Snow emergency II

As a follow up to a previous post;

Here's the logical conclusion to making our county Sheriff's....weather men.

This is from a letter to the editor of the Athens News recently:

"I think a Level 3 snow emergency should have been issued on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 27, because the effects of the ice storm were already in place. Furthermore, the storm could be seen on Doppler radar, as well as the winter storm warning scrolling across our television screens and being sent as text messages.
Some of my friends had taken their children to evening activities, and I began to hear their stories about the awful conditions of the roads as they were driving home. The hill that leads up to Wonder Hills was a slab of ice. It was also dark, making matters much worse.
Can anyone tell me why Sheriff Pat Kelly waited until Wednesday morning? I would like to know. People could have been involved in serious accidents on Tuesday evening. We all know that evenings are the times when children are being taken back and forth to activities."

This person could have signed this "helpless in Athens"

So, these people know it's bad outside and they wait for the Sheriff to tell them if it's safe to go outside or not. They are watching the radar and still go out, just because the Sheriff hasn't declared a level 3. So much for thinking for yourself or being accountable for your own actions.

I wonder what our founding fathers would think of us now, they fought for freedom, in the dead of winter, and we've turned into a nation of people that can't think for ourselves....we want our local Sheriff to tell us if we can go outside or not....and if it's slippery outside and he didn't tell us (even though it's the middle of winter) shame on him!

As far as the authority to declare a "snow emergency", it's made up. There is no specific law that allows this. The law that the Attorneys General mention are 311.07 and 311.08. There's nothing pertaining to "snow emergencies" It's a real stretch to even make it fit under the "preserve the public peace" generic, cover it all words in the ORC.

How did we get from the ORC general statement of preserving the peace to allowing the Sheriff to stop traffic on all roadways in a county?

A morphing action of various Attorney's General decisions.

"1958 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 3039, p. 676; a county sheriff’s duty to preserve the public peace
authorizes him to keep the public highways free of damaged automobiles and remove injured and unconscious motorists and other persons from such highways"

1987 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 87-099 at 2-658; 1986 Op. Att’y Gen.
No. 86-023 at 2-121. “It is evident, therefore, that the sheriff’s duty to ‘preserve the public
peace’ under R.C. 311.07 [and R.C. 311.08] permits him, in the appropriate circumstances, and
in the exercise of a reasonable discretion, to take those actions reasonably necessary to protect the general public welfare.”

1997 Op. Att’y
"Gen. No. 97-015 (a county sheriff may, pursuant to R.C. 311.07 and R.C. 311.08, declare a snow emergency and temporarily close state roads and municipal streets within his jurisdiction when such action is reasonably necessary for the preservation of the public peace"

As far as which roads a Sheriff may close, it's clear that he can close any road he chooses.

http://www.ag.state.oh.us/legal/opinions/1997/97-015.htm

"Moreover, under the rationale used in 1986 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 86-023, there is no reasonable basis for distinguishing between the different types of roads and streets that are located within the county. As stated in the opinion, "_[t]he sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer in the county, with jurisdiction coextensive with the county, including all municipalities and townships._" 1986 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 86-023 at 2-120 (quoting In re Sulzmann, 125 Ohio St. 594, 597, 183 N.E. 531, 532 (1932)); see R.C. 2935.03(A). Accordingly, a county sheriff's duty to "preserve the public peace" extends throughout the entire county. As such, the county sheriff is not only required to "preserve the public peace" on county and township roads during a snow emergency, but is also required to do the same on state roads and municipal streets. Because the power to "preserve the public peace" includes the authority to take those steps reasonably necessary to protect and preserve the safety of the traveling public, 1986 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 86-023 at 2-121, the county sheriff may, pursuant to R.C. 311.07 and R.C. 311.08, declare a snow emergency and temporarily close the state roads and municipal streets within his jurisdiction when such action is reasonably necessary for the preservation of the public peace.2"

Not sure why we are letting our Attorneys General make laws when our legislature should be making specific laws, but there it is.