(a) No person shall operate any motor vehicle upon a highway or any public or private property used by the public for purposes of vehicular travel or parking in this Municipality whose driver’s or commercial driver’s license has been suspended pursuant to Ohio R.C. 2151.354, 2151.87, 2935.27, 3123.58, 4301.99, 4510.032, 4510.22 or 4510.33.
(b) Upon the request or motion of the prosecuting authority, a noncertified copy of the law enforcement automated data system report or a noncertified copy of a record of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles that shows the name, date of birth, and social security number of a person charged with a violation of subsection (a) of this section may be admitted into evidence as prima-facie evidence that the license of the person was under suspension at the time of the alleged violation of subsection (a) of this section. The person charged with a violation of subsection (a) of this section may offer evidence to rebut this prima-facie evidence.
(c) Whoever violates subsection (a) of this section is guilty of driving under suspension and shall be punished as provided in subsection (c) of this section.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c)(2) of this section, the offense is an unclassified misdemeanor. The offender shall be sentenced pursuant to Ohio R.C. 2929.21 to 2929.28, except that the offender shall not be sentenced to a jail term; the offender shall not be sentenced to a community residential sanction pursuant to Ohio R.C. 2929.26; notwithstanding division (A)(2)(a) of Ohio R.C. 2929.28, the offender may be fined up to one thousand dollars ($1,000); and, notwithstanding division (A)(3) of Ohio R.C. 2929.27, the offender may be ordered pursuant to division (C) of that section to serve a term of community service of up to five hundred hours.
The failure of an offender to complete a term of community service imposed by the court may be punished as indirect criminal contempt under division (A) of Ohio R.C. 2705.02 that may be filed in the underlying case.
(2) If, within three years of the offense, the offender previously was convicted of or pleaded guilty to two or more violations of subsection (A) of Ohio R.C. 4510.111, or any combination of two or more violations of subsection (A) of Ohio R.C. 4510.111, or Ohio R.C. 4510.11 or 4510.16, or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, the offense is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree and the offender shall provide the court with proof of financial responsibility as defined in Ohio R.C. 4509.01. If the offender fails to provide that proof of financial responsibility, then in addition to any other penalties provided by law, the court may order restitution pursuant to Ohio R.C. 2929.28 in an amount not exceeding five thousand dollars ($5,000) for any economic loss arising from an accident or collision that was the direct and proximate result of the offender’s operation of the vehicle before, during or after committing the offense for which the offender is sentenced under this section. (ORC 4510.111)
(d) It is an affirmative defense to any prosecution brought under this section that the alleged offender drove under suspension, without a valid permit or driver’s or commercial driver’s license, or in violation of a restriction because of a substantial emergency, and because no other person was reasonably available to drive in response to the emergency.
(ORC 4510.04)