FAQ – Habitual Offender Registry for DUI / OVI in Columbus & Central Ohio

A: The Ohio Habitual OVI Offender Registry is a list of all persons convicted of five or more OVI violations (or ‘equivalent offenses’) in the past 20 years. The registry was created by Ohio Revised Code section 5502.10 in 2008.

Courts are required to send OVI conviction information to the Ohio Department of Public Safety. That department maintains the registry and is required to update the registry monthly.

A: Each entry in the registry contains the person’s name, date of birth, and residence address. Each entry also indicates the number of times in the past 20 years the person has been convicted of OVI, as well as the date of each conviction.

A: Yes, the registry is a public record. The Ohio Department of Public Safety maintains the registry online, and the database is searchable by a person’s name. It is also searchable by county and by zip code.

A: If the Ohio Department of Public Safety concludes a person has been convicted of five or more OVI violations in 20 years, inclusion in the Ohio Habitual OVI Offender Registry is automatic. There is then no way for the person to avoid being listed in the registry. The person is only removed from the registry with time: when the person no longer has five OVI convictions in the past 20 years.

A: Maybe. Ohio Revised Code section 4507.08 states a driver license may not be issued to or retained by a person who has alcoholism or controlled substances addiction ‘to the extent it constitutes an impairment to the person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle with the required degree of safety’.

The Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles will impose this license suspension for a person who has three or more OVI convictions within a three-year period. To remove the suspension, the person must complete a rehabilitation program, maintain six months of sobriety after the program, and submit an Alcohol/Drug Reinstatement Form (BMV Form 2326) to the BMV.