Ohio's Concealed Handgun License (CHL) is issued by the county sheriff under Ohio Revised Code § 2923.125. The license costs $67 for an original and...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Ohio's Concealed Handgun License (CHL) is issued by the county sheriff under Ohio Revised Code § 2923.125. The license costs $67 for an original and $50 for a renewal (with a surcharge for the actual cost of an FBI background check if the applicant has been an Ohio resident for less than five years or is a non-resident applying based on Ohio employment), is valid 5 years from the date of issuance, and requires an 8-hour competency course that includes at least 2 hours of in-person range time and live-fire training. Even with constitutional carry effective June 13, 2022 under SB 215, the CHL remains valuable: it travels under reciprocity to roughly three dozen states, qualifies the holder for the NICS purchase exemption under 18 U.S.C. § 922(t)(3), and is the predicate for several § 2923.126 carve-outs (notably the locked-vehicle carry exception on the premises of public colleges and universities) that a permitless carrier cannot invoke. The application is built around § 2923.125(B) (submission), § 2923.125(D)(1) (the 19-paragraph eligibility test plus the 45-day sheriff's decision deadline), § 2923.125(G) (the 8-hour course and competency examination), and § 2923.125(F) (renewal).
Ohio runs a fully decentralized licensing system. § 2923.125(A) directs that "a sheriff ... shall provide to the person free of charge an application form" and "shall accept a completed application form and the fee, items, materials, and information specified in divisions (B)(1) to (5) of this section." Unlike Florida (where the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services issues licenses statewide) or Texas (where the Department of Public Safety runs the LTC program centrally), in Ohio the county sheriff is the issuing authority for CHLs. There is no statewide handgun-licensing bureau.
Where to file is set by § 2923.125(B). An Ohio resident applies to the sheriff of the county in which the applicant resides, or to the sheriff of any adjacent county. A non-resident applying based on Ohio employment files with the sheriff of the county in which the applicant is employed, or any adjacent county. The adjacent-county lever is built into the statute and is a practical workaround when an applicant's home-county sheriff has long backlogs or limited intake hours.
Ohio is shall-issue by statutory design. § 2923.125(D)(1) opens "the sheriff ... shall issue to the applicant a concealed handgun license" if the 19 listed criteria are met, and § 2923.125(D)(2)(b) confirms that any denial must specify "the grounds for the denial in a written notice to the applicant," with appeal rights under § 119.12 to the county court of common pleas. The sheriff has no good-cause discretion: if the applicant satisfies § 2923.125(D)(1)(a) through (s), the license issues.
A sheriff must accept applications "during at least fifteen hours a week" and post the available hours under § 2923.125(I)(1). Sheriffs distribute fees collected under § 2923.125(B)(1) into the sheriff's concealed handgun license issuance fund established by § 311.42, which the county distributes to fund the program.
To receive a CHL, the applicant must satisfy all nineteen of the criteria in § 2923.125(D)(1)(a) through (s). The list is conjunctive - failing any one is disqualifying. Three federal-law overlays anchor the test: the chapeau to § 2923.125 declares the General Assembly's intent that "no person shall be eligible to receive a concealed handgun license permit ... unless the person is eligible lawfully to receive or possess a firearm in the United States," and § 2923.125(D)(1)(o) and (p) wire in the federal controlled-substance and immigration prohibitors directly.
The eligibility test does not contain an Ohio-specific time-limited path back to eligibility for a felony conviction. A felony bar under (D)(1)(e) is lifetime unless the applicant obtains relief under operation of law or legal process from the disability imposed by § 2923.13 or the records are sealed or expunged under § 2151.355 to § 2151.358 or § 2953.31 to § 2953.35 - at which point § 2923.125(D)(4) instructs the sheriff to disregard the conviction in making the (D)(1) determination.
