A Dog the County Calls Dangerous
ORC 955.23 — ten calendar days to ask for the hearing, and who has to prove what at it
A designation is not a criminal charge and it is not a lawsuit by the person who was bitten. It is a determination about the dog, made by a dog warden or another person authorized to enforce the chapter who has probable cause to believe the dog committed a nuisance dog act, a dangerous dog act or a vicious dog act. The owner, keeper or harborer is notified by certified mail or in person, and the notice says a hearing may be requested and how to file for one.
Who handles this in Ohio: legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
| The designation | The act, without provocation |
|---|---|
| The designationNuisance dog | The act, without provocationOff the owner's premises: chasing or approaching a person, or attempting to bite or otherwise endanger one, in a menacing fashion or an apparent attitude of attack; injuring a person without physical contact; chasing, threatening, harassing or injuring another dog or livestock; or a third or later violation of the section requiring a dog to be confined or restrained |
| The designationDangerous dog | The act, without provocationInjuring a person by physical contact, short of killing or serious injury, or seriously injuring a person without physical contact, either in a menacing fashion or an apparent attitude of attack; killing another dog; or seriously injuring another dog so that it is euthanized |
| The designationVicious dog | The act, without provocationKilling a person; seriously injuring a person by physical contact; or a dangerous dog act by a dog already designated dangerous |
Without provocation is in all three, and the section says what it means. Each of the three acts is defined as something done without provocation. Toward a person, that means the dog was not teased, tormented or abused, and was not coming to the aid or defense of a person who was not engaged in illegal or criminal activity. Toward another animal, it means the dog was not attacked by another dog or livestock. Whether there was provocation is a question of fact, which is what a hearing is for. Harm from a dog behaving in a playful, nonaggressive or age appropriate manner is not an injury under the section, and a police dog assisting officers in their duties is outside all three.
Ten calendar days, in writing, to the court named in the notice. An owner, keeper or harborer who disagrees with a designation may, not later than ten calendar days after receiving notification of it, request a hearing. The request is in writing and is filed with the court specified in the notice, which is the court with territorial jurisdiction over the location where the alleged act occurred. It is not filed with the dog warden, and ten calendar days is the whole of the window.
The court then has ten calendar days of its own. Not later than ten calendar days after receiving the request, it holds the hearing, and at the end of it issues a final determination on whether the dog is designated and what becomes of the dog.
At the hearing it is not the owner who has to prove anything. The person who designated the dog, or who petitioned the court, has the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the dog committed a nuisance dog act, a dangerous dog act or a vicious dog act. Clear and convincing is a higher standard than the one that decides most civil cases, and it rests on the side that made the designation rather than on the side contesting it. The probable cause behind a designation may rest on written statements of witnesses who saw the dog do it.
Where the dog waits turns on safety. If the warden or other authorized person decides it is safe for the dog to stay with its owner, keeper or harborer, and the act did not kill or seriously injure a person, the dog stays with them through the hearing and any appeal, confined or restrained as division (A) of section 955.24 requires, and the chapter's other requirements for a designated dog do not apply until the final determination. Otherwise the warden holds the dog and petitions the court for the hearing, and the owner pays for the holding unless the court does not designate the dog.
Either side may appeal the court's final determination as in any other case filed in that court. The dog's owner, keeper or harborer and the person who made the designation both have that right, on the same terms.
| For a dangerous or vicious dog | What the section requires |
|---|---|
| For a dangerous or vicious dogOutdoors at home | What the section requiresSecurely confined at all times in a locked pen with a top, a locked yard fenced to prevent escape, or another locked enclosure with a top |
| For a dangerous or vicious dogIndoors with a visitor | What the section requiresSecurely confined inside so there is no reasonable probability the dog comes into contact with the invitee |
| For a dangerous or vicious dogOff the premises | What the section requiresOn a chain link leash or tether of not more than six feet, and also in a locked enclosure, held or tied down with a person of suitable age and discretion close enough to prevent injury, or muzzled |
| For a dangerous or vicious dogInsurance | What the section requiresLiability insurance of at least one hundred thousand dollars for each occurrence, and proof of it on request to a law enforcement officer, dog warden or public health official |
| For a dangerous or vicious dogTelling the warden | What the section requiresImmediately, if the dog is loose, bites a person other than a trespasser or someone committing a criminal act on the owner's property, or attacks another animal off the owner's property |
| For a dangerous or vicious dogSale, transfer or death | What the section requiresNotice to the county auditor and the dog warden within ten days |
| For a dangerous or vicious dogTraining or veterinary care | What the section requiresTelling the trainer or veterinarian beforehand that the dog is dangerous or vicious |
The section does not name a nuisance dog, so those duties belong to a dangerous or vicious one. Failing the confinement duties is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree on a first offense and of the third degree after that, and the court may order the owner to supervise the dog personally or put it through obedience training, or may instead order it humanely destroyed. Going without the insurance is a minor misdemeanor on a first offense and a misdemeanor of the fourth degree after that, and failing the notice and disclosure duties is a minor misdemeanor.
The court can order a designated dog destroyed, and in the worst cases must. At the end of a designation hearing the court may order a dog it designates dangerous or vicious humanely destroyed at the owner's expense. It must where it finds the dog killed a person or caused serious injury resulting in a substantial risk of death, permanent incapacity, serious permanent disfigurement, or acute pain of a duration that results in substantial suffering. A dog designated a nuisance dog may be ordered destroyed where the court finds it injured another dog, or attempted to bite a person and injured the person.
Separately from any designation, the chapter makes it an offense for an owner, keeper or harborer to negligently fail to prevent a dog from committing one of the three acts. The degree runs from a minor misdemeanor for a first nuisance dog act, through a misdemeanor of the third degree for a first vicious dog act, to a felony of the third degree where the owner of a dog already designated dangerous or vicious negligently fails to prevent a vicious dog act that injures or kills a person.
The breed is not the test, and the section numbers changed in 2026. The definitions turn on what a particular dog has done, without provocation, and not on what breed it is. House Bill 247 of the 136th General Assembly, effective March 20, 2026, renumbered and rewrote the dog chapter, so material written before then cites sections by numbers that now mean something else or no longer exist. The designation procedure is now section 955.23, the duties of owning a dangerous or vicious dog are section 955.24, and section 955.22 now defines the three acts and the offense of failing to prevent them.
Local ordinances may impose requirements of their own, and a municipality's rules are not reproduced here. The liability of an owner, keeper or harborer for an injury a dog causes is a separate question under a separate section, and being designated is not the same as being sued. Whether a particular dog committed one of the acts, and what a hearing is likely to turn on, are questions for a licensed Ohio attorney.
Sources for this section (5)
- ORC 955.23 — Designation procedures: the notice, ten calendar days to ask for a hearing, and the burden at it
- ORC 955.22 — Nuisance, dangerous and vicious dog acts, without provocation, and the offense of failing to prevent one
- ORC 955.01 — Definitions of vicious dog, dangerous dog and nuisance dog, by designation
- ORC 955.24 — What the owner of a dangerous or vicious dog must do, and the penalties for not doing it
- ORC 955.28 — Liability of an owner, keeper or harborer for injury caused by a dog
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.