2.5 Prohibited Acts, Disciplinary Action & Penalties
Key Takeaways
- ORC 921.24 lists 26 prohibited acts lettered (A) through (Z), beginning with using or recommending a pesticide inconsistent with its labeling.
- ORC 921.23 lets the Director suspend a license for up to 30 days before a hearing and, after the opportunity for a hearing, deny, suspend, revoke, refuse to renew, or modify it.
- Under ORC 921.25 the Director may assess an administrative civil penalty, or refer the matter to the attorney general for a civil action of up to $5,000 for a first violation and $10,000 for each subsequent violation.
- OAC 901:5-11-99 bases the administrative civil penalty on ODA's investigation costs, doubles it for material environmental damage or human harm, and caps it at $5,000 first offense and $10,000 second offense in the aggregate.
- ORC 921.99 makes most violations a second-degree misdemeanor first offense and a first-degree misdemeanor on a subsequent offense, but negligent operation and false inspection statements escalate to a fourth-degree felony on repeat.
2.5 Prohibited Acts, Disciplinary Action & Penalties
Ohio's enforcement scheme has three separate tracks that can run at the same time: administrative action against the license, civil money penalties, and criminal prosecution. The Core exam tests all three, and it tests them by number.
ORC 921.24: The Twenty-Six Prohibited Acts
The statute says "No person shall do any of the following" and then lists divisions (A) through (Z). Grouped by theme:
Label and application conduct
- (A) Apply, use, directly supervise, or recommend a pesticide for use inconsistent with its labeling, treatment standards, or other restrictions imposed by the director
- (F) Apply known ineffective or improper materials
- (T) Use a pesticide under an experimental use permit contrary to the permit
- (V) Dispose of a pesticide product or container so as to have unreasonable adverse effects on the environment
- (W) Display a pesticide so as to produce unreasonable adverse effects or contaminate adjacent food or feed
Licensing
- (B) Act as a commercial applicator without a license
- (C) Use a restricted use pesticide unless licensed, a trained serviceperson under direct supervision, or a private applicator's trained family member or subordinate employee
- (X) Apply any pesticide by aircraft without a commercial applicator license
- (M) Use fraud or misrepresentation in a license or registration application or renewal
- (N) Fail to comply with a limitation or restriction of a license or registration
Supervision and training
- (J) Fail to provide training to trained servicepersons
- (K) Fail to provide direct supervision as specified by rule
- (Z) Fail to properly supervise a trained serviceperson
Records and honesty
- (D) Refuse or fail to keep required records or make required reports
- (E) Falsely or fraudulently represent the effect of pesticides or methods used
- (I) Make false or fraudulent records, invoices, or reports
- (P) Make a false or misleading statement in an inspection concerning pest infestation or pesticide use
- (U) Engage in fraudulent business practices
- (H) Impersonate a federal, state, county, or municipal official
Product distribution
- (L) Distribute a misbranded or adulterated pesticide
- (R) Distribute RUPs to the ultimate user without a pesticide dealer's license
- (S) Distribute RUPs to an ultimate user who is not licensed
- (Y) Distribute a pesticide not registered with the director
Catch-alls
- (G) Operate in a negligent manner, which includes the operation of faulty or unsafe equipment
- (O) Aid or abet another person in violating the chapter or rules
- (Q) Refuse or fail to comply with the chapter, the rules, or any lawful order of the director
Two of these - (G) negligent operation and (P) false or misleading inspection statement - carry heavier criminal penalties, so flag them.
Administrative Action: ORC 921.23
The Director may suspend a license for up to thirty days before a hearing, and after the opportunity for a hearing may deny, suspend, revoke, refuse to renew, or modify any license, permit, or registration, if the holder:
- is no longer qualified,
- has violated Chapter 921 or its rules,
- has entered an administrative or judicial settlement under FIFRA,
- has been found guilty of violating FIFRA, or
- has been convicted of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, or of a felony.
Denial based on a criminal conviction must follow ORC 9.79, Ohio's general fair-licensing statute.
ORC 921.27 separately authorizes ODA to seize illegal pesticides and issue a "stop sale, use, or removal" order, and ORC 921.99(C) bars recovery of damages from such action where the court finds there was probable cause for it.
ORC 921.31 allows license action for child support default - a genuine Ohio provision that surprises applicators.
Civil Penalties: ORC 921.25 and OAC 901:5-11-99
There are two civil routes and they lead to the same ceilings.
| Route | Who decides | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative penalty, ORC 921.25(A) | Director, after a Chapter 119 hearing, per the schedule in rule | Per OAC 901:5-11-99, based on ODA's investigation costs, plus up to 2x that amount for material environmental damage or harm to a human being; aggregate cap $5,000 first offense, $10,000 second offense |
| Civil action, ORC 921.25(B) | Attorney general, in court, on referral from the Director | Not to exceed $5,000 for a first violation and $10,000 for each subsequent violation |
Two rules apply to both routes:
- Each day a violation continues is a separate and distinct violation.
- The penalty may be assessed against the employer of the person who violated the chapter, rather than against the individual - and doing so does not erase the employee's own liability.
The Director may also seek a temporary or permanent injunction in the court of common pleas (ORC 921.25(C)), and no person pays both an administrative penalty and an attorney general civil penalty for the same violation. Money collected goes to the pesticide program fund (ORC 921.22).
Note the frequently mis-taught numbers: the civil ceilings are $5,000 / $10,000, not $1,000 / $2,000, and the authority is ORC 921.25 with OAC 901:5-11-99, not ORC 921.16 (which is only the rulemaking section).
Criminal Penalties: ORC 921.99
| Violation | First offense | Subsequent offense |
|---|---|---|
| Any provision of Chapter 921 or its rules, except 921.24(G) or (P) | Misdemeanor of the second degree (up to $750 and up to 90 days) | Misdemeanor of the first degree (up to $1,000 and up to 180 days) |
| ORC 921.24(G) negligent operation, or (P) false or misleading inspection statement | Misdemeanor of the first degree | Felony of the fourth degree |
The escalation for (G) and (P) is the exam's favorite twist: negligent operation - including running faulty or unsafe equipment - and lying on a wood-destroying insect inspection report are the two ways an Ohio applicator commits a felony under this chapter.
Federal Exposure Runs in Parallel
FIFRA penalties are separate and additional. EPA may assess a commercial applicator a civil penalty of up to $24,885 per offense (the statutory $5,000 as adjusted for inflation and in effect for penalties assessed in 2026), and a knowing violation by a commercial applicator is a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to $50,000 and one year imprisonment under FIFRA Section 14(b)(1).
Under ORC 921.99, which two prohibited acts escalate to a fourth-degree felony on a subsequent offense?
What is the maximum civil penalty a court may order in an attorney general action under ORC 921.25(B) for a first violation of Ohio's pesticide law?
For how long may the Director of Agriculture suspend an Ohio pesticide license before providing a hearing?