Ohio HB 96 (Age Verification)

Ohio, United StatesOH HB 96Updated March 25, 2026

100%became law
Bad for your rightsLaw
  1. Introduced
  2. Passed House
  3. Passed Senate
  4. Became Law

In force; thinly enforced

Ohio's adult-site age check, tucked into the state budget bill after a standalone version stalled.

Latest update

HB 84 referred to Senate Judiciary

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The bill

Read the full billOfficial bill record

Key facts

Where
Ohio, United States
Bill number
OH HB 96
Status
Law
Threat
Medium
Last update
March 25, 2026

Topics

Age VerificationDigital ID

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What it does

Ohio folded adult-content age verification into HB 96, the two-year state budget, after the standalone Innocence Act failed to pass on its own. The language makes any site presenting material obscene or harmful to juveniles verify a user is 18 with a photo ID or transaction data, enforced only by the Attorney General with penalties up to $100,000 per violation.

What’s at stake

Passing the mandate through a must-sign budget bill is how a stalled idea becomes law without a clean vote on its merits. In practice the rule is barely enforced, and major operators claim it does not reach them, so its real effect so far is smaller than its text. HB 84, passed by the House on March 18, 2026 and now in Senate Judiciary, would rewrite the section: sites would have to reverify users every two years and run a geofence through a licensed location-tracking provider that blocks Ohio users until they are verified.

Our take

Ohio could not pass this on its own, so it rode the budget instead, which is how contested mandates slip through. The law is on the books and thinly enforced. Passing it inside the budget let a checkpoint on lawful content become law with no standalone vote.

Timeline

  1. HB 84 referred to Senate JudiciaryLatest

  2. House passed HB 84, which would rewrite R.C. 1349.10 as the Innocence Act: reverification every two years and a geofence that blocks Ohio users until verified

  3. Took effect

  4. Signed into law in the budget act

The record

Sponsors

Rep. Brian Stewart, Rep. Steve Demetriou

Votes

  • House: Passed (59 to 38), June 25, 2025
  • Senate: Passed (23 to 10), June 25, 2025