As Introduced

136th General Assembly

Regular Session H. B. No. 722

2025-2026

To amend sections 4507.04 and 5502.11 of the Revised Code to prohibit a person without legal presence in the United States from driving in Ohio with an out-of-state license and to require the Attorney General to take certain enforcement actions.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 4507.04 and 5502.11 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 4507.04. ~~Nonresidents~~(A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, nonresidents, permitted to drive upon the highways of their own state, may operate any motor vehicle upon any highway in this state without examination or license under sections 4507.01 to 4507.39, inclusive, of the Revised Code, upon condition that such nonresidents may be required at any time or place to prove lawful possession, or their right to operate, such motor vehicle, and to establish proper identity.

(B) Nonresidents who are unlawfully present in the United States shall not operate any motor vehicle upon any highway in this state, regardless of whether they are permitted to drive on the highways in another state or hold a valid driver's license issued by that state.

(C)(1) Whoever violates division (B) of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree.

(2) The offense established under division (B) of this section is a strict liability offense and section 2901.20 of the Revised Code does not apply. The designation of this offense as a strict liability offense shall not be construed to imply that any other offense, for which there is no specified degree of culpability, is not a strict liability offense.

(3) A law enforcement officer who issues a ticket, citation, or summons for a violation of division (B) of this section shall send a copy of the ticket, citation, or summons to the immigration and customs enforcement section of the United States department of homeland security.

Sec. 5502.11. (A) Every law enforcement agency representing a township, county, municipal corporation, or other political subdivision investigating a motor vehicle accident involving a fatality, personal injury, or property damage in an amount greater than one thousand dollars, within five days, shall forward a written report of such accident to the director of public safety on a form, which the director shall adopt subject to sections 119.01 to 119.13 of the Revised Code.

(B) The director shall submit a certified copy of any accident report to the attorney general that includes information that at least one of the operators of a motor vehicle involved in the accident was issued a ticket, citation, or summons for a violation of division (B) of section 4507.04 of the Revised Code.

(C) The attorney general shall bring a cause of action under Article III, Section 2 of the United States Constitution in the United States Supreme Court against the state that issued the driver's license to a nonresident if all of the following apply:

(1) The attorney general receives a certified copy of an accident report in accordance with division (B) of this section.

(2) The nonresident is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of division (B) of section 4507.04 of the Revised Code.

(3) The motor vehicle accident resulted in bodily injury to or death of any person or damage to the property of any person that is not less than seventy-five thousand dollars.

(4) The nonresident was determined to be at fault for the motor vehicle accident.

Section 2. That existing sections 4507.04 and 5502.11 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.