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As used in the General Offenses Code:
(a) Offenses include misdemeanors of the first, second, third and fourth degree, minor misdemeanors and offenses not specifically classified.
(b) Regardless of the penalty which may be imposed, any offense specifically classified as a misdemeanor is a misdemeanor.
(c) Any offense not specifically classified is a misdemeanor if imprisonment for not more than one (1) year may be imposed as a penalty.
(d) Any offense not specifically classified is a minor misdemeanor if the only penalty which may be imposed is a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100.00).
(RC 2901.02; Ord. No. 54-74. Passed 3-25-74, eff. 4-1-74)
(a) No conduct constitutes a criminal offense against the City unless it is defined as an offense in the Codified Ordinances.
(b) An offense is defined when one (1) or more sections of the Codified Ordinances state a positive prohibition or enjoin a specific duty, and provide a penalty for violation of such prohibition or failure to meet such duty.
(RC 2901.03; Ord. No. 54-74. Passed 3-25-74, eff. 4-1-74)
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a prosecution shall be barred unless it is commenced within the following periods after an offense is committed:
(1) For a misdemeanor other than a minor misdemeanor, two (2) years;
(2) For a minor misdemeanor, six (6) months.
(b) If the period of limitation provided in subsection (a) hereof has expired, prosecution shall be commenced for an offense of which an element is fraud or breach of a fiduciary duty, within one (1) year after discovery of the offense either by an aggrieved person, or by his or her legal representative who is not himself or herself a party to the offense.
(c) If the period of limitation provided in subsection (a) hereof has expired, prosecution shall be commenced for an offense involving misconduct in office by a public servant as defined in Section 615.01, at any time while the accused remains a public servant, or within two (2) years thereafter.
(d) An offense is committed when every element of the offense occurs. In the case of an offense of which an element is a continuing course of conduct, the period of limitation does not begin to run until such course of conduct or the accused’s accountability for it terminates, whichever occurs first.
(e) A prosecution is commenced on the date an indictment is returned or an information filed, or on the date a lawful arrest without a warrant is made, or on the date a warrant, summons, citation or other process is issued, whichever occurs first. A prosecution is not commenced by the return of an indictment or the filing of an information unless reasonable diligence is exercised to issue and execute process on the same. A prosecution is not commenced upon issuance of a warrant, summons, citation or other process, unless reasonable diligence is exercised to execute the same.
(f) The period of limitation shall not run during any time when the corpus delicti remains undiscovered.
(g) The period of limitation shall not run during any time when the accused purposely avoids prosecution. Proof that the accused absented himself or herself from this State or concealed his or her identity or whereabouts is prima facie evidence of his or her purpose to avoid prosecution.
(h) The period of limitation shall not run during any time a prosecution against the accused based on the same conduct is pending in this State, even though the indictment, information, or process which commenced the prosecution is quashed or the proceedings thereon are set aside or reversed on appeal.
(RC 2901.13; Ord. No. 54-74. Passed 3-25-74, eff. 4-1-74)
(a) Except as provided in subsection (b) hereof, a person is not guilty of an offense unless both of the following apply:
(1) His or her liability is based on conduct which includes either a voluntary act, or an omission to perform an act or duty which he or she is capable of performing;
(2) He or she has the requisite degree of culpability for each element as to which a culpable mental state is specified by the section defining the offense.
(b) When the section defining an offense does not specify any degree of culpability, and plainly indicates a purpose to impose strict criminal liability for the conduct described in such section, then culpability is not required for a person to be guilty of the offense. When the section neither specifies culpability nor plainly indicates a purpose to impose strict liability, recklessness is sufficient culpability to commit the offense.
(c) As used in this section:
(1) Possession is a voluntary act if the possessor knowingly procured or received the thing possessed, or was aware of his or her control thereof for a sufficient time to have ended his or her possession.
(2) Reflexes, convulsions, body movements during unconsciousness or sleep, and body movements that are not otherwise a product of the actor’s volition, are involuntary acts.
(3) “Culpability” means purpose, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, as defined in Section 601.07, or any other specific mental state required by any section of this Code.
(RC 2901.21; Ord. No. 90-96. Passed 3-18-96, eff. 3-26-96)
Notwithstanding any other section of the Codified Ordinances, when any section of the Building Code, Housing Code, Health Code, or Fire Prevention Code defining an offense does not specify any degree of culpability, then strict criminal liability shall apply and culpability is not required for the person to be guilty of the offense.
(Ord. No. 1039-2023. Passed 2-5-24, eff. 2-6-24)
(a) A person acts purposely when it is his or her specific intention to cause a certain result, or when the gist of the offense is a prohibition against conduct of a certain nature, regardless of what the offender intends to accomplish thereby, it is his or her specific intention to engage in conduct of that nature.
(b) A person acts knowingly, regardless of his or her purpose, when he or she is aware that his or her conduct will probably cause a certain result or will probably be of a certain nature. A person has knowledge of circumstances when he or she is aware that such circumstances probably exist.
(c) A person acts recklessly when, with heedless indifference to the consequences, he or she perversely disregards a known risk that his or her conduct is likely to cause a certain result or is likely to be of a certain nature. A person is reckless with respect to circumstances when, with heedless indifference to the consequences, he or she perversely disregards a known risk that such circumstances are likely to exist.
(d) A person acts negligently when, because of a substantial lapse from due care, he or she fails to perceive or avoid a risk that his or her conduct may cause a certain result or may be of a certain nature. A person is negligent with respect to circumstances when, because of a substantial lapse from due care, he or she fails to perceive or avoid a risk that such circumstances may exist.
(e) When the section defining an offense provides that negligence suffices to establish an element thereof, then recklessness, knowledge or purpose is also sufficient culpability for such element. When recklessness suffices to establish an element of an offense, then knowledge or purpose is also sufficient culpability for such element. When knowledge suffices to establish an element of an offense, then purpose is also sufficient culpability for such element.
(RC 2901.22; Ord. No. 54-74. Passed 3-25-74, eff. 4-1-74)
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