Section 311.07. General powers and duties of sheriff

(A) Each sheriff shall preserve the public peace and cause all persons guilty of any breach of the peace, within the sheriff's knowledge or view, to enter into recognizance with sureties to keep the peace and to appear at the succeeding term of the court of common pleas, and the sheriff shall commit such persons to jail in case they refuse to do so. The sheriff shall return a transcript of all the sheriff's proceedings with the recognizance so taken to such court. The sheriff shall, except as provided in division (C) of this section, execute all warrants, writs, and other process directed to the sheriff by any proper and lawful authority of this state, and those issued by a proper and lawful authority of any other state. The sheriff shall attend upon the court of common pleas and the court of appeals during their sessions, and, when required, shall attend upon the probate court. In the execution of official duties of the sheriff, the sheriff may call to the sheriff's aid such persons or power of the county as is necessary. Under the direction and control of the board of county commissioners, such sheriff shall have charge of the court house. A sheriff or deputy sheriff of a county may participate, as the director of an organized crime task force established under section 177.02 of the Revised Code or as a member of the investigatory staff of such a task force, in an investigation of organized criminal activity in any county or counties in this state under sections 177.01 to 177.03 of the Revised Code.

(B) The sheriff of a county may call upon the sheriff of any other county, the mayor or other chief executive of any municipal corporation, and the chairperson of the board of township trustees of any township within this state, to furnish such law enforcement or fire protection personnel, or both, together with appropriate equipment and apparatus, as may be necessary to preserve the public peace and protect persons and property in the requesting sheriff's county. Such aid shall be furnished to the sheriff requesting it, insofar as possible without withdrawing from the political subdivision furnishing such aid the minimum police and fire protection appearing necessary under the circumstances. Law enforcement and fire protection personnel acting outside the territory of their regular employment shall be considered as performing services within the territory of their regular employment for the purposes of compensation, pension or indemnity fund rights, workers' compensation, and other rights or benefits to which they may be entitled as incidents of their regular employment. The county receiving aid shall reimburse, as provided in this section, the political subdivision furnishing it the cost of furnishing such aid, including compensation of personnel, expenses incurred by reason of the injury or death of any such personnel while rendering such aid, expenses of furnishing equipment and apparatus, compensation for damage to or loss of equipment or apparatus while in service outside the territory of its regular use, and such other reasonable expenses as may be incurred by any such political subdivision in furnishing aid. The cost of furnishing such aid may be paid from the sheriff's furtherance of justice fund created pursuant to section 325.071 of the Revised Code or from the law enforcement trust fund created pursuant to section 2981.13 of the Revised Code, or from the county general fund to the extent moneys have been appropriated for such purposes pursuant to section 5705.38 of the Revised Code unless the board of county commissioners adopts a resolution restricting or prohibiting the use of general fund moneys without the prior approval of the board of county commissioners. Nothing in this section shall be construed as superseding or modifying in any way any provision of a contract entered into pursuant to section 311.29 of the Revised Code. Law enforcement officers acting pursuant to this section outside the territory of their regular employment have the same authority to enforce the law as when acting within the territory of their regular employment.

(C) The sheriff shall not execute process that is issued in a state other than this state, unless the process contains either of the following:

(1) A certification by the judge of the court that issued the process stating that the issuing court has jurisdiction to issue the process and that the documents being forwarded conform to the laws of the state in which the court is located;

(2) If the process is an initial summons to appear and defend issued after the filing of a complaint commencing an action, a certification by the clerk of the court that issued the process stating that the process was issued in conformance with the laws of the state in which the court is located.

(D) As used in this section and section 311.08 of the Revised Code, "proper and lawful authority" means any authority authorized by law to issue any process and "process" means those documents issued in this state in accordance with section 7.01 of the Revised Code and those documents, other than executions of judgments or decrees, issued in a state other than this state that conform to the laws of the state of issuance governing the issuance of process in that state.

Effective Date: 12-31-1997; 07-01-2007