City of Cincinnati Lobbyist Registration Requirements

Maria J. Armstrong
Bricker & Eckler LLP
January 2007

The City of Cincinnati requires that all legislative agents and their employers must register with the Clerk of Council and file regular statements reporting their lobbying activity. This article provides a summary of Chapter 112 of the Cincinnati Municipal Code. Additional information is available on the Cincinnati City Council website.

Do You Need to Register?

Legislative Agent: You are a “legislative agent” and must register with the City of Cincinnati if you are an individual who is engaged during at least a portion of your time to actively advocate as one of your main purposes.

• Engaged means any arrangement whereby your are employed or retained for compensation to act for or on behalf of an employer to actively advocate.

• Actively advocate means to promote, advocate, or oppose the passage, modification, defeat, or executive approval or veto of any legislation by direct communication with any member of the Council, appointee of the Council, the City Manager, the director of any department listed in the Administrative Code, or any member of the staff or employee of such public official.

• Legislation means ordinances, resolutions, amendments, nominations, and any other matter pending before the Council.

• Staff means any city employee whose official duties are to formulate policy and who exercises administrative or supervisory authority or who authorizes the expenditure of city funds. "Staff" is limited to employees who are required to file a financial disclosure statement under Article XXVI of the Cincinnati Administrative Code.

Employer of a Legislative Agent: You are the “employer of a legislative agent” and must register with the City of Cincinnati if you are any person who, directly or indirectly, engages a legislative agent.

• Person means any individual, partnership, trust, estate, business trust, association, or corporation; any labor organization or manufacturer association; any department, commission, board, publicly supported college or university, division, institution, bureau, or other instrumentality of the state; or any county, township, municipal corporation, school district, or other political subdivision of the state.

• Employer does not include any person: (1) who is a member of a business, trade, professional, civic or other membership organization which employs a legislative agent; and (2) who does not directly employ a legislative agent.

Exempt Activities: Individuals engaged in the following types of activities are not required to register:

• Appearances before meetings of the committees of the Council or the full Council, and appearances before public hearings of the committees of the Council;

• News, editorial, and advertising statements published in bona fide newspapers, journals, or magazines, or broadcast over radio or television

• Gathering and furnishing of information and news by bona fide reporters, correspondents, or news bureaus to news media;

• Publications primarily designed for and distributed to members of bona fide associations or charitable or fraternal nonprofit association; or

• Professional services in drafting ordinances or resolutions, preparing arguments thereon, or in advising clients and rendering opinions as to the construction and the effect of proposed or pending legislation, if the services are not otherwise connected with actions to actively advocate.

How to Register

Each legislative agent and employer must file a separate Initial Registration Statement for each lobbying engagement within ten (10) days of the engagement with the Clerk of Council.

There is a $25 registration fee for each Initial Registration Statement to be paid by check or money order only to the Clerk of Council.

Updated Registration Statements

Legislative agents and employers are each required to file an Updated Registration Statement two times a year: on July 31 for the reporting period January 1 through June 30; and January 31 for the reporting period July 1 through December 31.

Updated Registration Statements include a confirmation of the continuing existence of the lobbying engagement; a list of the specific ordinances or resolutions on which the agent actively advocated; and details of any financial transactions.

Non-Compliance

Knowingly failing to file an Initial Registration Statement, maintain a record, or file an Updated Registration Statement is a fourth degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $250 fine. An organization that violates these laws can be subjected to a fine of $2,000.

Knowingly falsifying statements is a first degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a $1000 fine. For an organization, it is a fine of $5,000.

Registration forms and additional information are available on the Cincinnati City Council website.