What Parents Answer For
ORC 3109.09, 3109.10 and 2919.24 — a child's damage, a child's assault, and contributing
Ohio makes a parent answer in money for some of what a child does, and makes some of what a parent does a crime. The three sections are narrow, and each carries its own limit.
Willful damage or theft: up to ten thousand dollars from the parent. Any owner of property, a school board included, may bring a civil action against the parent of a minor for compensatory damages of up to ten thousand dollars and court costs, where the minor willfully damages the owner's property or commits a theft offence involving it. The finding does not depend on the child first being found delinquent or convicted of anything.
- Parent there means both parents, unless a court has named one the residential parent and legal custodian in an order that is not a shared parenting order, or the child was born to unmarried parents and there is no custody order, in which case it is the custodial parent.
- Where a school board wins that judgment, the court may order community service in place of full payment, where the board and the parent both agree to it.
- The section does not apply where the minor was married at the time of the acts.
An assault: the same ten thousand dollars, on a narrower test. A person a child under eighteen willfully and maliciously assaults, by a means or force likely to produce great bodily harm, may sue the child's parent for compensatory damages of up to ten thousand dollars and costs. That finding also does not depend on a prior finding that the child is delinquent.
The crime is contributing. No person, a parent, guardian or custodian included, may aid, abet, induce, cause, encourage or contribute to a child becoming an unruly or delinquent child, or act in a way tending to cause it. It is a first degree misdemeanor, and each day of violation is a separate offence.
The assault section's limit does not apply to an action brought under a different section it names, and a claim against the child directly runs under other law. Whether a child's act was willful, and whether a parent's conduct tended to cause delinquency, are decided on the facts. A licensed Ohio attorney reads a specific case.
Sources for this section (3)
- ORC 3109.09 — A parent's liability for a minor's willful damage or theft
- ORC 3109.10 — A parent's liability for a child's willful and malicious assault
- ORC 2919.24 — Contributing to the unruliness or delinquency of a child
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.