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"para_315", "para_316", "para_317" ], "kind": "front_matter" } ], "paragraphs": [ { "text": "[Cite as Alexander v. Conway, 2026-Ohio-3914.]", "paragraph_id": "para_1" }, { "text": "IN THE COURT OF APPEALS", "paragraph_id": "para_2" }, { "text": "TWELFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT OF OHIO", "paragraph_id": "para_3" }, { "text": "WARREN COUNTY", "paragraph_id": "para_4" }, { "text": "KEITH ALEXANDER, et al.,", "paragraph_id": "para_5" }, { "text": "Appellants,", "paragraph_id": "para_6" }, { "text": "vs.", "paragraph_id": "para_7" }, { "text": "MITCHELL CONWAY,", "paragraph_id": "para_8" }, { "text": "Appellee.", "paragraph_id": "para_9" }, { "text": ":", "paragraph_id": "para_10" }, { "text": ":", "paragraph_id": "para_11" }, { "text": ":", "paragraph_id": "para_12" }, { "text": ":", "paragraph_id": "para_13" }, { "text": ":", "paragraph_id": "para_14" }, { "text": ":", "paragraph_id": "para_15" }, { "text": "CASE NO. CA2026-03-035", "paragraph_id": "para_16" }, { "text": "OPINION AND", "paragraph_id": "para_17" }, { "text": "JUDGMENT ENTRY", "paragraph_id": "para_18" }, { "text": "10/5/2026", "paragraph_id": "para_19" }, { "text": "CRIMINAL APPEAL FROM WARREN COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS", "paragraph_id": "para_20" }, { "text": "Case No. 25CV99369", "paragraph_id": "para_21" }, { "text": "Bricker Graydon Wyatt LLP, and Brodi J. Conover and Carly M. Sherman, for appellee.", "paragraph_id": "para_22" }, { "text": "Hoffer Law, LLC, and Tyler J. Hoffer, for appellants.", "paragraph_id": "para_23" }, { "text": "____________", "paragraph_id": "para_24" }, { "text": "O P I N I O N", "paragraph_id": "para_25" }, { "text": "M. POWELL, J.", "paragraph_id": "para_26" }, { "text": "{¶ 1} Keith Alexander and Keith Alexander Shoe Factory (referred to collectively", "paragraph_id": "para_27" }, { "text": "in this opinion as \"Alexander\") appeal the judgment of the trial court affirming an order of", "paragraph_id": "para_28" }, { "text": "Warren CA2026-03-035", "paragraph_id": "para_29" }, { "text": "- 2 -", "paragraph_id": "para_30" }, { "text": "the Ohio Board of Building Appeals that upheld a fire-code citation and imposed penalties.", "paragraph_id": "para_31" }, { "text": "Finding no error, we affirm.", "paragraph_id": "para_32" }, { "text": "I. Factual and Procedural Background", "paragraph_id": "para_33" }, { "text": "{¶ 2} Alexander acquired the property at 120 East South Street in Lebanon on", "paragraph_id": "para_34" }, { "text": "December 12, 2012. The building, a four-story former shoe factory dating to the early", "paragraph_id": "para_35" }, { "text": "1900s, has stood vacant for years and is used by Alexander to store building materials", "paragraph_id": "para_36" }, { "text": "and other personal property. By the time Alexander bought the property, the sprinkler", "paragraph_id": "para_37" }, { "text": "system had been decommissioned with approval from the Lebanon fire and building", "paragraph_id": "para_38" }, { "text": "departments to keep the lines from freezing. A September 22, 2014 letter from the fire", "paragraph_id": "para_39" }, { "text": "chief stated the terms of that approval: the building was to remain empty and unoccupied;", "paragraph_id": "para_40" }, { "text": "because its mercantile classification did not permit storage without an operable", "paragraph_id": "para_41" }, { "text": "suppression system, any stored materials were to be removed within 30 days. Alexander", "paragraph_id": "para_42" }, { "text": "never cleared the building, and the sprinkler system was never repaired or replaced. Over", "paragraph_id": "para_43" }, { "text": "the next decade, the fire division made efforts to secure voluntary compliance, but those", "paragraph_id": "para_44" }, { "text": "efforts came to nothing.", "paragraph_id": "para_45" }, { "text": "{¶ 