/newpdf/
  CD-ROM: Anderson's Ohio Law and West's Ohio Law on LawDesk contain specific databases for unreported cases.
  Services: Lexis, Loislaw, Casemaker, Westlaw
  Microfiche: The original series of unreported Ohio appellate cases, from 1981-1992. Most of these cases are now available in the other sources listed, but occasionally one will show up here and nowhere else!

Note: The Ohio Supreme Court Rules for Reporting Opinions (reprinted in both code sets) address issues of which cases will be reported.

• Shepards: Lexis, CD-ROM and print.
  
  
• KeyCite: Westlaw.
  
  
• Loislaw Globalcite: pulls up cases which cite the case in question, but does not contain signals such as overruled, followed, questioned, distinguished.
  
  
• Casemaker Case Check: When a case is pulled up, a list of cases citing that case will appear on the right side of the page. No signals.

Online Sources:

• Ohio Attorney General Opinions (www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Legal/Opinions)
  
  
• Ohio Board of Tax Appeals Opinions (www.bta.ohio.gov/)
  
  
• Civil Rights Commission Administrative Law Judge Reports (crc.ohio.gov/LegalPolicy/AdministrativeLawJudgeDecisions.aspx)
  
  
• Ohio Supreme Court Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline Opinions (www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/Boards/BOC/Advisory_Opinions/default.aspx)
  
  
• Ohio Ethics Commission Digest of Advisory Opinions (www.ethics.ohio.gov/advice/index.shtml)

Print Sources:

• Ohio Attorney General Opinions
  
  
• Ohio Environmental Board of Review Cases
  
  
• SERB Official Reporter
  
  
• Ohio Ethics Commission Advisory Opinions
  
  
• Ohio Supreme Court Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline Opinions, also on Casemaker

Commercial Sources:

• Lexis and Westlaw also contain many agency opinions. Check with a librarian for coverage.

Online Sources:

• West's Ohio Digest is part of the West Digest Topic and Keynumber System. It is a subject index to all reported Ohio case law, including cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts arising in or appealed in Ohio. It includes a Descriptive Word Index and Table of Cases. It is available on Westlaw in the library.
  
  
• Ohio Jurisprudence 3d contains statutory and case law in a narrative topical arrangement, with references and citations to leading primary and secondary sources. Includes Table of Statutes and Rules Cited, Table of Cases with Annotation References, Words and Phrases and a Desk Book. The latter contains various items useful to practitioners such as the Ohio Constitution, information about legislators and various statistical references. It is available remotely through the Members Only section of the Library website. Ohio Jurisprudence 3d is on Westlaw, which is available to members in the Library.

Seminars and CLE Materials:

• Various formats: handbooks, audio/video cassettes. Ask a librarian.

Procedural Formbooks:

• Ohio Forms of Pleading and Practice
  (also CD-ROM remotely and on Westlaw)
  
  
• Ohio Jurisprudence Pleading and Practice Forms (also CD-ROM remotely and on Westlaw)
  
  
• Anderson's Ohio Civil Practice: Pleading, Procedure, Forms
  
  
• Baldwin's Ohio Civil Practice(CD-Rom and Westlaw)

Transactional Formbooks:

• Ohio Forms and Transactions(CD-Rom)
  
  
• Ohio Transaction Guide: Legal Forms(on Lexis)
  
  
• Couse's Ohio Form Book
  
  
• Ohio Forms: Practice-Oriented Forms for Ohio Legal and Business Transactions(Remotely on CD-Rom and on Westlaw)

Treatises:

• Ask a librarian for suggestions on treatises in different subject areas. The Law Library also subscribes to the Baldwin's Practice Handbooks on CD-ROM and on Westlaw.

The Library receives print copies of:

• The Cleveland Plain Dealer (also online, see our Members Only Area)
  
  
• Crain's Cleveland Business
  
  
• Daily Legal News
  
  
• Ohio Lawyers Weekly (Ceased publication in December 2004)

The Library also subscribes to all of the Ohio law reviews.

• The Library has two current periodical indexes. One is LegalTrac, available online; material prior to 1980 is indexed in the Index to Legal Periodicals in print. The second is Index to Legal Periodicals, indexing publications from 1978 to current, available on Lexis filename ILP.

• Lexis has a major legal periodical database (LAWREV) with both the Index to Legal Periodicals and IAC's Legal Resource Index. Westlaw's legal periodical database (JLR). Try the database LAWREV-PRO to search all law review and journal articles.

• Information about Ohio lawyers can be found in the Ohio Legal Directory and the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, which are located on the Reference shelves near the front desk. The Martindale is also available on CD-ROM and the internet at: www.martindale.com/.

• The former West's Legal Directory is now at Findlaw: lawyers.findlaw.com/.

• The Ohio Supreme Court also maintains a database of attorneys who have been admitted to practice in Ohio. www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/AttySvcs/AttyReg/Public_AttorneyInformation.asp

• Daily Legal News has a search engine to find out if someone is currently registered to practice in Ohio, and current address.

• Ohio Super Lawyers is an annual publication, that reports the results of a survey of Ohio lawyers concerning the best lawyers in each practice area.(See the Local Materials at the Circulation Desk)

• See Our FAQ You and Your Lawyer for more information on finding and selecting an attorney.

• The Almanac of the Federal Judiciary contains information about all federal judges. KF8700 .A19 A46 1992

• The American Bench contains information about federal and state judges. CIR DESK KF8700.A19 A47 2004-05.