HOW THIS WORKS

WHERE TO START

• Something is happening, or just happened

  Type what happened into the search, in your own words. It finds the section, the walkthrough and the words that match. Or open a walkthrough and take it a step at a time.

  Search →Walk it through →

• You are holding a paper with a date on it

  Where you are puts the dates of one situation in the order the statutes set them, shows the stage you are at and the period that comes next. Your clock counts any one period from any one date.

  Where you are →Your clock →

• You have a question in your own words

  Ask it. The answer is written only from this guide's sections and the statute text they cite, with the words it rests on shown beside it, and it says so plainly when the guide does not reach the question.

  Ask a question →

• You need to take it to somebody

  The case file puts what you saved, the dates you are counting, the answers you kept, your notes and your questions on one page to print or send. The directory names the offices the guide points to.

  Your case file →The directory →

EVERY PART, IN PLAIN WORDS

The guide →

209 sections, each on one situation: what the law says, what each side may and must do, and the section of the Revised Code, rule or decision behind every line. Each carries the date it was last checked against the published text.

Search →

Type it the way you would say it. It knows everyday words for legal ones, and when nothing matches exactly it shows the closest pages and says that is what they are.

Walk it through →

64 situations taken one moment at a time. At each step you choose what happens next, and it shows what the law says about that choice, with both sides' duties side by side.

Where you are →

One situation's periods in the order the statutes set them. Put in each date once and it shows the stage you are at and the period the statutes set next.

Your clock →

Pick any of the 98 periods in the guide, give it a date, and it works out the day the counting reaches, with everything the arithmetic did not account for printed beside it. Add to calendar puts that day in your own calendar with reminders three days and one day before.

Your stop card →

Pick up to eight lines of what the law says about a traffic stop, each word for word from the guide with its source. It shows them big enough to read with the phone in a mount, and reads them aloud in one tap.

Every deadline →

Every period the guide states, shortest first, each with what starts it and whose period it is.

Ask a question →

Answers in plain words from the guide and the statute text only. Under every answer: each source it used, with the passage of that source it draws on, word for word. Turn on Read answers out loud and each answer is spoken as it arrives, sources by number; ask by voice with your phone keyboard's microphone.

Your case file →

A timeline of what happened in your own words, everything you saved, the dates you are counting, the answers you kept, your notes, your questions for a lawyer, and a list of every authority it rests on, as one page to print or save as a PDF.

Charges and penalties →

36 offences, each with its section, its degree, and the most jail and fine that degree can carry.

What the words mean →

169 legal terms, each defined in plain words and cited. Detained is not arrested; consent is a defined term.

The directory →

The offices the guide names, what each one handles in its own words, who it serves, and the number that reaches it.

Case law →

The court decisions the guide rests on: the question each one answers, what the court held, and how far it reaches.

Watch it happen →

Real recorded encounters, each tied to the section that says what the law is about it.

HOW TO READ A PAGE

• ●

  Must. A duty the law puts on that side. Not doing it has a consequence the section names.

• ◐

  May. Something the law allows that side to do. Allowed is not the same as required, and not the same as wise for any one person.

• ○

  Need not. Something that side is not required to do, which is often the most useful thing to know.

• The small labels like ORC 2935.26 are the sources. Tap one to read the law’s own words where it is published. ORC is the Ohio Revised Code; Crim.R. and Civ.R. are the court rules; a name with a v. in it is a court decision.
• Verified as of is the day a section was last read against the published text. A weekly check reads every cited statute again and flags any whose words have moved.
• A date the clock works out is arithmetic on the period. It comes with a list of what it did not account for, such as weekends, holidays and the rules on service, because a date reads as certain and those are the reasons it may not be.

HOW THE QUESTION BOX ANSWERS

1. 1. It searches this guide’s sections, its case notes and the text of the statutes they cite. A long question told as a story is turned into search terms first; the answer is still to your own words.
2. 2. If nothing it finds is close enough, it answers nothing, says so, and shows the closest pages instead. A wrong answer with confidence is worse than none.
3. 3. Otherwise it writes a short answer from those sources only, and a check refuses any answer that cites something it was not given, tells you what to do, or predicts how things will go for you.
4. 4. Under the answer: every source, with the passage of it the answer draws on, word for word, so you can check the answer against the law yourself.

WHAT STAYS ON YOUR PHONE

• Your clock dates, Where you are, your stop card, and your case file with its timeline, attached photos, notes and questions

  Only in this browser, on this device. No account, and nothing is sent anywhere. Clearing the browser's site data clears them.

• What you save and the answers you keep, if you make an account

  On your account, so they follow you between devices. You can remove any of it.

• Questions you ask

  Answered and not stored. A counter keeps the number of questions against a daily changing code, so the limit works without knowing who asked.

• What you type into the search

  Kept with nothing beside it that says who typed it: no address, no account, no cookie. It decides what gets written next.

The whole list is on what this site records.

FREE, AND WHAT PRO ADDS

Everything you can read is free, with no account. See the plans.