Ohio Rev. Code » Chapter 4510
Ohio Revised Code

Ohio Rev. Code § 4510.12 (2026)

Operating a motor vehicle without a valid license

✓ current as of May 2026
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Effective:
September 23, 2011
Latest Legislation:
House Bill 5 - 129th General Assembly
PDF:
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(A)(1) No person, except those expressly exempted under sections 4507.03, 4507.04, and 4507.05 of the Revised Code, shall operate any motor vehicle upon a public road or highway or any public or private property used by the public for purposes of vehicular travel or parking in this state unless the person has a valid driver's license issued under Chapter 4507. of the Revised Code or a commercial driver's license issued under Chapter 4506. of the Revised Code.

(2) No person, except a person expressly exempted under sections 4507.03, 4507.04, and 4507.05 of the Revised Code, shall operate any motorcycle upon a public road or highway or any public or private property used by the public for purposes of vehicular travel or parking in this state unless the person has a valid license as a motorcycle operator that was issued upon application by the registrar of motor vehicles under Chapter 4507. of the Revised Code. The license shall be in the form of an endorsement, as determined by the registrar, upon a driver's or commercial driver's license, if the person has a valid license to operate a motor vehicle or commercial motor vehicle, or in the form of a restricted license as provided in section 4507.14 of the Revised Code, if the person does not have a valid license to operate a motor vehicle or commercial motor vehicle.

(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 division (A)(1) or (2) of this section may be admitted into evidence as prima-facie evidence that the person did not have either a valid driver's or commercial driver's license at the time of the alleged violation of division (A)(1) of this section or a valid license as a motorcycle operator either in the form of an endorsement upon a driver's or commercial driver's license or a restricted license at the time of the alleged violation of division (A)(2) of this section. The person charged with a violation of division (A)(1) or (2) of this section may offer evidence to rebut this prima-facie evidence.

(C) Whoever violates this section is guilty of operating a motor vehicle or motorcycle without a valid license and shall be punished as follows:

(1) If the trier of fact finds that the offender never has held a valid driver's or commercial driver's license issued by this state or any other jurisdiction, or, in a case involving the operation of a motorcycle by the offender, if the offender has never held a valid license as a motorcycle operator, either in the form of an endorsement upon a driver's or commercial driver's license or in the form of a restricted license, except as otherwise provided in this division, the offense is an unclassified misdemeanor. When the offense is an unclassified misdemeanor, the offender shall be sentenced pursuant to sections 2929.21 to 2929.28 of the Revised Code, 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 section 2929.26 of the Revised Code; notwithstanding division (A)(2)(a) of section 2929.28 of the Revised Code, the offender may be fined up to one thousand dollars; and, notwithstanding division (A)(3) of section 2929.27 of the Revised Code, 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 section 2705.02 of the Revised Code that may be filed in the underlying case. If the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any violation of this section or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, the offense is a misdemeanor of the first degree.

(2) If the offender's driver's or commercial driver's license or permit or, in a case involving the operation of a motorcycle by the offender, the offender's driver's or commercial driver's license bearing the motorcycle endorsement or the offender's restricted license was expired at the time of the offense, except as otherwise provided in this division, the offense is a minor misdemeanor. If, within three years of the offense, the offender previously has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to two or more violations of this section or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, the offense is a misdemeanor of the first degree.

(D) The court shall not impose a license suspension for a first violation of this section or if more than three years have passed since the offender's last violation of this section or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance.