3} Matters came to a head in 2025. Mitchell Conway, a certified fire-safety", "paragraph_id": "para_46" }, { "text": "inspector employed by the Lebanon fire division, reinspected the property on January 22", "paragraph_id": "para_47" }, { "text": "and confirmed that the violations still existed. On February 3, 2025, the fire division", "paragraph_id": "para_48" }, { "text": "notified Alexander of the outstanding violations and directed him to show proof of", "paragraph_id": "para_49" }, { "text": "progress by March 14. His only response, submitted more than a month late, was an", "paragraph_id": "para_50" }, { "text": "unsigned contractor's estimate placing the cost of a new sprinkler system near $80,000.", "paragraph_id": "para_51" }, { "text": "{¶ 4} Conway issued a citation on April 22, 2025, and Alexander received it three", "paragraph_id": "para_52" }, { "text": "days later. The citation charged two fire-code violations: a disabled sprinkler system", "paragraph_id": "para_53" }, { "text": "under former Ohio Adm.Code 1301:7-7-03(K)(2)(b) and a sprinkler system requiring", "paragraph_id": "para_54" }, { "text": "Warren CA2026-03-035", "paragraph_id": "para_55" }, { "text": "- 3 -", "paragraph_id": "para_56" }, { "text": "repair under former Ohio Adm.Code 1301:7-7-09(A)(6).1 The citation gave May 22, 2025,", "paragraph_id": "para_57" }, { "text": "as the compliance deadline. Citing R.C. 3737.51, which prohibits fire-code violations and", "paragraph_id": "para_58" }, { "text": "defines penalties, the citation assessed a one-time civil penalty of $500 for each violation", "paragraph_id": "para_59" }, { "text": "and stated that, unless Alexander presented a signed sprinkler contract with a start date", "paragraph_id": "para_60" }, { "text": "within 30 days, a further penalty of $500 per violation would accrue for each day the", "paragraph_id": "para_61" }, { "text": "violations continued past the May 22 compliance deadline. The citation also warned that", "paragraph_id": "para_62" }, { "text": "failure to post a copy of the issued citation would carry a separate penalty of up to $1,000", "paragraph_id": "para_63" }, { "text": "per posting violation. The citation further advised Alexander of his right to appeal the", "paragraph_id": "para_64" }, { "text": "citation and penalty to the Ohio Board of Building Appeals (\"Board\") within 30 days.", "paragraph_id": "para_65" }, { "text": "Alexander neither abated the violations nor appealed, thus prompting the fire division to", "paragraph_id": "para_66" }, { "text": "bring the citation to the Board.", "paragraph_id": "para_67" }, { "text": "{¶ 5} On June 2, 2025, Conway requested what the parties call a \"Goldman", "paragraph_id": "para_68" }, { "text": "hearing,\" the procedure by which an enforcing agency may bring an ignored fire-code", "paragraph_id": "para_69" }, { "text": "citation before the Board for review and enforcement. See Goldman v. State Med. Bd. of", "paragraph_id": "para_70" }, { "text": "Ohio, 110 Ohio App.3d 124 (10th Dist. 1996). The Board set the matter for June 26, 2025,", "paragraph_id": "para_71" }, { "text": "and notice was delivered to Alexander by certified mail on June 7. The day before the", "paragraph_id": "para_72" }, { "text": "hearing, Conway and inspector Dennis Waldbillig reinspected the property. Their report", "paragraph_id": "para_73" }, { "text": "and the accompanying photographs, taken through the building's windows, showed the", "paragraph_id": "para_74" }, { "text": "building still filled with combustible items.", "paragraph_id": "para_75" }, { "text": "{¶ 6} Alexander did not appear at the June 26 hearing. Conway and Waldbillig", "paragraph_id": "para_76" }, { "text": "testified for the fire division, which also submitted the reinspection report and", "paragraph_id": "para_77" }, { "text": "correspondence with Alexander reaching back to 2013. By the hearing date, the violations", "paragraph_id": "para_78" }, { "text": "1. The current versions of both rules (effective November 20, 2025) are structured as numbered", "paragraph_id": "para_79" }, { "text": "modifications to the 2021 International Fire Code and contain no divisions \"(K)(2)(b)\" or \"(A)(6).