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A Minor Misdemeanour Is A Citation

ORC 2935.26 — the officer shall not arrest, with four exceptions

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A minor misdemeanour is the bottom rung of the Ohio code and it carries no jail term at all, only a fine. Section 2935.26 goes one step further than that. Where an officer is otherwise authorised to arrest somebody for a minor misdemeanour, the section says the officer shall not arrest, but shall issue a citation. The default is not discretion. It is a citation.

  • The offender requires medical care or is unable to provide for the offender's own safety.
  • The offender cannot or will not offer satisfactory evidence of the offender's identity.
  • The offender refuses to sign the citation.
  • The offender was previously issued a citation for the same misdemeanour and failed either to appear at the time and place stated in it or to comply with the pay in advance route in division (C).
Two of the four exceptions are about what the person does at the roadside. Identity and the signature are the two the person in the encounter is standing inside of, and they are the two that turn a citation into an arrest by the section's own terms. That is a description of the statute rather than a recommendation about either one. What the statute does not contain is any exception for attitude, for arguing, or for asking why.

The citation itself is a document with required contents, and the pay in advance route is written into the same section. A person issued one may, at the time and place stated, plead guilty and pay the fine rather than appear, which is what division (C) is. The next section carries the consequences of doing neither, including forfeiture of a deposit and, after a supplemental citation has gone unanswered, a summons or a warrant.

Paying it is a guilty plea. The route in division (C) is not a fee for making the ticket go away. It is a plea of guilty entered by paying, which produces a conviction on the offence charged the same as standing in front of a judge and saying the word would. Whether that matters depends entirely on the offence and on what else is on the record.

“Is this a minor misdemeanour? I am asking because section 2935.26 says a citation rather than an arrest.”

Which offences are minor misdemeanours is a question about the specific section charged, and a municipal ordinance can be written differently from the state offence it resembles. Whether an arrest fell inside one of the four exceptions is a fact question a court answers. A licensed Ohio attorney is who reads a particular charge and a particular arrest.

Sources for this section (4)
  1. ORC 2935.26 — Minor misdemeanor citation issued by an officer
  2. ORC 2935.27 — Procedure after a minor misdemeanour citation is issued
  3. ORC 2921.29 — Failure to disclose one's personal information
  4. ORC 2901.02 — Classification of offenses

Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.

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