Ohioans For Concealed Carry Discussion Forums

Dear Deputy Vidra,

Good afternoon. My name is Todd Hill and I am a resident of Wood
County. Last year, my family and I went to the Wood County fair and
were turned away due to the signs posted at the entrances prohibiting
the carrying of concealed weapons.

In April of this year, the Ohio State Attorney General, Jim Petro,
issued an opinion to the County of Preble which addressed this issue.
In it, he stated:

"...A board of county commissioners may not prohibit a person
licensed to carry a concealed handgun under R.C. 2923.125 or R.C.
2923.1213 from carrying a concealed handgun on property that is not
within a building. Charging a fee for admission to an event on
property that is not within a building does not permit a board of
county commissioners to prohibit a person licensed to carry a
concealed handgun under R.C. 2923.125 or R.C. 2923.1213 from carrying
a concealed handgun on the property."

Since both my wife and I have been issued permits to carry a
concealed weapon, I thought I would inquire about the status of this
prohibition due to the upcoming festivities at the Wood County
fairgrounds.

If you could, please respond to this e-mail by stating whether or not
the Sheriff’s Department or County Commissioner’s policy concerning
the prohibition of carrying concealed weapons has been updated, or if
I should refrain from attending the Fair this year.

Respectfully,
Todd M. Hill
Wood County Resident


I have furnished a link to the AG’s opinion for your convenience.

http://www.ag.state.oh.us/sections/opin ... 05-015.pdf

Mr.Hill I am not an attorney nor do I try to be one. I will forward your e-mail to the Wood County Prosecutors Office.

I would like to make note that the Fair Ground Security is handled by our Office under the direction of Sheriff, Mark Wasylyshyn. The safety of all attending the fair is one of the Wood County Sheriff's Office and the Wood County Fair Boards main concerns. In my 13 years of working the fair I do not recall any time that the sheriff's office needed to use firearms on any situation.

Hi Deputy Vidra,
Thank you for your response. I understand that you have not needed
to use firearms in the past 13 years at the Fair, however, this does
not change the opinion issued by the Ohio State Attorney General that
the Fairgrounds do not have the authorization to ban concealed
weapons (with the exception of buildings).

I will await a reply from the Wood County Prosecutors Office.

Thank you again for your time and have a great week,
Todd Hill

I would also add that the Wood County Fairgrounds are owned by the Wood County Agricultural Society, not the Board of Wood County Commissioners. Therefore, any decisions regarding use of the fairgrounds are the responsibility of the Fairboard.

Thanks.

Andrew S. Kalmar,
Wood County Administrator

Hi Andrew,
Thank you for the reply. I guess the next question is "Are the Fairgrounds private property?" If it is private property, then posting would technically be allowed. However, if they are publicly funded, even though not by the County Commissioners, posting should be prohibited.

Please understand that I am not trying to be difficult about this issue. However, many law abiding citizens have worked very hard to have the concealed carry law put into effect and I believe clarification of this matter is needed. Often, administrators and law enforcement personnel feel that they have the right to prohibit concealed carry, even though that power is not afforded them by law.

Respectfully,
Todd Hill

medphys3 wrote:Here is the latest:

I would also add that the Wood County Fairgrounds are owned by the Wood County Agricultural Society, not the Board of Wood County Commissioners. Therefore, any decisions regarding use of the fairgrounds are the responsibility of the Fairboard.

Thanks.

Andrew S. Kalmar,
Wood County Administrator

My reply:

Hi Andrew,
Thank you for the reply. I guess the next question is "Are the Fairgrounds private property?" If it is private property, then posting would technically be allowed. However, if they are publicly funded, even though not by the County Commissioners, posting should be prohibited.

Please understand that I am not trying to be difficult about this issue. However, many law abiding citizens have worked very hard to have the concealed carry law put into effect and I believe clarification of this matter is needed. Often, administrators and law enforcement personnel feel that they have the right to prohibit concealed carry, even though that power is not afforded them by law.

Respectfully,
Todd Hill

jrw wrote:ASk your sheriff if, they haven't had to use there weapon in 13 years why the officers even need to carry a weapon at the fairgrounds,for that matter why do they even need the sheriff's presence if it is such a safe place? As I have said before, they are above the law and there isn't much we can do about it!

Good Morning Mr. Kalmar,
I was wondering of your office could provide further explanation
concerning concealed carry at the Wood County Fairgrounds?

Correct me if I am wrong, but since the Wood County Fairgrounds are
supported in part by taxpayer money (much in the same way as city
parks are), your statement that "any decisions regarding use of the
fairgrounds are the responsibility of the Fairboard" does not seem to
be appropriate in this matter.

