Each block on this histogram represents a change—e.g., a substantive change, repeal & replace, or renumbering—to an individual section rather than an amendment. Some amendments result in multiple changes, resulting in multiple blocks being attributed to one amendment. Likewise, a section may be amended more than once in an year, but these amendments will only appear as one block on the histogram. When a block or blocks are marked red in a specific year, that means that a new constitution went into effect that year.
The Constitution’s provisions are organized into articles, and each article is split into sections. Here, you can view an outline of the Constitution, see the Constitution’s full text as it stood on any date since ratification, and compare any amended provision of the Constitution to its earlier version.
Explore by Year
View the constitution’s amendments by year of adoption and historical context for significant amendments.
The Ohio Constitution & Its Amendments
Ohio has had two constitutions and four constitutional conventions since becoming the first state carved out of the Northwest Territory.
The first constitution was drafted and approved in 1802 at a convention in Chillicothe. This led to Ohio’s admission as the 17th state in the Union, though due to an oversight, Congress technically did not complete the formal admission process until 1953, when Congress retroactively granted statehood effective March 1, 1803.
Dissatisfaction with the original constitution—particularly the unmanageable caseload it required of the Ohio Supreme Court and its concentration of power in the Ohio General Assembly—led to a second constitutional convention in 1851. That convention produced a new constitution, which remains in effect today, making it one of the oldest state constitutions in the nation. (A third constitution was proposed in 1874, but voters rejected it.)
Today, there are three ways to amend the Ohio Constitution, and all require voters to approve the proposed amendments by a simple majority. First, the legislature can propose amendments with a three-fifths vote in each chamber. Second, citizens can propose amendments directly through an initiative petition process after collecting a sufficient number of signatures from voters. Third, a constitutional convention can propose either a new constitution or individual amendments. However, conventions can only be held if voters approve them first—either through a ballot question that automatically appears every 20 years, or through a question placed on the ballot by a two-thirds vote of each legislative chamber.
Since 1851, the Ohio Constitution has been amended more than 170 times, with most of the changes coming from proposals submitted to the voters by the legislature.
Ohio State Capitol. Jonathan Thorne.
Additional Resources Access links to commonly referenced sources in Ohio constitutional research.
Access links to commonly referenced sources in Ohio constitutional research.