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Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 3517.03 (2026)

Controlling committees of major or intermediate political party membership

✓ current as of May 2026
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Effective:
February 5, 2014
Latest Legislation:
Senate Bill 193 - 130th General Assembly
PDF:
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The controlling committees of each major political party or organization shall be a state central committee consisting of two members, one a man and one a woman, representing either each congressional district in the state or each senatorial district in the state, as the outgoing committee determines; a county central committee consisting of one member from each election precinct in the county, or of one member from each ward in each city and from each township in the county, as the outgoing committee determines; and such district, city, township, or other committees as the rules of the party provide.

All the members of such committees shall be members of the party and shall be elected for terms of either two or four years, as determined by party rules, by direct vote at the primary held in an even-numbered year. Except as otherwise provided in section 3517.02 of the Revised Code, candidates for election as state central committee members shall be elected at primaries in the same manner as provided in sections 3513.01 to 3513.32 of the Revised Code for the nomination of candidates for office in a county. Candidates for election as members of the county central committee shall be elected at primaries in the same manner as provided in those sections for the nomination of candidates for county offices, except as otherwise provided in sections 3513.051 and 3517.02 of the Revised Code.

Each major party controlling committee shall elect an executive committee that shall have the powers granted to it by the party controlling committee, and provided to it by law. When a judicial, senatorial, or congressional district is comprised of more than one county, the chairperson and secretary of the county central committee from each county in that district shall constitute the judicial, senatorial, or congressional committee of the district. When a judicial, senatorial, or congressional district is included within a county, the county central committee shall constitute the judicial, senatorial, or congressional committee of the district.

A minor political party may elect controlling committees at a primary election in the even-numbered year by filing a plan for party organization with the secretary of state on or before the ninetieth day before the day of the primary election. The plan shall specify which offices are to be elected and provide the procedure for qualification of candidates for those offices. Candidates to be elected pursuant to the plan shall be designated and qualified on or before the ninetieth day before the day of the election. Such parties may, in lieu of electing a controlling committee or other officials, choose such committee or other officials in accordance with party rules. Each such party shall file the names and addresses of members of its controlling committee and party officers with the secretary of state.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 17 cases (7 in the last 5 years), 1954–2025 · leading case: The State Ex Rel. Stevens v. Fairfield Cnty. Bd. of Elections., 2018 Ohio 1151 (Ohio 2018).
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The State Ex Rel. Stevens v. Fairfield Cnty. Bd. of Elections., 2018 Ohio 1151 (Ohio 2018). · cites it 3× “02, and (2) must be a member of the party, R.C. 3517.03. The Revised Code does not explicitly define the phrase "member of the party" in the context of central-committee membership.”
Marchioro v. Chaney, 442 U.S. 191 (1979). · cites it 2× “Code § 16-17- *196 11 (1971); Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 3517.03 (1972); S. C.”
State ex rel. Ames v. Geauga Cty. Repub. Cent. & Exec. Commts., 2021 Ohio 2888 (Ohio Ct. App. 2021). · cites it 6× “] Are the county central and executive committees created by R.C. 3517.03 external intermediaries between the state and a county political party or internal structures imposed upon the party? {¶18} “[2.”
Hicks v. Clermont Cty. Repub. Cent. Commt., 2024 Ohio 3049 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 7× “02 regarding the election of members to the controlling committees of each major political party; R.C. 3517.03 discussing the membership of committeepersons who had been elected onto each major political party's controlling committee; and R.”
William G. Banchy, Douglas B. Robinson, Donna Carnevale, & Marilyn Schutte v. The Repub. Party of Hamilton Cnty. & John H. Hermanies, 898 F.2d 1192 (6th Cir. 1990). “Ohio Rev.Code Ann. § 3517.03 (Anderson, 1988).”
State, Ex Rel. McCurdy v. Demaioribus, 224 N.E.2d 353 (Ohio Ct. App. 1967). · cites it 2× “Firstly, under Section 3517.03, Revised Code, the county central committee must elect an executive committee to exercise such powers as are granted to it.”
Reisig v. Camarato, 676 N.E.2d 594 (Ohio Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 2× “‘Public official or employee’ does not include a person elected or appointed to the office of precinct, ward, or district committee member under section 3517.03 of the Revised Code * * *.”
Brian Ames v. Frank LaRose, 86 F.4th 729 (6th Cir. 2023). “Ohio Rev. Code § 3517.03 (numbers added for reference).”
State Ex Rel. Durkin v. Mahoning Cnty. Bd. of Elections, 684 N.E.2d 1289 (Ohio Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 9× “Mavrikis argued, inter alia, that the executive committee that selected relator had not been properly elected as required by R.C. 3517.03. The board of elections voted to sustain the protest, and invalidated relator’s candidacy.”
Ames v. Geauga Cty. Repub. Cent. Commt., 2023 Ohio 3689 (Ohio Ct. App. 2023). “It provides, in relevant part, “[t]he controlling committees of each major political party or organization shall be [1] a state central committee * * *; [2] a county central committee * * *; and [3] such district, city, township, or other committees as the rules of the party…”
Pirincin v. Bd. of Elections of Cuyahoga Cnty., 368 F. Supp. 64 (N.D. Ohio 1973). “Plaintiffs refer to Sections 3517.03 and 3517.04 which indicate that county central committees consist of precinct committeemen who are elected in the party primary held in even-numbered years.”
State Ex Rel. Wiethe v. Bd. of Elections, 128 N.E.2d 121 (Ohio Ct. App. 1954). · cites it 2× “In view of some stress laid on the use of the word, ‘ ‘ from, ’ ’ by relator, it should be noted that in Section 3517.03, Revised Code, it is stated: “The controlling committees of each political party or organization shall be a state central committee consisting of two members,…”
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