THE DIRECTORY
The 17 offices the Ohio file sends people to, with what each one handles and how to reach it. Read off each office’s own page as of September 2026, and every entry carries the link so the number here can be checked against the source.
A list, not a referral. Nothing here is a recommendation, and no office on it has any connection to this site.
Start here
The two places that say which local help covers an address, and publish the forms.
- Alliance of Ohio Legal Aids
Runs the lookup that says which legal aid programme covers a given county. Its nine member organisations between them reached people in all eighty eight Ohio counties in 2024, and the lookup rather than any list is what settles which one covers an address.
- Covers
- Statewide, as a lookup across all eighty eight counties
Sent here by Getting A Lawyer, Being Evicted, When The Landlord Will Not Fix It
- Ohio Legal Help
Publishes plain language explanations of Ohio civil legal problems, court forms with guided interviews, and a directory of local legal help and county bar referral services.
- Covers
- Statewide
Sent here by Getting A Lawyer, Filing A Complaint Yourself, Small Claims
Free civil legal help
Each programme covers part of the state and each sets its own eligibility. The lookup above is what settles which one covers a county.
- Community Legal Aid
Free civil legal help, with staffed offices in Akron, Canton, Youngstown and Warren.
- Covers
- Columbiana, Mahoning, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Trumbull and Wayne counties
- For
- Income eligible residents of the counties it covers
Sent here by Being Evicted, When The Landlord Will Not Fix It, Getting The Deposit Back
- Legal Aid Society of Cleveland
Free civil legal help across north east Ohio, from four offices.
- Covers
- Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake and Lorain counties
- For
- Income eligible residents of the counties it covers
Sent here by Being Evicted, When The Power Goes Off, When The House Is Foreclosed
- Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati
Free civil legal help across south west Ohio, from offices in Cincinnati and Hamilton.
- Covers
- Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton, Hamilton, Highland and Warren counties
- For
- Lower income families in the counties it covers
- Phone
- (513) 241-9400
- Post
- 215 East Ninth Street, Suite 200, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Sent here by Being Evicted, When The Landlord Will Not Fix It, Discrimination In Housing
- Legal Aid of Western Ohio
Free civil legal help across western and north west Ohio, and for agricultural workers throughout the state. It works alongside Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, and the two share the Legal Aid Line intake for the region.
- Covers
- Thirty two counties of western and north west Ohio
- For
- Income eligible residents of the counties it covers
The Legal Aid Line, which is the intake for this region →
Sent here by Being Evicted, What You Have To Be Paid, When The Benefits Stop
- Advocates for Basic Legal Equality
Legal services for people living in poverty across north west and west central Ohio, working alongside Legal Aid of Western Ohio.
- Covers
- North west and west central Ohio
- For
- People living in poverty in the counties it covers
Sent here by What You Have To Be Paid, Discrimination At Work, When The Benefits Stop
- Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio
Free civil legal help for people on low incomes, veterans and seniors, across south east and central Ohio.
- Covers
- Thirty six counties of south east and central Ohio
- For
- People with low incomes, veterans and seniors in the counties it covers
Sent here by Being Evicted, When The Benefits Stop, Appealing Unemployment
The offices the guide names
Where a complaint, a charge, a report or an appeal in the fine print of a section actually goes.
- Office of the Ohio Public Defender
The state public defender. It publishes contacts for the county public defender or appointed counsel system in each county, which is where representation in a county case comes from.
- Covers
- Statewide, with county contacts published per county
- Phone
- (614) 466-5394
- Post
- 250 East Broad Street, Suite 1400, Columbus, OH 43215
County public defender contacts →
Sent here by Getting A Lawyer, After An Arrest, Bail And Bond
- Ohio Civil Rights Commission
Takes charges of discrimination in employment, housing, places of public accommodation, disability in higher education, and credit. Since the fifteenth of April 2021 an employment discrimination charge here comes before a civil action about the same practice.
- Covers
- Statewide, from six regional offices
6 regional offices
- Columbus · Rhodes State Office Tower, 30 E. Broad St., 4th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215 · (614) 466-5928
- Akron · Akron Government Building, 161 S. High Street, Suite 205, Akron, OH 44308 · (330) 643-3100
- Cleveland · Lausche State Office Building, 615 W. Superior Avenue, Suite 885, Cleveland, OH 44113 · (216) 787-3150
- Dayton · Point West III, 3055 Kettering Blvd, Suite 111, Dayton, OH 45439 · (937) 285-6500
- Toledo · One Government Center, 640 Jackson St., Suite 936, Toledo, OH 43604 · (419) 245-2900
- Cincinnati · Mid-Pointe Towers, 7162 Reading Rd., Suite 210, Cincinnati, OH 45237 · (513) 351-2541
Sent here by The Charge Before The Lawsuit, Discrimination At Work, Discrimination In Housing
- Ohio Attorney General, Consumer Protection Section
Runs a complaint resolution process for disputes between consumers and businesses about consumer transactions, meaning a purchase or an advertisement of a product or service for home or personal use. It also maintains the public inspection file of decisions under the consumer sales practices act.
- Covers
- Statewide
- Phone
- 1-800-282-0515
- Post
- 30 E. Broad St., 14th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215
Sent here by When A Business Rips You Off, The Repair Estimate, The Title That Never Came, The Letter About Your Information
- Ohio Department of Commerce, Wage and Hour Bureau
Takes minimum wage complaints, and takes the report a worker may make where a pay statement did not arrive within ten days of a written request for one under the pay stub section.
- Covers
- Statewide
- Phone
- (614) 644-2239
- wagehour@com.ohio.gov
- Post
- 6606 Tussing Road, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068
Pay stub protection act complaint →
Sent here by The Pay Stub, What You Have To Be Paid, Working Under Eighteen
- Public Utilities Commission of Ohio
Takes complaints about the utilities it regulates, including disconnection, and administers the rules that govern notice before a regulated company shuts service off.
- Covers
- Statewide, for the utilities it regulates
- Phone
- 1-800-686-7826
- Post
- 180 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43215-3793
Sent here by When The Power Goes Off
- Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel
Represents residential utility customers in matters before the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.
- Covers
- Statewide, for residential utility customers
- Phone
- 1-877-742-5622
Sent here by When The Power Goes Off
- Ohio Board of Tax Appeals
Hears appeals from county boards of revision and from the tax commissioner. A notice of appeal from a board of revision decision is filed with it, and with the board of revision, within thirty days of the decision being mailed.
- Covers
- Statewide
- Phone
- (614) 466-6700
- Post
- 30 East Broad Street, 24th Floor, State Office Tower, Columbus, OH 43215-3414
For the public, including how to file →
Sent here by The Value On Your Tax Bill
- Ohio Department of Health, Smoke Free Workplace Program
Investigates and enforces the smoking prohibitions in public places and places of employment. Reports of a violation may be made by any member of the public, and a person does not have to give their identity to make one.
- Covers
- Statewide
- Phone
- 1-866-559-6446
- nosmoke@odh.ohio.gov
- Post
- Smoke Free Workplace Program, Ohio Department of Health, 246 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43215
Sent here by Where Nobody May Smoke
Paid representation
Referral services that give a name and a number. They are not free and they are not a recommendation.
- Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral
Links to the county bar association referral services, which give a name and a number for an attorney in the caller's area. A referral service commonly arranges a first consultation of about half an hour, and commonly charges a fee for it.
- Covers
- Statewide, through county bar associations
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