\" Those", "paragraph_id": "para_80" }, { "text": "designations come from the version in effect when the citation was issued.", "paragraph_id": "para_81" }, { "text": "Warren CA2026-03-035", "paragraph_id": "para_82" }, { "text": "- 4 -", "paragraph_id": "para_83" }, { "text": "had gone unabated for 35 days past the May 22 deadline. Finding that \"the overwhelming", "paragraph_id": "para_84" }, { "text": "evidence and testimony\" supported the citation, the Board upheld the citation and", "paragraph_id": "para_85" }, { "text": "imposed a one-time civil penalty of $20,000. The Board further ordered that \"[i]f any", "paragraph_id": "para_86" }, { "text": "violations are not abated within thirty (30) days of the date of this order an additional", "paragraph_id": "para_87" }, { "text": "$1,000 per day for each violation remaining will be assessed.\" The order was journalized", "paragraph_id": "para_88" }, { "text": "on July 2, 2025, and sent to Alexander.", "paragraph_id": "para_89" }, { "text": "{¶ 7} Alexander appealed to the trial court. A magistrate denied the appeal, and", "paragraph_id": "para_90" }, { "text": "the trial court overruled Alexander's objections to the magistrate's decision on February", "paragraph_id": "para_91" }, { "text": "9, 2026. One of Alexander's objections challenged the Board's authority to impose the", "paragraph_id": "para_92" }, { "text": "$20,000 penalty. The court reasoned that the citation's penalties had accrued to $36,000", "paragraph_id": "para_93" }, { "text": "by the Board hearing date, so the Board's $20,000 figure was a reduction rather than a", "paragraph_id": "para_94" }, { "text": "new penalty, and that a reduction was within the Board's authority.", "paragraph_id": "para_95" }, { "text": "{¶ 8} Alexander appealed.", "paragraph_id": "para_96" }, { "text": "II. Analysis", "paragraph_id": "para_97" }, { "text": "{¶ 9} The sole assignment of error states:", "paragraph_id": "para_98" }, { "text": "THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN AFFIRMING THE FINAL", "paragraph_id": "para_99" }, { "text": "ORDER OF THE BOARD OF BUILDING APPEALS", "paragraph_id": "para_100" }, { "text": "BECAUSE THE BOARD LACKED STATUTORY", "paragraph_id": "para_101" }, { "text": "AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE A ONE-TIME CIVIL PENALTY OF", "paragraph_id": "para_102" }, { "text": "$20,000 AND A PER DIEM PENALTY OF $1,000 FOR EACH", "paragraph_id": "para_103" }, { "text": "VIOLATION REMAINING UNABATED.", "paragraph_id": "para_104" }, { "text": "{¶ 10} Alexander makes three contentions. He contends that the Board doubled", "paragraph_id": "para_105" }, { "text": "the $500 per-violation daily penalty the inspector proposed to $1,000, converted the", "paragraph_id": "para_106" }, { "text": "inspector's per diem penalty into a one-time $20,000 penalty, and assessed a prospective", "paragraph_id": "para_107" }, { "text": "penalty of $1,000 per day for each violation remaining unabated 30 days after its order.", "paragraph_id": "para_108" }, { "text": "Two of Alexander's three contentions are really one. The Board's order contains no", "paragraph_id": "para_109" }, { "text": "freestanding per-violation penalty of $1,000. That figure appears only in the order's", "paragraph_id": "para_110" }, { "text": "Warren CA2026-03-035", "paragraph_id": "para_111" }, { "text": "- 5 -", "paragraph_id": "para_112" }, { "text": "prospective daily rate. Alexander's first and third contentions therefore attack the same", "paragraph_id": "para_113" }, { "text": "provision, and we address them