The Ohio State Constitution

The Ohio State Constitution is the long-awaited, thoroughly updated edition of the most comprehensive volume on the history and development of the Constitution of the State of Ohio. From 2004 to 2021, it covers 16 constitutional amendments, over 100 Ohio Supreme Court decisions interpreting the Ohio constitution, and discusses key updates to the constitution by the Ohio Constitutional Modernization Commission that operated between 2013 and 2017.

The second edition of The Ohio State Constitution begins with a detailed summary and analysis of the history of the Ohio Constitution, including the pre-statehood Northwest Ordinance of 1787 (i.e., the Northwest Ordinance), the adoption of the 1802 Constitution, which resulted in Ohio’s admission as the 17th state in the Union, and the adoption of the 1851 Constitution, Ohio’s current constitution. In-depth attention is given to the 34 amendments that have their origins in the work of the Progressive-era 1912 Constitutional Convention, which proposed the initiative and referendum, and the home rule amendment. The historical commentary also covers the modern efforts to use commissions to revise the constitution, and the emergence of the new judicial federalism in Ohio. In Part Two, the book contains detailed commentaries on each of the 220+ sections of the constitution, and the commentary on each of the 19 Articles begins with an article-specific introductory essay.