§ 2923.125(B) sets the contents of the application package. The applicant submits:
Records confidentiality is handled at § 2923.129(B): completed applications, criminal-records and incompetency-records check reports, Social Security numbers, and fingerprints obtained under § 311.41(A) "are confidential and are not public records." Notwithstanding § 149.43 (Ohio's public-records law), no person shall release these records except pursuant to court order. Willful violation is illegal release of confidential concealed handgun license records, a felony of the fifth degree under § 2923.129(E).
§ 2923.125(G) is the training spine of the CHL. The course must include at least eight hours of training in the safe handling and use of a firearm, covering the rules for safe handling and proper storage of a handgun and ammunition, gun-handling training, and the knowledge, skills, and attitude necessary to shoot a handgun safely. § 2923.125(G)(1)(e) requires a minimum of two hours of in-person training that consists of range time and live-fire training. The remaining six hours of classroom-style instruction may, under § 2923.125(G)(3)(a), be delivered "online or as a combination of in-person and online training, as long as the online training includes an interactive component that regularly engages the person" - with the carve-out that any training "that requires the person receiving the training to demonstrate handling abilities" must be in-person.
Competency is verified through the examination required by § 2923.125(G)(2):
The competency certificate issued at course completion must be dated and must attest that the course met the (G)(1) training requirements and that the applicant passed the (G)(2) competency examination (§ 2923.125(G)(4)). Certificates from § 2923.125(B)(3)(a), (b), (c), (e), or (f) courses must reflect that the applicant completed the underlying course within three years preceding the application - a hard recency rule. Military-experience equivalency certificates under § 2923.125(B)(3)(d) operate on a different recency rule (active or retired status, or up to ten years post-retirement for peace officers).
The course is not waivable by prior out-of-state CHL training. Active-duty servicemembers and honorably discharged veterans get the equivalency pathway under § 2923.125(B)(3)(d); other applicants take the course. Detail on instructor qualifications and course content is in TRAINING_REQUIREMENTS.
§ 2923.125(D)(1) sets a 45-day decision window: within 45 days after the sheriff's receipt of a complete application form, the supporting documentation, and (if not waived) the license fee, the sheriff "shall make available through the law enforcement automated data system ... the information described in [§ 2923.125(H)] and, upon making the information available through the system, shall issue to the applicant a concealed handgun license."
Two extension levers apply:
If the sheriff denies the application, § 2923.125(D)(2)(b) requires written notice specifying the grounds for the denial. The applicant may appeal under § 119.12 to the court of common pleas of the county served by the denying sheriff. If the denial was based on the criminal-records check and the applicant uses the § 2923.127 challenge-and-review procedure to dispute that record, the § 119.12 appeal clock is tolled during the pendency of the challenge. Under § 2923.125(D)(2)(c), if the court sustains the sheriff's refusal to issue, the applicant may file a new application beginning one year after the judgment is entered.
A CHL issued under § 2923.125 is effective from the date of issuance.
§ 2923.125(D)(2)(a) is direct: a CHL "shall expire five years after the date of issuance." § 2923.126(A) repeats the term and adds a 30-day grace period after expiration "during which the licensee's license remains valid" - i.e., the licensee may continue carrying for 30 days past the printed expiration date while pursuing renewal.
Two carry-related obligations apply during the 5-year term:
A licensee who is no longer a resident of Ohio and (if the license was issued on the basis of Ohio employment) no longer employed in Ohio may use the CHL until its printed expiration date but is prohibited from renewing under § 2923.125(F)(5). The license effectively self-terminates at the next renewal cycle.
§ 2923.125(F) sets the renewal mechanics. A licensee may file for renewal "at any time before the expiration date of the license or at any time after the expiration date." There is no statutory renewal-window cutoff that bars late renewal, but a licensee who carries past the 30-day § 2923.126(A) grace period without a renewed license loses the carve-out from § 2923.12(A)(2) and is exposed to the carrying-concealed-weapons offense.
