Ruling: Cities can limit where workers can live
The appeals court action doesn’t affect Youngstown, which is still awaiting a
decision.
LIMA, Ohio (AP) — Conflicting court rulings are allowing some towns to force police officers and other employees to live within their city limits while other cities are waiting to see what happens next.
The issue isn’t likely to be decided until it goes before the Ohio Supreme Court.
A state appeals court ruled on Monday that Ohio towns can require its employees to live within city limits, overturning a 2006 state law that blocked cities from imposing residency requirements.
The ruling issued Monday only applies to the 17 Ohio counties in western and northern Ohio that fall under the appeals court’s jurisdiction.
Those counties are: Allen, Auglaize, Crawford, Defiance, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Logan, Marion, Mercer, Paulding, Putnam, Seneca, Shelby, Union, Van Wert and Wyandot.
Other cities that have challenged the state law and lost still must wait for their appeals to be decided.
The decision from the 3rd District Court of Appeals marks the first time that an appeals court has ruled against the state law.
Since the law went into effect, at least eight cities have filed challenges against it. City leaders in Toledo, Akron, Youngstown and Lima argue that home rule powers ensure their right to set residency requirements.
But firefighters and other city employees say they should have the right to live where they want.
Lima officials sued Ohio soon after the new state law took effect. The city in 2000 put in place an ordinance requiring new employees to live in the city or move there soon after they were hired.
A common pleas judge found that home rule powers that govern cities can’t outweigh the legislature’s power.
The appeals court, though, ruled in favor of the city, saying state lawmakers can’t tell local governments what rules they can have before hiring people.
“Citizens do not have a right to live where they want and demand employment with a particular employer,” the ruling said.
Lima officials have decided that they won’t discipline any employees who aren’t meeting the residency requirement until the issue is finally settled, said city law director Tony Geiger.
The state likely will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, said Frank Strigari, an assistant Ohio attorney general. He said eight other courts in Ohio have sided with the state.
Lima officials said they were pleased with the ruling, but they also said this won’t be the final decision.
“I think the most important factor was the court concluded the state overstepped its bounds in enacting a law,” Geiger said.
Lima Mayor David Berger wants the residency requirement because he says city employees will be good homeowners who will invest in the city and make it a better place.
The city’s firefighters union President Sean Carpenter said he was disappointed.
“I am free to choose what church I go to, what school I send my kids to but I can’t choose where I live,” he said. “To me, it’s just one of the basic freedoms. Because we’re city employees we can’t have those freedoms.”