A timely response would be greatly appreciated,
Todd Hill

Mr. Kalmar,
I thought you might be interested in this report from the State
Auditor:

http://www.auditor.state.oh.us/auditsea ... _county_ag
ricultural_society_01_02-wood.pdf

On page three, it shows disbursments to the Wood County Fairgrounds
of $38,627 from the State and $117,922 from Wood County.

Respectfully,
Todd Hill

Good Afternoon Mr. Hill:

I will attempt to provide additional information regarding the two emails you sent.

I looked at the State Auditor's information that you provided that states the Agricultural Society received $117,922 in County Support for the year ending November 30, 2002. I am not sure what figures the State Auditor used to come up with $117,992. I can tell you that the Wood County Commissioners appropriated the following items from the County General Fund in 2002: Fair Subsidy (as required by the Ohio Revised Code) $3,300.00; funding to pay for insurance on the buildings at the Fairgrounds (as required by the Ohio Revised Code) $11,383.00; and funding to pay for improvements to the fairgrounds at the request of the Agricultural Society $25,000. The total appropriation to the Wood County Agricultural Society from the Wood County General Fund in 2002, was $39,683.00. Again, I don't know what figures the State Auditor used to come up with their line-item "County Support," but I do know that we only provided $39,683.00.

Yes, these are tax dollars. The County is required by the Ohio Revised Code to provide the annual Fair Subsidy of $3,300 and to provide funding for insuring the buildings annually. Any additional funding provided for fairground improvements is based on an annual request from the Agricultural Society and the availability of funds from the County.

I stand by my earlier statement that "any decisions regarding use of the fairgrounds are the responsibility of the Fairboard." The County Commissioners have no statutory authority regarding the governance of the Fairgrounds nor the business of the Agricultural Society, and played no role in the decision of the Fairboard regarding concealed carry.

It is my understanding that the Wood County Prosecutor is researching this matter in order to provide a clear, legal answer regarding the issue of concealed carry on the fairgrounds.

I trust this information will be helpful to you.

Sincerely,

Andrew S. Kalmar
Wood County Administrator

toddhill wrote:I sent another e-mail today:

Good Morning Mr. Kalmar,
I was wondering of your office could provide further explanation
concerning concealed carry at the Wood County Fairgrounds?

Correct me if I am wrong, but since the Wood County Fairgrounds are
supported in part by taxpayer money (much in the same way as city
parks are), your statement that "any decisions regarding use of the
fairgrounds are the responsibility of the Fairboard" does not seem to
be appropriate in this matter.

A timely response would be greatly appreciated,
Todd Hill

and:

Mr. Kalmar,
I thought you might be interested in this report from the State
Auditor:

http://www.auditor.state.oh.us/auditsea ... _county_ag
ricultural_society_01_02-wood.pdf

On page three, it shows disbursments to the Wood County Fairgrounds
of $38,627 from the State and $117,922 from Wood County.

Respectfully,
Todd Hill

Here is the reply from the Wood County Prosecutor's Office. Who knows, maybe something good will come from it.

Good Afternoon Mr. Hill:

I will attempt to provide additional information regarding the two emails you sent.

I looked at the State Auditor's information that you provided that states the Agricultural Society received $117,922 in County Support for the year ending November 30, 2002. I am not sure what figures the State Auditor used to come up with $117,992. I can tell you that the Wood County Commissioners appropriated the following items from the County General Fund in 2002: Fair Subsidy (as required by the Ohio Revised Code) $3,300.00; funding to pay for insurance on the buildings at the Fairgrounds (as required by the Ohio Revised Code) $11,383.00; and funding to pay for improvements to the fairgrounds at the request of the Agricultural Society $25,000. The total appropriation to the Wood County Agricultural Society from the Wood County General Fund in 2002, was $39,683.00. Again, I don't know what figures the State Auditor used to come up with their line-item "County Support," but I do know that we only provided $39,683.00.

Yes, these are tax dollars. The County is required by the Ohio Revised Code to provide the annual Fair Subsidy of $3,300 and to provide funding for insuring the buildings annually. Any additional funding provided for fairground improvements is based on an annual request from the Agricultural Society and the availability of funds from the County.

I stand by my earlier statement that "any decisions regarding use of the fairgrounds are the responsibility of the Fairboard." The County Commissioners have no statutory authority regarding the governance of the Fairgrounds nor the business of the Agricultural Society, and played no role in the decision of the Fairboard regarding concealed carry.

It is my understanding that the Wood County Prosecutor is researching this matter in order to provide a clear, legal answer regarding the issue of concealed carry on the fairgrounds.

I trust this information will be helpful to you.

Sincerely,

Andrew S. Kalmar
Wood County Administrator

Of course, I could not find any links to the Wood County Fairboard so I'll wait until I hear from the Prosecutor's office. I'll let the boat settle down a bit before I begin rocking it again.