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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 722
2025-2026
Representative Bird
To
amend sections 4507.04 and 5502.11 of the Revised Code
to
prohibit a person without legal presence in the United States from
driving in Ohio with an out-of-state license and to require the
Attorney General to take certain enforcement actions.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections 4507.04 and 5502.11 of the Revised Code be amended to read
as follows:
Sec.
4507.04.
Nonresidents
(A)
Except as provided in division (B) of this section, nonresidents
,
permitted to drive upon the highways of their own state, may operate
any motor vehicle upon any highway in this state without examination
or license under sections 4507.01 to 4507.39, inclusive, of the
Revised Code, upon condition that such nonresidents may be required
at any time or place to prove lawful possession, or their right to
operate, such motor vehicle, and to establish proper identity.
(B)
Nonresidents who are unlawfully present in the United States shall
not operate any motor vehicle upon any highway in this state,
regardless of whether they are permitted to drive on the highways in
another state or hold a valid driver's license issued by that state.
(C)(1)
Whoever violates division (B) of this section is guilty of a
misdemeanor of the first degree.
(2)
The offense established under division (B) of this section is a
strict liability offense and section 2901.20 of the Revised Code does
not apply. The designation of this offense as a strict liability
offense shall not be construed to imply that any other offense, for
which there is no specified degree of culpability, is not a strict
liability offense.
(3)
A law enforcement officer who issues a ticket, citation, or summons
for a violation of division (B) of this section shall send a copy of
the ticket, citation, or summons to the immigration and customs
enforcement section of the United States department of homeland
security.
Sec.
5502.11.
(A)
Every
law enforcement agency representing a township, county, municipal
corporation, or other political subdivision investigating a motor
vehicle accident involving a fatality, personal injury, or property
damage in an amount greater than one thousand dollars, within five
days, shall forward a written report of such accident to the director
of public safety on a form, which the director shall adopt subject to
sections 119.01 to 119.13 of the Revised Code.
(B)
The director shall submit a certified copy of any accident report to
the attorney general that includes information that at least one of
the operators of a motor vehicle involved in the accident was issued
a ticket, citation, or summons for a violation of division (B) of
section 4507.04 of the Revised Code.
(C)
The attorney general shall bring a cause of action under Article III,
Section 2 of the United States Constitution in the United States
Supreme Court against the state that issued the driver's license to a
nonresident if all of the following apply:
(1)
The attorney general receives a certified copy of an accident report
in accordance with division (B) of this section.
(2)
The nonresident is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of
division (B) of section 4507.04 of the Revised Code.
(3)
The motor vehicle accident resulted in bodily injury to or death of
any person or damage to the property of any person that is not less
than seventy-five thousand dollars.
(4)
The nonresident was determined to be at fault for the motor vehicle
accident.
Section
2.
That
existing sections 4507.04 and 5502.11 of the Revised Code are hereby
repealed.