Ohio robocall law: what outbound teams must know in 2025

Last updated 2026-07-09

What is Ohio's robocall law?

Ohio's robocall rules come from two directions at once. Federally, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), codified at 47 U.S.C. 227, controls autodialed calls, prerecorded voice messages, and artificial voice calls to any phone number nationwide, including Ohio residents ^[1]. Separately, Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4719 creates a state-level "No-Call" registry and its own set of restrictions on telephone solicitations directed at Ohio consumers ^[2].

Think of it as two fences. The TCPA is the federal fence that applies everywhere. Ohio's ORC 4719 is a second, sometimes higher fence sitting right next to it. When the two overlap, you follow whichever rule is stricter.

Ohio's law defines a "telephone solicitor" broadly. If your company makes calls or texts to Ohio residents to pitch goods or services, you are almost certainly covered. The law does not limit itself to traditional telemarketers. SaaS companies, financial services firms, home services businesses, and lead generators have all faced Ohio AG actions under ORC 4719.

The Ohio Attorney General enforces ORC 4719 through its Consumer Protection Section. The FCC enforces TCPA at the federal level, and private plaintiffs can sue under TCPA without waiting for the FCC to act ^[1]. That private right of action drives most TCPA litigation, and Ohio federal courts, particularly the Southern District of Ohio, see a steady stream of these cases.

What does the federal TCPA require for calls into Ohio?

The TCPA prohibits using an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) or an artificial or prerecorded voice to call any mobile phone without the called party's prior express consent ^[1]. For telemarketing calls specifically, that consent must be prior express written consent, a higher bar than simple oral permission.

The FCC's 2012 rules (77 Fed. Reg. 34233) defined "prior express written consent" as an agreement that is clear and conspicuous, signed (including by electronic means), and that specifically authorizes calls using an ATDS or prerecorded voice for telemarketing ^[3]. A checkbox buried in a terms-of-service page does not meet that standard. The consumer must affirmatively agree, and your records need to capture who agreed, when, and what disclosure they saw.

For calls to residential landlines, the TCPA bars prerecorded telemarketing calls unless the called party has given prior express written consent. Purely informational prerecorded calls to landlines fall under a lighter standard, but the FCC reads "telemarketing" broadly: if your message has any commercial purpose, assume the stricter rule applies.

Under 47 U.S.C. 227(b)(3), each TCPA violation carries statutory damages of $500 per call. If a court finds the violation was knowing or willful, that jumps to $1,500 per call ^[1]. In a class action, those per-call numbers stack fast. A campaign that autodialed 50,000 Ohio cell phones without consent could generate $25 million in exposure before the first deposition.

See our full breakdown of tcpa law for a deeper look at the federal layer before you add Ohio-specific rules on top.

How does Ohio's No-Call list work under ORC 4719?

Ohio runs its own No-Call registry under ORC 4719.02, administered by the Ohio Attorney General ^[2]. Ohio residents register their home or cell numbers on the Ohio No-Call list, which is separate from the national Do Not Call registry maintained by the FTC.

Telephone solicitors who call Ohio residents must register with the Ohio AG, pay a registration fee, and scrub their call lists against both the Ohio No-Call list and the national DNC registry before making calls ^[2]. As of 2024, Ohio's telephone solicitor registration fee is $200 per year, though fees can change and you should verify the current amount directly with the Ohio AG's office ^[7].

The law includes an established business relationship (EBR) exemption similar to the federal analog: if a consumer has purchased from you or made an inquiry within a specified lookback window (18 months for a purchase, 3 months for an inquiry under the federal rule), you may call even if they are on the registry ^[9]. Ohio tracks the federal EBR standards closely, but do not assume they are identical. Read ORC 4719 directly.

Time-of-day restrictions apply too. Under both Ohio law and the TCPA/FTC rules, solicitation calls to Ohio consumers must fall between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time of the called party ^[4]. Calling a Cincinnati resident at 7:58 a.m. Eastern is a violation even if your office sits in a Pacific time zone.

Caller ID rules matter here too. Ohio sellers must transmit caller ID information and may not cause false caller ID to be displayed. That matches the Truth in Caller ID Act at the federal level, and Ohio's AG can pursue violations under state UDAP statutes on its own.

What are the penalties for violating Ohio robocall law?

Ohio can hit you with civil penalties up to $25,000 per violation under ORC 4719 for violations involving the No-Call registry or registration requirements ^[2]. Each individual call to a number on the registry is its own violation. A campaign with 1,000 illegal calls carries theoretical exposure of $25 million under state law alone.

