Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 2935
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 2935.23 (2026)

Witnesses in felony investigations

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section ORCcodes.ohio.gov (official) Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar
Effective:
January 1, 1974
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 511 - 109th General Assembly
PDF:
Download Authenticated PDF
 

After a felony has been committed, and before any arrest has been made, the prosecuting attorney of the county, or any judge or magistrate, may cause subpoenas to issue, returnable before any court or magistrate, for any person to give information concerning such felony. The subpoenas shall require the witness to appear forthwith. Before such witness is required to give any information, he must be informed of the purpose of the inquiry, and that he is required to tell the truth concerning the same. He shall then be sworn and be examined under oath by the prosecuting attorney, or the court or magistrate, subject to the constitutional rights of the witness. Such examination shall be taken in writing in any form, and shall be filed with the court or magistrate taking the testimony. Witness fees shall be paid to such persons as in other cases.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases (2 in the last 5 years), 1998–2025 · leading case: State v. Diaw, 2024 Ohio 2237 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
State v. Diaw, 2024 Ohio 2237 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 14× “Diaw argued that law enforcement’s use of various R.C. 2935.23 investigative subpoenas, rather than search warrants, violated his constitutional rights as he had a reasonable expectation of privacy over the online information.”
State v. Fielding, 2014 Ohio 3105 (Ohio Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 5× “{¶ 13} Appellant also contends the investigative subpoena was invalid under R.C. 2935.23, which controls the application process for subpoenas used to aid felony investigations.”
State v. Diaw, 2025 Ohio 2323 (Ohio 2025). “{¶ 4} Pursuant to R.C. 2935.23, which allows law enforcement to subpoena witnesses after “a felony has been committed” but “before any arrest has been made,” Columbus Police Detective Michael Sturgill subpoenaed Letgo for 2 January Term, 2025 all names, addresses, phone numbers,…”
State v. Lemasters, 2013 Ohio 2969 (Ohio Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 2× “However, Lemasters argues that the investigative subpoena is not a court order as contemplated in the ECPA because it did not follow state guidelines for a proper court order as stated in R.C. 2935.23. {¶ 25} According to R.C. 2935.”
State v. Jeffery, 2012 Ohio 3104 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012). “” R.C. 2935.23, concerning felony investigations, provides that, “[a]fter a felony has been committed, and before any arrest has been made, the prosecuting attorney of the county, or any judge or magistrate, may cause subpoenas to issue, returnable before any court or…”
State v. Juniper, 719 N.E.2d 1022 (Ohio Ct. App. 1998). “After hearing and extensive briefing on appellant’s statement to law enforcement officers obtained under the felony-investigation subpoena statute (R.C. 2935.23), the trial court sanctioned an agreed entry suppressing the statement.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.