together.", "paragraph_id": "para_114" }, { "text": "A. Standard of Review", "paragraph_id": "para_115" }, { "text": "{¶ 11} Judicial review of a Board order upholding a fire-code citation is governed", "paragraph_id": "para_116" }, { "text": "by R.C. 3781.031 and 119.12. S.R. Products v. Gerrity, 2004-Ohio-472, ¶ 20-21 (8th", "paragraph_id": "para_117" }, { "text": "Dist.). The trial court may not affirm \"unless the preponderance of the evidence before it", "paragraph_id": "para_118" }, { "text": "supports the reasonableness and lawfulness of the order,\" and it is not confined to the", "paragraph_id": "para_119" }, { "text": "agency's record, since any party may introduce additional evidence. R.C. 3781.031(D).", "paragraph_id": "para_120" }, { "text": "{¶ 12} Our review is narrower. We consider questions of law and do not weigh the", "paragraph_id": "para_121" }, { "text": "evidence, and \"[w]ithin the ambit of questions of law\" is whether the trial court abused its", "paragraph_id": "para_122" }, { "text": "discretion. Union Twp.-Clermont Cty., C.I.C., Inc. v. Lamping, 2015-Ohio-1092, ¶ 16 (12th", "paragraph_id": "para_123" }, { "text": "Dist.), citing Henley v. Youngstown Bd. of Zoning Appeals, 90 Ohio St.3d 142, 147, 2000-", "paragraph_id": "para_124" }, { "text": "Ohio-493. The scope of an agency's statutory authority is a question of statutory", "paragraph_id": "para_125" }, { "text": "interpretation, which we decide de novo. Riedel v. Consol. Rail Corp., 2010-Ohio-1926, ¶", "paragraph_id": "para_126" }, { "text": "6.", "paragraph_id": "para_127" }, { "text": "B. The Statutory Framework", "paragraph_id": "para_128" }, { "text": "{¶ 13} R.C. Chapter 3737 supplies the enforcement mechanism for a violation.", "paragraph_id": "para_129" }, { "text": "When a fire marshal, assistant fire marshal, or certified fire safety inspector believes the", "paragraph_id": "para_130" }, { "text": "state fire code has been violated, that official \"shall, with reasonable promptness, issue a", "paragraph_id": "para_131" }, { "text": "citation to the responsible person,\" describing the violation with particularity and fixing \"a", "paragraph_id": "para_132" }, { "text": "reasonable time for the abatement of the violation.\" R.C. 3737.42(B). The issuing", "paragraph_id": "para_133" }, { "text": "authority must then notify the responsible person of \"the citation and penalty, if any,", "paragraph_id": "para_134" }, { "text": "proposed to be assessed under section 3737.51 of the Revised Code,\" and of the right to", "paragraph_id": "para_135" }, { "text": "appeal the citation and penalty to the Board within 30 days. R.C. 3737.43(A).", "paragraph_id": "para_136" }, { "text": "{¶ 14} R.C. 3737.51 supplies the violation penalties and their ceilings. A serious", "paragraph_id": "para_137" }, { "text": "Warren CA2026-03-035", "paragraph_id": "para_138" }, { "text": "- 6 -", "paragraph_id": "para_139" }, { "text": "violation \"shall be assessed a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for each", "paragraph_id": "para_140" }, { "text": "such violation.\" (Emphasis added.) R.C. 3737.51(B). A violation determined not to be", "paragraph_id": "para_141" }, { "text": "serious \"may be assessed\" a penalty within the same limit. (Emphasis added.) R.C.", "paragraph_id": "para_142" }, { "text": "3737.51(C). And a person who fails to correct a cited violation within the period allowed", "paragraph_id": "para_143" }, { "text": "\"may be assessed a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars for each day", "paragraph_id": "para_144" }, { "text": "during which such failure or violation continues.\" R.C. 3737.51(D). Whenever a penalty is", "paragraph_id": "para_145" }, { "text": "assessed, due consideration must be given \"to the appropriateness of the penalty with", "paragraph_id": "para_146" }, { "text": "respect to the gravity of the violation, the good faith of the person being charged, and the", "paragraph_id": "para_147" }, { "text": "history of previous violations.