The Ohio AG can also seek consumer restitution and injunctive relief, which means a court order stopping your calling operations entirely while the case resolves. That kind of shutdown often costs more in lost revenue than the fines themselves.

On top of Ohio penalties, TCPA private plaintiffs can file class actions in federal court. The Southern District of Ohio (Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton) and Northern District (Cleveland, Akron) both see regular TCPA class actions. There is no cap on class size, and class counsel fees come on top of statutory damages.

State consumer protection claims under Ohio's Consumer Sales Practices Act (CSPA, ORC 1345) layer on further. The CSPA prohibits unfair or deceptive acts in consumer transactions, and the Ohio AG has treated illegal robocalls as deceptive practices, opening the door to additional civil penalties and attorney fee recovery ^[10].

One practical note: unlike TCPA private suits, only the AG brings ORC 4719 enforcement actions. But the AG watches complaint data from the Ohio No-Call complaint center and the FTC's complaint database. A pattern of complaints triggers investigation quickly.

For a look at how similar state-level penalties work in neighboring states, see our guides on indiana call recording laws and pa call recording laws.

Do Ohio robocall rules cover text messages too?

Yes. The TCPA expressly covers text messages sent using an ATDS or prerecorded message to a cell phone ^[1]. The FCC confirmed this in its 2003 Report and Order (18 FCC Rcd 14014), and the Sixth Circuit (which covers Ohio) has affirmed that text messages are "calls" under the TCPA.

So if you are blasting marketing texts to Ohio cell phones through an automated platform, the same prior express written consent standard applies as for autodialed voice calls. A consumer texting a keyword to an opt-in shortcode is usually enough consent for texts, but only for texts from that specific program, not for unrelated campaigns.

Ohio's ORC 4719 was drafted with voice calls in mind, and the AG has mostly enforced it against voice callers. But nothing in ORC 4719 explicitly exempts texts, and the Ohio CSPA applies to all consumer transactions ^[10]. If your text campaign is deceptive or unsolicited, CSPA exposure is real.

The practical upshot: treat text campaigns into Ohio under TCPA federal standards (prior express written consent, easy opt-out, honoring opt-outs within 10 business days), and you will be in a defensible position under both federal and state law.

What consent do you actually need before calling Ohio numbers?

The consent standard depends on what type of call you are making and to what type of phone.

For autodialed or prerecorded telemarketing calls to Ohio cell phones: prior express written consent is required. That means a signed, affirmative agreement that specifically references receiving autodialed or prerecorded calls and identifies your company by name ^[3]. You cannot bury this in a general terms page. It needs to stand alone or be clearly prominent.

For manually dialed telemarketing calls to cell phones: consent is not technically required by the TCPA, but if the number sits on the national DNC or Ohio No-Call registry, you cannot call it without an EBR or another exemption.

For prerecorded telemarketing calls to Ohio residential landlines: prior express written consent has been required since the FCC's 2012 rule change took effect ^[3]. Before 2012, an EBR was enough. Not anymore.

For purely informational calls (appointment reminders, fraud alerts, utility outage notices) to cell phones: prior express consent (not necessarily written) is enough, and many informational calls qualify for the healthcare or emergency exemptions.

Ohio does not set a consent standard higher than TCPA for cell phones, but its No-Call list effectively raises the bar for landlines and for any solicitation calls to registered numbers. The cleanest posture is to get prior express written consent for everything, keep those records, and scrub your lists against both registries before every campaign.

If you need to verify your consent records and list hygiene before a campaign goes live, LeadCompliant's free DNC checker and TCPA consent tools at leadcompliant.com can help you catch gaps before they become complaints.

What exemptions exist under Ohio and federal robocall rules?

Several categories of calls are exempt or carry reduced requirements under both TCPA and ORC 4719.

Exempt or partially exempt under TCPA and FCC rules:

• Calls to businesses (TCPA protections apply mainly to residential and cell numbers; calling a business landline is not a TCPA violation even with an ATDS, though FTC DNC rules still apply to certain business-to-consumer calls)
• Calls made with prior express written consent
• Emergency calls
• Calls made by or on behalf of tax-exempt nonprofit organizations (FTC DNC rule exemption)
• Calls that are not for commercial purposes
• Surveys and polling calls (no commercial message)

Exempt under ORC 4719:

• Calls to persons with whom you have an established business relationship within the applicable lookback period
• Calls made in response to a consumer's request
• Calls not involving a telephone solicitation (purely informational, debt collection under FDCPA oversight, etc.)
• Calls by certain charitable organizations

Debt collection calls are their own category. The FDCPA governs debt collectors, and the FCC has issued specific guidance on TCPA application to debt collection. Ohio debt collectors also face the Ohio Debt Collection Practices Act (ORC 1319). Debt collection calls are not telephone solicitations under ORC 4719, but TCPA consent rules still apply to cell phones.

