What Makes Ohio’s “No Duty to Retreat” Law Unique?

It’s been over a year since Ohio’s “no duty to retreat” law when into effect. At the time it was enacted, approximately 37 states had some form of “no duty to retreat”. Some states enacted this doctrine by statute (such as Ohio) and other states (such as California) through case law and court rulings.

Essentially, what no duty to retreat law does is relieve an otherwise lawful defender from an otherwise existing legal duty to retreat before they can protect themselves against a reasonably perceived imminent, unlawful, deadly force attack. It is not a legal defense to a self-defense incident, but rather it modifies the legal defense of self-defense by waiving the element of avoidance.

But there’s something unique about Ohio’s law that makes it stand out. Of all the states that have some form of no duty to retreat, only 8 states (CO, LA, MS, OH, TX, UT, WA, and WI) have this unique provision. (Wisconsin has some limitations on this provision.) Here’s how the first part of Ohio’s law reads:

O.R.C. 2901.09
(B) “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.”

That certainly sounds like it has you covered, until you realize that in a court room the prosecutor could turn to the jury and ask “but, wouldn’t a reasonable person have left the scene instead of getting into a deadly-force confrontation?” And, if that jury (who wasn’t there when you only had split seconds to make your death or serious bodily injury decisions) thinks that a reasonable person could have or should have avoided the situation, there’s go your self-defense case.

When Ohio’s law was being written, many of us fought to have the following provision included. This language is often referred to as “hard” no duty to retreat because, as you can see, it removes the prosecutor’s ability to allow the jury to second-guess your decisions.

O.R.C. 2901.09
(C) “A trier of fact shall not consider the possibility of retreat as a factor in determining whether or not a person who used force in self-defense, defense of another, or defense of that person’s residence reasonably believed that the force was necessary to prevent injury, loss, or risk to life or safety.”

It’s this provision that makes Ohio’s no duty to retreat law unique and stronger than no duty to retreat laws in most states.

As a self-defense firearms instructor, I strongly advise my students that if a safe avenue of retreat exists, they should take advantage of it. Why, because that keeps your risk of death, serious bodily injury, or going to jail at zero.

Bob Jewell is a Rangemaster Advanced and NRA Certified Instructor, a graduate of the Law of Self Defense Instructor Program, as well as an accomplished tactical shooter. He annually participates in firearms, legal, medical, and self-defense training from top national instructors.