(E) If the offender is sentenced under division (C)(2) of this section, if within three years of the offense the offender previously was convicted of or pleaded guilty to one or more violations of this section or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance, and if the offender's license was expired for more than six months at the time of the offense, the court may impose a class seven suspension of the offender's driver's license, commercial driver's license, temporary instruction permit, probationary license, or nonresident operating privilege from the range specified in division (A)(7) of section 4510.02 of the Revised Code.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 78 cases (32 in the last 5 years), 2007–2026 · leading case: State v. Johnson, 2019 Ohio 4613 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019).
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State v. Johnson, 2019 Ohio 4613 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019). · cites it 8× “TRD-17-18511-0102, Johnson was charged by uniform traffic ticket on August 21, 2017, with operating a motor vehicle without a valid license in violation of R.C. 4510.12. The traffic ticket does not include the degree of the misdemeanor with which Johnson was charged or indicate…”
State v. Deacey, 2017 Ohio 8102 (Ohio Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 7× “-2- {¶ 1} This case is before the court on the pro se appeal of Defendant-Appellant, Thomas Deacey, from his convictions and sentences for driving with an expired license in violation of R.C. 4510.12, and failing to stop at a clearly marked stop line in violation of Kettering…”
State v. Brock, 2024 Ohio 1036 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 11× “19(A)(1)(a), a first- degree misdemeanor, (2) driving without a license in violation of R.C. 4510.12, an unclassified misdemeanor, (3) fictitious registration in violation of R.”
State v. Oliver, 2023 Ohio 1550 (Ohio Ct. App. 2023). · cites it 2× “Oliver for violating R.C. 4510.12(A)(1) (driving without a valid license) and R.”
City of Blue Ash v. Kavanagh, 113 Ohio St. 3d 67 (Ohio 2007). · cites it 2× “21 or operating without a valid license in violation of R.C. 4510.12, or both.”
State v. Hale, 2024 Ohio 4866 (Ohio 2024). · cites it 3× “See generally R.C. 4510.12; see also Glover at 381-383 (facts leading a law-enforcement officer to infer that a vehicle was being driven by an unlicensed driver are sufficient to 9 SUPREME COURT OF OHIO support the officer’s reasonable suspicion of the traffic violation,…”
State v. Wilson, 2022 Ohio 3202 (Ohio 2022). · cites it 2× “8 January Term, 2022 instance, R.C. 4510.12 prohibits “operat[ing] any motor vehicle upon a public road or highway * * * unless the person has a valid driver’s license.”
State v. Matthews, 2016 Ohio 5055 (Ohio Ct. App. 2016). “Matthews’s citation for driving without a -7- driver’s license, in violation of R.C. 4510.12(A)(1) (the more serious of the two offenses) was a misdemeanor of the first degree.”
State v. Sanford, 2021 Ohio 1619 (Ohio Ct. App. 2021). · cites it 2× “11(A) (count four), one count of operating a motor vehicle without a valid license in violation of R.C. 4510.12(A)(1) (count five), one count of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or a drug of abuse in violation of R.”
State v. Lathon, 2024 Ohio 5886 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 3× “Operating a motor vehicle without a valid license in violation of R.C. 4510.12 is, at most, a first-degree misdemeanor.”
State v. Thompson, 2013 Ohio 4825 (Ohio Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 5× “The court said that the offense for which Riegel initially arrested Thompson–operating a motor vehicle without a valid license, a violation of R.C. 4510.12–could have been only a minor misdemeanor, R.”
State v. Dozier, 933 N.E.2d 1160 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010). · cites it 2× “{¶ 13} Our conclusion is further supported by the legislature’s recent change to R.C. 4510.12(B) in relation to R.C. 4507.”
Show all 78 citing cases →
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4510.12(A) — 8 cases
State v. Black, 2016 Ohio 7901 (Ohio Ct. App. 2016).
State v. Hittle, 2019 Ohio 5172 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019).
State v. Bennett, 2011 Ohio 4527 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).
State v. Peagler, 2012 Ohio 737 (Ohio Ct. App. 2012).
State v. Brown, 2023 Ohio 4436 (Ohio Ct. App. 2023).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4510.12(A)(1) — 22 cases
State v. Oliver, 2023 Ohio 1550 (Ohio Ct. App. 2023). “Oliver for violating R.C. 4510.12(A)(1) (driving without a valid license) and R.”
State v. Deacey, 2017 Ohio 8102 (Ohio Ct. App. 2017). “-2- {¶ 1} This case is before the court on the pro se appeal of Defendant-Appellant, Thomas Deacey, from his convictions and sentences for driving with an expired license in violation of R.C. 4510.12, and failing to stop at a clearly marked stop line in violation of Kettering…”
State v. Matthews, 2016 Ohio 5055 (Ohio Ct. App. 2016). “Matthews’s citation for driving without a -7- driver’s license, in violation of R.C. 4510.12(A)(1) (the more serious of the two offenses) was a misdemeanor of the first degree.”
State v. Sanford, 2021 Ohio 1619 (Ohio Ct. App. 2021). “11(A) (count four), one count of operating a motor vehicle without a valid license in violation of R.C. 4510.12(A)(1) (count five), one count of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or a drug of abuse in violation of R.”
State v. Lett, 2010 Ohio 4188 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4510.12(A)(2) — 2 cases
Johnson v. Greater Cleveland Reg'l Transit Auth., 2021 Ohio 938 (Ohio Ct. App. 2021).
State v. Scott, 2018 Ohio 1341 (Ohio Ct. App. 2018).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4510.12(B) — 4 cases
State v. Deacey, 2017 Ohio 8102 (Ohio Ct. App. 2017). “-2- {¶ 1} This case is before the court on the pro se appeal of Defendant-Appellant, Thomas Deacey, from his convictions and sentences for driving with an expired license in violation of R.C. 4510.12, and failing to stop at a clearly marked stop line in violation of Kettering…”
State v. Wilson, 2022 Ohio 3202 (Ohio 2022). “8 January Term, 2022 instance, R.C. 4510.12 prohibits “operat[ing] any motor vehicle upon a public road or highway * * * unless the person has a valid driver’s license.”
State v. Brock, 2024 Ohio 1036 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024). “19(A)(1)(a), a first- degree misdemeanor, (2) driving without a license in violation of R.C. 4510.12, an unclassified misdemeanor, (3) fictitious registration in violation of R.”
State v. Dozier, 933 N.E.2d 1160 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010). “{¶ 13} Our conclusion is further supported by the legislature’s recent change to R.C. 4510.12(B) in relation to R.C. 4507.”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4510.12(B)(1) — 1 case
State v. Dozier, 933 N.E.2d 1160 (Ohio Ct. App. 2010). “{¶ 13} Our conclusion is further supported by the legislature’s recent change to R.C. 4510.12(B) in relation to R.C. 4507.”
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4510.12(B)(2) — 1 case
State v. Ferrell, 2011 Ohio 1180 (Ohio Ct. App. 2011).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4510.12(C)(1) — 4 cases
State v. Brock, 2024 Ohio 1036 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024). “19(A)(1)(a), a first- degree misdemeanor, (2) driving without a license in violation of R.C. 4510.12, an unclassified misdemeanor, (3) fictitious registration in violation of R.”
State v. Lathon, 2024 Ohio 5886 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024). “Operating a motor vehicle without a valid license in violation of R.C. 4510.12 is, at most, a first-degree misdemeanor.”
State v. Jiminez, 2024 Ohio 5255 (Ohio Ct. App. 2024).
State v. Cobbins, 2022 Ohio 3941 (Ohio Ct. App. 2022).
— Ohio Rev. Code § 4510.12(C)(2) — 2 cases
State v. Thompson, 2013 Ohio 4825 (Ohio Ct. App. 2013). “The court said that the offense for which Riegel initially arrested Thompson–operating a motor vehicle without a valid license, a violation of R.C. 4510.12–could have been only a minor misdemeanor, R.”
State v. George, 2019 Ohio 2548 (Ohio Ct. App. 2019).
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