Do not lean on exemptions without reading the statute text. The EBR exemption in particular has a hard lookback period and does not survive if the consumer has asked you not to call, regardless of the relationship ^[9].

What does Ohio's robocall enforcement history look like?

The Ohio AG's office has been active. In 2019 and 2020, the AG brought multiple actions against out-of-state telemarketers calling Ohio residents with unsolicited prerecorded messages pitching home warranty and financial products. Those cases resulted in consent judgments with civil penalties ranging from $50,000 to over $1 million depending on call volume.

Federally, the Sixth Circuit (which covers Ohio) has issued important TCPA precedent. The court generally followed a broad reading of what counts as an ATDS, until the Supreme Court's 2021 ruling in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid (141 S. Ct. 1163) narrowed the ATDS definition to systems that use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce phone numbers ^[5]. Post-Duguid, some predictive dialers may not qualify as ATDS devices, but the analysis is fact-specific and you should not assume your dialer is exempt without a legal opinion.

Ohio plaintiffs' firms file TCPA class actions regularly. Cases in the Southern District of Ohio have produced class settlements ranging from several hundred thousand dollars to multi-million dollar funds for campaigns that dialed Ohio cell numbers without proper consent. Public settlement records from PACER show activity in this district nearly every month.

The FTC also coordinates with Ohio's AG on Do Not Call enforcement. Joint federal-state actions have targeted companies that ignored both the national DNC registry and the Ohio No-Call list at the same time.

How does the ATDS definition affect Ohio robocall compliance after Facebook v. Duguid?

The Supreme Court's April 2021 decision in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid clarified that an ATDS must have the capacity to use a random or sequential number generator to either store or produce numbers ^[5]. A system that simply dials from a pre-uploaded list without any random or sequential generation does not meet that definition.

This matters for Ohio outbound teams because many predictive dialers, CRM-integrated power dialers, and list-based autodialers may no longer qualify as ATDS devices under Duguid. If your system dials only from a static uploaded list and cannot generate random numbers, the ATDS prohibition technically may not apply to those calls.

Here is where people get tripped up. Even if your dialer is not an ATDS under Duguid, prerecorded or artificial voice messages to cell phones are still prohibited without consent under a separate TCPA provision, 47 U.S.C. 227(b)(1)(A)(iii), which does not require an ATDS ^[1]. So the Duguid win only helps if you are making live-agent calls with a non-ATDS dialer. Drop a prerecorded message and you are still covered.

Ohio's ORC 4719 does not use the ATDS framework at all. It covers any "telephone solicitor" making a solicitation call. A human agent using a normal phone to solicit Ohio consumers still falls under ORC 4719 if the consumer is on the No-Call list.

What records do Ohio callers need to keep?

For TCPA compliance, keep consent records indefinitely, or at a minimum for four years (the TCPA's longest limitations period in some jurisdictions, though the discovery rule can extend it further) ^[1]. Your consent records should include:

• The date and time consent was obtained
• The exact disclosure language the consumer saw or heard
• The consumer's affirmative action (click, signature, verbal agreement on a recorded line)
• The number consented to
• Which company and campaign the consent covers

For Ohio ORC 4719 compliance, keep records of your AG registration, annual renewal receipts, and your list-scrubbing logs. The AG can subpoena scrub records during an investigation to determine whether you checked the Ohio No-Call list before a specific call date.

Call time logs matter. If a complaint comes in alleging a call outside the 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. window, your outbound dialer logs should show the exact call time in the consumer's local time zone. Use a platform that logs timestamps in UTC and converts correctly, or you will struggle to defend time-of-day claims.

For calls recorded as part of your sales or compliance monitoring process, Ohio is a one-party consent state for recording under ORC 2933.52, meaning you generally do not need the other party's consent to record a call if you are a party to it ^[6]. But if your agents call from out of state into Ohio, the recording consent law of the agent's location may also apply. For more on multi-state recording rules, see our overview of telephone call recording laws.

How do you register as a telephone solicitor in Ohio?

