Constitution of Ohio
The Constitution of the State of Ohio is the basic governing document of the State of Ohio, which in 1803 became the 17th state to join the United States of America. Ohio has had three constitutions; one before and two since statehood was granted. The current constitution dates to 1851, although it has been substantially amended.
The Northwest Ordnance (1787)
Ohio was created from the easternmost portion of the Northwest Territory. In 1787, the Congress of the Confederation of the United States passed the Northwest Ordinance, establishing a territorial government and providing that "here shall be formed in the said territory, not less than three nor more than five states." The Ordinance prohibited slavery and provided for freedom of worship, the right of habeas corpus and trial by jury, and the right to make bail except for capital offenses. Ohio courts have noted that the Northwest Ordinance "was ever considered as the fundamental law of the territory."1802 Constitution
The Ohio territory's population grew steadily in the 1790s and early 19th century. Congress passed an enabling bill to establish a new state, which President Thomas Jefferson signed into law on April 30, 1802. A state constitutional convention was held in November 1802 in Chillicothe, Ohio, and it adopted what became known as the 1802 Constitution. Largely due to the perception that territorial governor Arthur St. Clair had ruled heavy-handedly, the constitution provided for a "weak" governor and judiciary, and vested virtually all power in a bicameral legislature, known as the General Assembly. Congress simply recognized the existence of the "state of Ohio" rather than passing a separate resolution declaring Ohio a state as it had done and would do with other new states. On February 19, 1803, President Jefferson signed the bill into law. It provided that Ohio "had become one of the United States of America," and that Federal law "shall have the same force and effect within the said State of Ohio, as elsewhere within the United States." Scholars Stephen H. Steinglass and Gino J. Scarselli suggest that St. Clair's Federalist affiliation played a key role in the hasty passage, given that most Ohioans sided with Jefferson's Republican Party.Many tax protesters use this as an argument that Ohio was not a state until 1953. But this view was defeated in Bowman v. United States, 920 F. Supp. 623 n.1 .
The first General Assembly first met in Chillicothe, the new state capital, on March 1, 1803. This has come to be considered the date of Ohio statehood.
Judge Charles Willing Byrd was the primary author of the document. He used the 1796 constitution of Tennessee as a model, with those of Pennsylvania and Kentucky as other influences. Provisions in the constitution included a ban on slavery but also included a prohibition on African American suffrage. The constitution provided for amendment only by convention. An attempt in 1819 was rejected by voters.
1851 Constitution
In the early decades of statehood, it became clear that the General Assembly was disproportionately powerful as compared to the executive and judicial branches. Much of state business was conducted through private bills, and partisan squabbling greatly reduced the ability of state government to do its work. The legislature widely came to be perceived as corrupt, subsidizing private companies and granting special privileges in corporate charters. State debt also exploded between 1825 and 1840. A new constitution, greatly redressing the checks and balances of power, was drafted by a convention in 1850-51, as directed by the voters, and subsequently adopted in a statewide referendum on June 17, 1851, taking effect on September 1 of that year. This is the same constitution under which the state of Ohio operates. The later "constitutions" were viewed as such, but in reality were large-scale revisions.Two key issues debated at the convention were African American suffrage and prohibition of alcohol. Delegates rejected proposals to allow Black suffrage in the state. They did not decide on prohibition, however. Instead, a second question asked Ohio voters if they wished to permit the licensing of alcohol sales, who rejected the proposition. This did not constitute a complete prohibition on alcohol, however.
1873 Constitutional Convention
A constitutional convention in 1873, chaired by future Chief Justice of the United States Morrison R. Waite, proposed a new constitution that would have provided for annual sessions of the legislature, a veto for the governor which could be overridden by a three-fifths vote of each house, establishment of state circuit courts, eligibility of women for election to school boards, and restrictions on municipal debt. Delegates proposed the creation of circuit courts to relieve the Ohio Supreme Court's backlog of cases. The proposed document also made these circuits the final arbiter of facts. Waite took a leading role in this specific proposal. It was soundly defeated by the voters in August 1873. A key provision which led to the defeat was another attempt to permit the licensing of liquor sales. Prohibition advocates rallied popular support against the proposal.In 1903, an amendment granted the governor veto powers.
