Ohioans for Fair Representation, Inc. v. Taft

R.C. 2721.12 requires service of a copy of the proceeding on the Attorney General when a party challenges the constitutionality of a statute in a declaratory judgment action. R.C. 2721.12 does not require, however, that the Attorney General be named as a party in such an action. Malloy v. Westlake (1977), 52 Ohio St.2d 103, 6 O.O.3d 329, 370 N.E.2d 457. A misstatement of the law in paragraph one of the syllabus in Westlake v. Mascot Petroleum Co. (1991), *18361 Ohio St.3d 161, 573 N.E.2d 1068, has led to some confusion in this area. That paragraph reads:

“While R.C. 2721.12, which requires that the…