\" R.C. 3737.51(F). Penalties \"may be recovered in a civil", "paragraph_id": "para_148" }, { "text": "action in the name of the state brought in the court of common pleas of the county where", "paragraph_id": "para_149" }, { "text": "the violation is alleged to have occurred.\" R.C. 3737.51(H).", "paragraph_id": "para_150" }, { "text": "{¶ 15} R.C. Chapter 3781 supplies the adjudicator of an alleged violation. Where", "paragraph_id": "para_151" }, { "text": "no certified municipal or county board of appeals exists, \"the board of building appeals", "paragraph_id": "para_152" }, { "text": "shall conduct the adjudication hearing.\" R.C. 3781.19. That statute then defines the", "paragraph_id": "para_153" }, { "text": "adjudicator's power, providing that the Board \"may reverse or modify the order of the", "paragraph_id": "para_154" }, { "text": "enforcing agency\" upon the findings the statute specifies. Once the Board acts, its order", "paragraph_id": "para_155" }, { "text": "becomes the operative instrument, because the enforcing official's further remedies", "paragraph_id": "para_156" }, { "text": "depend on noncompliance with the order \"as finally affirmed or modified by the state", "paragraph_id": "para_157" }, { "text": "board of building appeals.\" R.C. 3737.45. The Board is a creature of statute and may", "paragraph_id": "para_158" }, { "text": "exercise only the powers the General Assembly has conferred. State ex rel. Lucas Cty.", "paragraph_id": "para_159" }, { "text": "Bd. of Commrs. v. Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, 88 Ohio St.3d 166, 171 (2000).", "paragraph_id": "para_160" }, { "text": "C. The One-Time $20,000 Penalty", "paragraph_id": "para_161" }, { "text": "{¶ 16} The parties argue over the word \"modify.\" Alexander says it authorizes", "paragraph_id": "para_162" }, { "text": "reduction and nothing more. Conway says the General Assembly attached no directional", "paragraph_id": "para_163" }, { "text": "limit. We need not choose. Alexander concedes that the Board could \"affirm, reverse, or", "paragraph_id": "para_164" }, { "text": "Warren CA2026-03-035", "paragraph_id": "para_165" }, { "text": "- 7 -", "paragraph_id": "para_166" }, { "text": "reduce\" the penalty the inspector proposed, which means that the $20,000 penalty is", "paragraph_id": "para_167" }, { "text": "within the Board's power. The trial court agreed, holding that the Board \"plainly", "paragraph_id": "para_168" }, { "text": "possesses, and here appropriately exercised, the authority to decrease a penalty", "paragraph_id": "para_169" }, { "text": "imposed pursuant to law.\" The court expressly declined to \"opine whether the [Board]", "paragraph_id": "para_170" }, { "text": "may alter a civil penalty in any manner beyond reduction.\"", "paragraph_id": "para_171" }, { "text": "{¶ 17} A reduction presupposes a baseline, and the baseline is the penalty the", "paragraph_id": "para_172" }, { "text": "citation itself imposed. The citation was issued on April 22, 2025, and fixed May 22 as the", "paragraph_id": "para_173" }, { "text": "compliance deadline. The violations remained unabated through the Board's June 26", "paragraph_id": "para_174" }, { "text": "hearing, 35 days later, a finding Alexander does not contest. Measured against the", "paragraph_id": "para_175" }, { "text": "citation's terms, his liability stood at $36,000 as of the hearing, consisting of $1,000 in", "paragraph_id": "para_176" }, { "text": "one-time penalties and $35,000 in daily penalties. The Board's $20,000 penalty lowered", "paragraph_id": "para_177" }, { "text": "that figure by $16,000. Both numbers are below the ceilings established by R.C. 3737.51.", "paragraph_id": "para_178" }, { "text": "{¶ 18} That baseline assumes the citation