It is common sense that a law cannot be followed unless those affected by the law are aware of the law or can become aware of the law. Consistent with that principle, the Constitution requires that laws be “promulgated” before those laws can be enforced. Promulgated means “announced or proclaimed,” usually by written publication.
When someone wants to know whether any particular action or omission is lawful, that person can often use internet search engines like Google to try to identify whether there are laws that affect the anticipated action.
At times, those searching for laws online can be blessed with some article from an attorney or group of affected people that tries to explain the law in “regular person” terms. In fact, this column is designed to assist in that task each week.
To try to accommodate the Constitutional requirement that laws are communicated to people who may be affected and to position people to educate themselves on applicable laws, certain steps are required for most laws before those laws take effect.
At the state level, a law passed by the Ohio General Assembly does not take effect until 90 days after the governor signs the law or after the governor’s 10-day window to sign the law expires. These laws are usually published in the Ohio Revised Code, which is available online.
State government agencies (like the Department of Agriculture or the Department of Insurance) can create laws, too. Those laws are called regulations and generally cannot contradict laws passed by the General Assembly. Ohio regulations are published in the Ohio Administrative Code, which is available online.
For municipalities, the default is that every new law (called ordinances or resolutions) to take effect, the legislative authority (council) for that municipality must bring the law up for discussion three separate times, each time requiring a majority “yes” vote for the law to be considered the next time. Upon the third majority vote of “yes,” the law will take effect only 30 days later.
Local municipalities (cities and villages) are also required to “publish” their ordinances and resolutions. The challenge is that, traditionally, the only way for these communities to “publish” was to pay for an advertisement in the local newspaper. This is problematic, because many communities are no longer served by any newspaper, and in other circumstances, the cost to advertise only a few-sentence summary of a new law can cost hundreds of dollars.
Fortunately, the Ohio General Assembly changed Ohio law last month to allow municipalities to have law publication options beyond local newspaper advertising. Now, municipalities can also alternatively publish new ordinances and regulations on a statewide website or on the municipality’s website and social media account.
These deliberate steps and delays before laws become effective are designed to allow people affected by laws to become aware of laws and their requirements.
Nevertheless, with the innumerable laws that are or could possibly be applicable, sometimes the only way to confidently identify all potentially applicable laws is to hire an attorney.
Today’s Business section can be found at the end of the A section in the e-edition of Saturday’s The Lima News.
Lee R. Schroeder is an Ohio licensed attorney at Schroeder Law LLC in Putnam County. He limits his practice to business, real estate, estate planning and agriculture issues in northwest Ohio. He can be reached at [email protected] or at 419-659-2058. This article is not intended to serve as legal advice, and specific advice should be sought from the licensed attorney of your choice based upon the specific facts and circumstances that you face.
