Ohio Revised Code
Chapter 4511 | Traffic Laws - Operation of Motor Vehicles
Section 4511.192 | Advice to Ovi Arrestee.

Effective: April 7, 2009
Latest Legislation: House Bill 215 - 127th General Assembly
(A) Except as provided in division (A)(5) of section 4511.191 of the Revised Code, the arresting law enforcement officer shall give advice in accordance with this section to any person under arrest for a violation of division (A) or (B) of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code, section 4511.194 of the Revised Code or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, or a municipal OVI ordinance. The officer shall give that advice in a written form that contains the information described in division (B) of this section and shall read the advice to the person. The form shall contain a statement that the form was shown to the person under arrest and read to the person by the arresting officer. One or more persons shall witness the arresting officer's reading of the form, and the witnesses shall certify to this fact by signing the form. The person must submit to the chemical test or tests, subsequent to the request of the arresting officer, within two hours of the time of the alleged violation and, if the person does not submit to the test or tests within that two-hour time limit, the failure to submit automatically constitutes a refusal to submit to the test or tests.
(B) Except as provided in division (A)(5) of section 4511.191 of the Revised Code, if a person is under arrest as described in division (A) of this section, before the person may be requested to submit to a chemical test or tests to determine the alcohol, drug of abuse, controlled substance, metabolite of a controlled substance, or combination content of the person's whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine, the arresting officer shall read the following form to the person:
"You now are under arrest for (specifically state the offense under state law or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance for which the person was arrested - operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug, or a combination of them; operating a vehicle while under the influence of a listed controlled substance or a listed metabolite of a controlled substance; operating a vehicle after underage alcohol consumption; or having physical control of a vehicle while under the influence).
If you refuse to take any chemical test required by law, your Ohio driving privileges will be suspended immediately, and you will have to pay a fee to have the privileges reinstated. If you have a prior conviction of OVI, OVUAC, or operating a vehicle while under the influence of a listed controlled substance or a listed metabolite of a controlled substance under state or municipal law within the preceding twenty years, you now are under arrest for state OVI, and, if you refuse to take a chemical test, you will face increased penalties if you subsequently are convicted of the state OVI.
(Read this part unless the person is under arrest for solely having physical control of a vehicle while under the influence.) If you take any chemical test required by law and are found to be at or over the prohibited amount of alcohol, a controlled substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance in your whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine as set by law, your Ohio driving privileges will be suspended immediately, and you will have to pay a fee to have the privileges reinstated.
If you take a chemical test, you may have an independent chemical test taken at your own expense."
(C) If the arresting law enforcement officer does not ask a person under arrest as described in division (A) of this section or division (A)(5) of section 4511.191 of the Revised Code to submit to a chemical test or tests under section 4511.191 of the Revised Code, the arresting officer shall seize the Ohio or out-of-state driver's or commercial driver's license or permit of the person and immediately forward it to the court in which the arrested person is to appear on the charge. If the arrested person is not in possession of the person's license or permit or it is not in the person's vehicle, the officer shall order the person to surrender it to the law enforcement agency that employs the officer within twenty-four hours after the arrest, and, upon the surrender, the agency immediately shall forward the license or permit to the court in which the person is to appear on the charge. Upon receipt of the license or permit, the court shall retain it pending the arrested person's initial appearance and any action taken under section 4511.196 of the Revised Code.