If your company makes telephone solicitations to Ohio consumers, ORC 4719.03 requires you to register with the Ohio Attorney General before making those calls ^[2]. You cannot wait until after your first campaign.

The registration process involves submitting an application through the Ohio AG's office, paying the required fee, and providing information about your company, the types of products or services you are selling, and your calling practices. The AG's website at ohioattorneygeneral.gov hosts the current registration forms and fee schedules ^[7].

Registration must be renewed annually. Operating without registration exposes you to civil penalties up to $25,000 per violation, independent of whether your actual calls complied with everything else. The AG has brought enforcement actions against solicitors who were otherwise compliant in their call practices but simply never registered.

One common trap: companies that generate leads and sell them to Ohio-based sellers sometimes argue they are not the "telephone solicitor" and do not need to register. Ohio's law and its AG have pushed back on this in enforcement actions, especially where the lead generator is initiating the calls or scripting the pitch. If your business model puts you anywhere in the call chain, talk to a TCPA attorney about whether registration is required.

Out-of-state companies are not exempt. ORC 4719 applies to any telephone solicitor calling Ohio consumers, regardless of where the solicitor sits.

What should small outbound teams do right now to comply with Ohio robocall law?

Start with your list. Before any Ohio call campaign, scrub your numbers against the FTC's national DNC registry and the Ohio No-Call list. The FTC's DNC list is accessible through the National Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov ^[4]. The Ohio No-Call list is managed by the AG's office ^[7].

Audit your consent records. Pull a sample of 50 Ohio numbers from your recent campaigns and find the consent record for each. If you cannot find a clean record within two minutes for each number, your consent documentation process has a gap.

Check your dialer. Know whether your system qualifies as an ATDS under the post-Duguid standard. If you are dropping prerecorded messages, that analysis matters less, but you still need prior express written consent regardless.

Register with the Ohio AG if you have not already. Even if you think your calls are exempt, registration is cheap insurance next to a $25,000 per-call penalty for operating unregistered.

Train your agents on time-of-day rules. Put a hard stop in your dialer platform that blocks Ohio calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. Eastern, and track time zones carefully for consumers near the Indiana border where Central time applies.

Document your opt-outs. When an Ohio consumer says "take me off your list," that request must be honored within 30 days under the national DNC rules. Log the request with a timestamp and confirm it was suppressed before the next campaign.

For teams that need to run number-level DNC and consent checks at scale, the free tools at LeadCompliant.com cover national and state DNC lookups, and the compliance kit includes consent capture templates formatted for TCPA written consent standards.

For context on how other midwestern and neighboring states handle similar rules, our guide on indiana call recording laws is a good companion read.

Frequently asked questions

Is Ohio a one-party or two-party consent state for call recording?

Ohio is a one-party consent state under ORC 2933.52. One participant in the call can legally record it without telling the other party. That said, if your agents call from a two-party consent state like California or Pennsylvania into Ohio, your agent's state law may require consent from both parties before recording. Always check both ends of the call.

Can I call Ohio cell phones using a predictive dialer?

It depends on your dialer's technical design. After the Supreme Court's 2021 Facebook v. Duguid ruling, predictive dialers that dial from pre-uploaded lists without random or sequential number generation may not meet the TCPA ATDS definition. But if your dialer can generate random numbers, or if you leave prerecorded messages, full TCPA consent rules apply. Ohio's ORC 4719 covers solicitations regardless of dialer type.

Does Ohio have its own Do Not Call list separate from the national registry?

Yes. Ohio maintains its own No-Call registry under ORC 4719, administered by the Ohio Attorney General. Telephone solicitors must scrub against both the Ohio list and the FTC's national Do Not Call registry before calling Ohio consumers. Operating without checking the Ohio list is its own violation, even if you checked the national list.

What is the penalty for calling an Ohio number on the Do Not Call list?

Under ORC 4719, civil penalties can reach $25,000 per violation, and each illegal call is a separate violation. Under the federal TCPA, private plaintiffs can sue for $500 per call, or $1,500 if the violation was willful. These exposures stack: a single illegal call could trigger both state penalties and a private TCPA claim at once.

Do I need to register with the Ohio AG before making sales calls to Ohio residents?

Yes, if your calls count as telephone solicitations under ORC 4719. Registration with the Ohio Attorney General is required before making solicitation calls to Ohio consumers. Operating without registration is itself a civil violation with penalties up to $25,000 per violation, separate from whether your actual calls complied with consent and DNC rules.

Does Ohio robocall law apply to text message campaigns?

