The final word

Once the seven justices decide whether a municipal employer may set reasonable conditions for employment, perhaps the Ohio Supreme Court will settle these other state-level mysteries: Is the sky blue? Is water wet? Does a bear ... well, you know?
Those latter questions are easily answered. Whether a municipality may set conditions for employment - in this case, residency requirements - seems as simple: "Although the citizens of Ohio may have a right to determine where they live ... citizens do not have a right to live where they want and demand employment with a particular employer," the 3rd District Court of Appeals stated in December.
The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear the state's appeal of that ruling as well as a similar case from Akron. Arguments likely won't take place until fall, and a ruling isn't expected until early next year. At issue is whether local government or state government is the proper place to determine which rules local governments may impose for employment. The Ohio General Assembly in May 2005 passed a law prohibiting municipalities from enforcing residency requirements on workers, wiping out such rules in 125 cities and 13 villages.
Some of those municipalities fought back, with Lima being at the front. The city lost in Allen County Common Pleas Court, but the 3rd District Court of Appeals later overturned that ruling. The 6th District Court of Appeals, in Toledo, last month ruled in favor of that city's residency requirements, so the fight has moved high enough in enough places to warrant the Ohio Supreme Court settling the matter across the state.
This remains a matter of whether municipalities may impose residency requirements, not whether they should. That is a separate argument, best made at each local level. State lawmakers overstepped their bounds in trying to offer a one-size-fits-all cure for township residents who want the pay and benefits of municipal work, but not the obligations of residency that officials have decided should come with those benefits.
So, before moving on to those other mysteries named above, the seven justices of the Ohio Supreme Court ought to resolve for the state's attorneys and lawmakers who rightly decides on local rules.