(D)(1) If a law enforcement officer asks a person under arrest as described in division (A)(5) of section 4511.191 of the Revised Code to submit to a chemical test or tests under that section and the test results indicate a prohibited concentration of alcohol, a controlled substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance in the person's whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine at the time of the alleged offense, or if a law enforcement officer asks a person under arrest as described in division (A) of this section to submit to a chemical test or tests under section 4511.191 of the Revised Code, the officer advises the person in accordance with this section of the consequences of the person's refusal or submission, and either the person refuses to submit to the test or tests or, unless the arrest was for a violation of section 4511.194 of the Revised Code or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, the person submits to the test or tests and the test results indicate a prohibited concentration of alcohol, a controlled substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance in the person's whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine at the time of the alleged offense, the arresting officer shall do all of the following:
(a) On behalf of the registrar of motor vehicles, notify the person that, independent of any penalties or sanctions imposed upon the person, the person's Ohio driver's or commercial driver's license or permit or nonresident operating privilege is suspended immediately, that the suspension will last at least until the person's initial appearance on the charge, which will be held within five days after the date of the person's arrest or the issuance of a citation to the person, and that the person may appeal the suspension at the initial appearance or during the period of time ending thirty days after that initial appearance;
(b) Seize the driver's or commercial driver's license or permit of the person and immediately forward it to the registrar. If the arrested person is not in possession of the person's license or permit or it is not in the person's vehicle, the officer shall order the person to surrender it to the law enforcement agency that employs the officer within twenty-four hours after the person is given notice of the suspension, and, upon the surrender, the officer's employing agency immediately shall forward the license or permit to the registrar.
(c) Verify the person's current residence and, if it differs from that on the person's driver's or commercial driver's license or permit, notify the registrar of the change;
(d) Send to the registrar, within forty-eight hours after the arrest of the person, a sworn report that includes all of the following statements:
(i) That the officer had reasonable grounds to believe that, at the time of the arrest, the arrested person was operating a vehicle, streetcar, or trackless trolley in violation of division (A) or (B) of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code or a municipal OVI ordinance or for being in physical control of a stationary vehicle, streetcar, or trackless trolley in violation of section 4511.194 of the Revised Code or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance;
(ii) That the person was arrested and charged with a violation of division (A) or (B) of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code, section 4511.194 of the Revised Code or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, or a municipal OVI ordinance;
(iii) Unless division (D)(1)(d)(v) of this section applies, that the officer asked the person to take the designated chemical test or tests, advised the person in accordance with this section of the consequences of submitting to, or refusing to take, the test or tests, and gave the person the form described in division (B) of this section;
(iv) Unless division (D)(1)(d)(v) of this section applies, that either the person refused to submit to the chemical test or tests or, unless the arrest was for a violation of section 4511.194 of the Revised Code or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, the person submitted to the chemical test or tests and the test results indicate a prohibited concentration of alcohol, a controlled substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance in the person's whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine at the time of the alleged offense;
(v) If the person was under arrest as described in division (A)(5) of section 4511.191 of the Revised Code and the chemical test or tests were performed in accordance with that division, that the person was under arrest as described in that division, that the chemical test or tests were performed in accordance with that division, and that test results indicated a prohibited concentration of alcohol, a controlled substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance in the person's whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine at the time of the alleged offense.
(2) Division (D)(1) of this section does not apply to a person who is arrested for a violation of section 4511.194 of the Revised Code or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, who is asked by a law enforcement officer to submit to a chemical test or tests under section 4511.191 of the Revised Code, and who submits to the test or tests, regardless of the amount of alcohol, a controlled substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance that the test results indicate is present in the person's whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine.
(E) The arresting officer shall give the officer's sworn report that is completed under this section to the arrested person at the time of the arrest, or the registrar of motor vehicles shall send the report to the person by regular first class mail as soon as possible after receipt of the report, but not later than fourteen days after receipt of it. An arresting officer may give an unsworn report to the arrested person at the time of the arrest provided the report is complete when given to the arrested person and subsequently is sworn to by the arresting officer. As soon as possible, but not later than forty-eight hours after the arrest of the person, the arresting officer shall send a copy of the sworn report to the court in which the arrested person is to appear on the charge for which the person was arrested.
(F) The sworn report of an arresting officer completed under this section is prima-facie proof of the information and statements that it contains. It shall be admitted and considered as prima-facie proof of the information and statements that it contains in any appeal under section 4511.197 of the Revised Code relative to any suspension of a person's driver's or commercial driver's license or permit or nonresident operating privilege that results from the arrest covered by the report.

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