Federal TCPA rules clearly cover text messages sent via ATDS to Ohio cell phones, and the Sixth Circuit (which includes Ohio) has affirmed that texts are calls under the TCPA. Ohio's ORC 4719 was written with voice calls in mind but does not explicitly exempt texts. For safety, treat mass marketing texts under TCPA prior express written consent standards when targeting Ohio numbers.

What hours can I legally call Ohio consumers?

Both TCPA/FTC rules and Ohio ORC 4719 restrict solicitation calls to between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time of the called party. That means the consumer's local time zone controls, not yours. Calls to Ohio residents near the Indiana border may need Central time zone tracking. Your dialer should enforce these limits automatically per area code and NPA-NXX mapping.

Can nonprofits robocall Ohio residents without following these rules?

Nonprofits have some exemptions. The FTC's national DNC rule exempts calls by tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations. Ohio's ORC 4719 has a charitable solicitation exemption, though it has limits. The TCPA still applies to nonprofits using ATDS or prerecorded messages to cell phones if those calls have a commercial character. Pure charitable fundraising calls get more latitude than hybrid commercial pitches.

How long does an established business relationship last for Ohio DNC exemption purposes?

Under federal FTC rules (which Ohio tracks), an established business relationship from a purchase lasts 18 months from the date of the last transaction. An inquiry or application creates a 3-month EBR window. The EBR is void once the consumer asks to be removed from your call list. Ohio's AG has followed these federal timelines in enforcement guidance.

What happened to the ATDS definition after Facebook v. Duguid and how does that affect Ohio callers?

The Supreme Court's 2021 Facebook v. Duguid ruling held that an ATDS must use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce numbers. Dialers that only call from uploaded lists may not qualify as ATDS devices. This narrowed TCPA exposure for list-based dialers in Ohio, but prerecorded messages to cell phones are still banned without consent under a separate TCPA provision that does not require an ATDS.

Can out-of-state companies be sued under Ohio robocall law?

Yes on both counts. The TCPA applies nationwide and Ohio federal courts accept TCPA class actions regardless of where the caller is located. ORC 4719 expressly applies to any telephone solicitor calling Ohio consumers, and the Ohio AG has brought enforcement actions against out-of-state companies. Physical presence in Ohio is not required for either type of liability.

How do I get prior express written consent that meets TCPA standards for Ohio calls?

Your consent form must clearly and conspicuously disclose that the consumer is agreeing to receive autodialed or prerecorded calls or texts from your company specifically. The consumer must affirmatively sign or check a box. The consent cannot be buried in terms and conditions. Store the exact disclosure language, timestamp, and the consumer's affirmative action. Electronic signatures qualify under the FCC's 2012 rules.

What should I do if an Ohio consumer files a TCPA complaint against my company?

Preserve all records immediately: consent documents, call logs, dialer records, scrub logs, and any opt-out requests. Do not alter or delete anything. Consult a TCPA defense attorney before responding to the FCC, AG, or any plaintiff. Early settlement is common in TCPA cases but requires careful negotiation. In parallel, audit your calling practices to stop any ongoing violations that could add to your exposure.

Sources

1. Cornell Law School / Legal Information Institute, 47 U.S.C. 227: TCPA prohibits autodialed and prerecorded calls to cell phones without prior express consent; $500 per violation, $1,500 if willful
2. Ohio Legislature, Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4719: ORC 4719 establishes Ohio's No-Call registry, telephone solicitor registration requirements, and civil penalties up to $25,000 per violation
3. Federal Trade Commission, National Do Not Call Registry: FTC administers the national DNC registry; calls restricted to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time of called party
4. Supreme Court of the United States, Facebook Inc. v. Duguid, 141 S. Ct. 1163 (2021): ATDS under TCPA requires capacity to use random or sequential number generator; dialers calling from uploaded lists may not qualify
5. Ohio Legislature, Ohio Revised Code 2933.52: Ohio is a one-party consent state for wiretapping and call recording
6. Ohio Attorney General: Ohio AG administers telephone solicitor registration and No-Call list enforcement under ORC 4719
7. Federal Trade Commission, Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 CFR Part 310: FTC TSR governs telemarketing calls, DNC registry requirements, and EBR exemption timelines of 18 months (purchase) and 3 months (inquiry)
8. Ohio Legislature, Ohio Consumer Sales Practices Act, ORC 1345: Ohio CSPA prohibits unfair or deceptive acts in consumer transactions; AG has applied it to illegal robocall campaigns