Self-Defense Laws in Ohio

Stand your ground, effective April 6, 2021. For purposes of any section of the Revised Code that sets forth a criminal offense, a person has no duty to retreat before using force in self-defense, defense of another, or defense of that person's residence if that person is in a place in which the person lawfully has a right to be, and a trier of fact may not consider the possibility of retreat in determining whether the person reasonably believed the force was necessary. The same no-duty-to-retreat rule applies in civil tort actions.

A person is allowed to act in self-defense, defense of another, or defense of that person's residence; if evidence tends to support this, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused did not. A person is presumed to have acted in self-defense or defense of another when using defensive force intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm if the person against whom force is used is in the process of unlawfully and without privilege entering, or has unlawfully and without privilege entered, the residence or vehicle occupied by the person using the force. The presumption does not apply if the person against whom force is used has a right to be in, or is a lawful resident of, the residence or vehicle, or if the person using force is unlawfully, and without privilege to be, in that residence or vehicle. The presumption is rebuttable by a preponderance of the evidence.