The renewal package under § 2923.125(F)(1)(a) consists of:
Under § 2923.125(F)(2), the sheriff conducts the criminal-records check and incompetency-records check under § 311.41 again at renewal. The sheriff renews the license if the applicant continues to satisfy the (D)(1) eligibility criteria - except the (D)(1)(l) competency-certification criterion, which is not required at renewal. A licensee who took the original course within the three years preceding the original application is not required to retake the course or competency examination at the 5-year renewal mark. The renewal cadence in Ohio is therefore meaningfully cheaper and faster than the original application: $50 instead of $67, and no course retake.
Under § 2923.125(F)(3), the renewal application requires the licensee to list only information and matters occurring since the date of the licensee's last application. The criminal-records check covers only the period from the last application to the renewal application - a narrow refresh, not a full re-investigation. A renewed license expires five years after the date of issuance, and the renewal is subject to the same suspension and revocation rules in § 2923.128 as the original.
§ 2923.125(F)(1)(b) carves out a military-service exemption: a person on active duty in the U.S. armed forces, peace corps, VISTA, or U.S. foreign service is exempt from the CHL renewal requirements during the period of active duty or service and for six months thereafter, provided the person was a CHL holder at the time the active duty or service commenced or obtained a CHL while on active duty or service. The same exemption extends to a spouse or dependent who relocated outside Ohio because of the servicemember's service. The exemption does not prevent the servicemember (or spouse or dependent) from filing a renewal application during the period of active duty or service.
§ 2923.126(A) authorizes a CHL holder to "carry a concealed handgun anywhere in this state if the license is valid when the licensee is in actual possession of a concealed handgun" - subject to the prohibited-place list in § 2923.126(B) and the carrying-concealed-weapons rules in § 2923.12. Three benefits explain why the CHL is still worth getting after Ohio's June 13, 2022 constitutional-carry change:
The CHL does not override § 2923.126(B) prohibited places, federal facilities under 18 U.S.C. § 930, the federal Gun-Free School Zones Act under 18 U.S.C. § 922(q), the school-safety-zone bar in § 2923.122, or the courthouse bar in § 2923.123. Detail on those limits is in PROHIBITED_PLACES.
Senate Bill 215 (134th General Assembly, 2022), effective June 13, 2022, added R.C. § 2923.111 to authorize permitless concealed carry of a handgun by a "qualifying adult" - generally, a person 21 or older who is not federally or state-disabled from possessing a firearm and who would otherwise satisfy the CHL eligibility test. The CHL was not displaced. § 2923.12(C)(2) added an express carve-out from the carrying-concealed-weapons offense for "any person who has been issued a concealed handgun license that is valid at the time of the alleged carrying or possession of a handgun" - and after June 13, 2022 a parallel carve-out applies under § 2923.111 for qualifying adults carrying without a license.
A CHL still provides several advantages a permitless carrier does not get:
The trade-off: a permitless carrier saves the $67 fee, the 8-hour course tuition and time, the BCI/FBI fingerprint capture, and the 45-day wait. The General Assembly deliberately left the choice with the carrier.
§ 2923.128 sets the suspension and revocation framework. The sheriff who issued the license:
The licensee has the same § 119.12 appeal pathway for a revocation as for a denial, and may invoke the § 2923.127 criminal-records-challenge procedure if the revocation rests on a disputed record.