1912 amendments
In the Progressive Era, pent-up demand for reform led to convening the Ohio Constitutional Convention. The delegates were generally progressive in their outlook, and noted Ohio historian George W. Knepper wrote, "It was perhaps the ablest group ever assembled in Ohio to consider state affairs." Several national leaders addressed the convention, including President William Howard Taft, an Ohioan; former president Theodore Roosevelt; three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan; California's progressive governor Hiram Johnson; and Ohio's own reform-minded Gov. Judson Harmon.Recalling how the 1873 convention's work had all been for naught, the 1912 convention drafted and submitted to the voters a series of amendments to the 1851 Constitution. The amendments expanded the state's bill of rights, provided for voter-led initiative and referendum, established civil service protections, and granted the governor a line-item veto in appropriation bills. Other amendments empowered the legislature to fix the hours of labor, establish a minimum wage and a workers compensation system, and address a number of other progressive measures. A home rule amendment was proposed for Ohio cities with populations over 5,000.
On September 3, 1912, despite strong conservative opposition, voters adopted 34 of the 42 proposed amendments. It was so sweeping a change to the 1851 Constitution that most legal scholars consider it to have become a new "1912 Constitution." Among the eight losing proposed amendments were female suffrage, the use of voting machines, the regulation of outdoor advertising and abolition of the death penalty. Voters also rejected a proposal to strike the word "white" from the 1851 Constitution's definition of voter eligibility. Although black people could vote in all State and Federal elections in Ohio due to the Fifteenth Amendment, the text of the State Constitution was not changed until 1923. Urban voters propelled most the amendments to passage. Rural voters rejected most of them.
In 1969, the General Assembly established the Ohio Constitutional Revision Commission. This commission made a number of recommendations to the General Assembly regarding amendments to the constitution. The legislature ended up submitting sixty amendments to the people, many of which were passed.
A similar commission, the Ohio Constitution Modernization Commission, was established in 2011. The legislature failed to propose most of its recommendations and terminated it before its intended sunset date of 2020. The main success of the commission came in reforming the process of apportionment in Ohio, which eventually led to the establishment of the state's redistricting commission.
Current constitution
The original 1851 constitution had 16 articles and 169 sections. The present document has 19 articles and 225 sections. There have been 170 amendments made. Most amendments occurred after 1912, when the requirements for passing amendments loosened.The current state constitution contains the following articles:
Preamble
While the preamble does not enact any positive laws, the Ohio Supreme Court has established that it creates a presumption that the legislature enacts law to promote Ohioans' "general welfare."Article I - Bill of Rights
Much of Ohio's bill of rights has been in place since the passage of the Northwest Ordinance. The writers of the 1802 constitution borrowed heavily from this document, and those of the 1851 constitution made few changes. Voters approved only nine amendments since then.Many of the rights found within the state constitution align with the U.S. Constitution. These include the right to assemble, the right to bear arms, and protections against cruel and unusual punishment. The Ohio Supreme Court holds that "the Ohio Constitution is a document of independent force," however. Ohio courts are free to grant Ohioans greater rights than those afforded under federal law. Additionally, the Ohio Constitution contains several rights not found in the U.S. Constitution. For example, the 1851 constitution outlawed slavery, but slavery remained legal under the U.S. Constitution until the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865. Additionally, in 2011, voters passed an amendment prohibiting residents from being required to purchase health insurance. This amendment targeted the Affordable Care Act, which had recently instituted a federal individual mandate. More recently, in 2023, Ohioans passed an amendment to guarantee access to abortion in the wake of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. Litigation continues as to the constitutionality of an existing statutory ban, however.