| Item | Fee | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Original CHL - Ohio resident 5+ years | $67 | § 2923.125(B)(1)(a)(i) |
| Original CHL - Ohio resident less than 5 years, or non-resident on Ohio employment | $67 + actual FBI background-check cost | § 2923.125(B)(1)(a)(ii) |
| Renewal - Ohio resident 5+ years | $50 | § 2923.125(F)(4)(a) |
| Renewal - Ohio resident less than 5 years, or non-resident on Ohio employment | $50 + actual FBI background-check cost | § 2923.125(F)(4)(b) |
| Active or reserve military, honorably discharged or retired military | $0 (waived, subject to $1.5M annual statewide cap) | § 2923.125(B)(1)(c); § 2923.125(I)(2) |
| Retired peace officer; retired person under § 109.77(B)(1)(b); retired federal LEO authorized to carry under federal law | $0 (waived, unless retired due to mental disability) | § 2923.125(B)(1)(c) |
| Lost or destroyed license - duplicate | $15 | § 2923.125(E) |
| BCI background-check cost | Absorbed by sheriff - may not be charged to applicant | § 2923.125(B)(1)(b) |
The fees recited in § 2923.125 are statutory amounts, not caps - a sheriff cannot raise or discount the $67 / $50 figures except through the (B)(1)(c) waiver. The actual FBI background-check pass-through is variable and reflects the FBI's published fingerprint-processing cost at the time of application; the BCI check cost is absorbed by the sheriff's concealed handgun license issuance fund under § 311.42 and may not be passed through to the applicant. Course tuition is set by the qualified instructor and is separate from the sheriff's fee - the statute does not regulate course tuition.
| Statute | Subject |
|---|---|
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.12 | Carrying concealed weapons; statutory duty to inform; CHL carve-out |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.12(E)(2) | June 13, 2022 SB 215 effective date for repeal of (B)(1) |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.124 | CHL definitions |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125 | CHL application, issuance, renewal, and competency |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(A) | Sheriff as issuing authority; free application form |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(B)(1)(a)(i) | $67 original fee for 5+-year Ohio resident |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(B)(1)(a)(ii) | $67 + FBI cost for less-than-5-year residents and non-residents |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(B)(1)(c) | Military and retired-LEO fee waiver |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(B)(3) | Seven competency-certification pathways |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(D)(1) | 19-paragraph eligibility test; 45-day decision deadline |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(D)(1)(b) | Age 21 floor (no military carve-out) |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(D)(1)(s) | § 2919.25 domestic-violence bar |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(D)(2)(a) | 5-year initial term |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(D)(2)(b) | Written-denial requirement; § 119.12 appeal |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(D)(3) | Suspension of processing on disqualifying arrest or charge |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(D)(4) | Sealed and expunged convictions disregarded |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(E) | $15 duplicate fee for lost or destroyed license |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(F)(1)(b) | Active-duty servicemember renewal exemption (active service plus 6 months) |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(F)(2) | Renewal does not require § 2923.125(D)(1)(l) competency re-certification |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(F)(4)(a) | $50 renewal fee for 5+-year Ohio resident |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(F)(4)(b) | $50 + FBI cost for less-than-5-year residents and non-residents |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(F)(5) | License is non-renewable for licensees no longer Ohio-resident or Ohio-employed |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(G)(1) | 8-hour competency course |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(G)(1)(e) | 2-hour minimum in-person range time and live-fire training |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(G)(2) | Written and in-person competency examination |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(G)(3) | Online-classroom permissibility for some courses |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(H) | Law-enforcement automated data system entry on issuance |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(I)(1) | Sheriff's 15-hours-per-week intake requirement |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.125(I)(2) | $1.5 million annual cap on military fee waivers |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.126(A) | 5-year term; 30-day grace period; 45-day address-change notice |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.126(B) | Prohibited-place list |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.127 | Criminal-records-challenge procedure |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.128 | Suspension and revocation |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.129(B) | Records confidentiality (CHL records are not public records) |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2923.1213 | Temporary emergency CHL |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 109.731 | OPOTC pamphlet on firearms, dispute resolution, deadly force |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 119.12 | Administrative-appeal procedure |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 311.41 | BCI/FBI criminal-records check and incompetency-records check |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 311.42 | Sheriff's concealed handgun license issuance fund |
| 18 U.S.C. § 922 | Federal firearms-disability list and NICS |
| 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) | Federal prohibitor list |
| 18 U.S.C. § 922(t)(3) | NICS purchase exemption for state-issued permits |
This page covers one part of our Ohio concealed carry guide.
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