charged two violations, not one.", "paragraph_id": "para_179" }, { "text": "Alexander says only one was charged—a single condition described by reference to two", "paragraph_id": "para_180" }, { "text": "rules. We reject that assertion. As a threshold matter, it is unpreserved. Alexander did not", "paragraph_id": "para_181" }, { "text": "appear before the Board to advance it. He also did not present it to the magistrate, whose", "paragraph_id": "para_182" }, { "text": "decision described the citation as issued for the property's \"sprinkler system violations\"", "paragraph_id": "para_183" }, { "text": "and identified both rules. He further did not include it among his objections to the", "paragraph_id": "para_184" }, { "text": "magistrate's decision. By his own account, he pressed it in a supplemental brief that he", "paragraph_id": "para_185" }, { "text": "\"sought leave to file,\" which leave we denied.", "paragraph_id": "para_186" }, { "text": "{¶ 19} Alexander's assertion is also unsupported. The citation named violations of", "paragraph_id": "para_187" }, { "text": "two distinct requirements, one directing that fire alarm, sprinkler, and standpipe systems", "paragraph_id": "para_188" }, { "text": "in temporarily unoccupied buildings be maintained in an operable condition at all times,", "paragraph_id": "para_189" }, { "text": "Ohio Adm.Code 1301:7-7-03(K)(2)(b), and the other governing the inspection, testing,", "paragraph_id": "para_190" }, { "text": "and maintenance of fire-protection systems generally, Ohio Adm.Code 1301:7-7-", "paragraph_id": "para_191" }, { "text": "Warren CA2026-03-035", "paragraph_id": "para_192" }, { "text": "- 8 -", "paragraph_id": "para_193" }, { "text": "09(A)(6). The citation assessed its penalties per violation, as Alexander's own brief", "paragraph_id": "para_194" }, { "text": "describes them, a \"$500.00 civil penalty per violation\" and a \"$500.00 per day penalty for", "paragraph_id": "para_195" }, { "text": "each violation that continued after thirty days.\" The Board's order speaks the same way,", "paragraph_id": "para_196" }, { "text": "conditioning the prospective penalty on whether \"any violations\" remain unabated and", "paragraph_id": "para_197" }, { "text": "setting the rate for \"each violation remaining.\" We cannot say the trial court abused its", "paragraph_id": "para_198" }, { "text": "discretion in reading the citation the same as the inspector who wrote it, the Board that", "paragraph_id": "para_199" }, { "text": "adjudicated it, and the magistrate who reviewed it.", "paragraph_id": "para_200" }, { "text": "{¶ 20} Alexander next objects that the citation contains no $20,000 figure, so the", "paragraph_id": "para_201" }, { "text": "Board could not have reduced anything. That confuses the form of a penalty with its size.", "paragraph_id": "para_202" }, { "text": "In Drop Bar, L.L.C. v. Cleveland, 2013-Ohio-4797 (8th Dist.), the Eighth District", "paragraph_id": "para_203" }, { "text": "considered a citation assessing daily penalties for ten fire-code violations and explained", "paragraph_id": "para_204" }, { "text": "that whether \"the citation and penalty are upheld or whether the penalty is waived or", "paragraph_id": "para_205" }, { "text": "reduced is within the discretion of the Board.\" Id. at ¶ 24. The Board there upheld the", "paragraph_id": "para_206" }, { "text": "citation but replaced the accruing daily penalties with a single fixed sum of $4,000, roughly", "paragraph_id": "para_207" }, { "text": "one day's worth, and the court found nothing arbitrary or unreasonable in that disposition.", "paragraph_id": "para_208" }, { "text": "Id. at ¶ 26-27. The Board did the same thing here. Whether a reduction is expressed as", "paragraph_id": "para_209" }, { "text": "a lower daily rate or as a lump sum, the question is what the responsible person now", "paragraph_id": "para_210" }, { "text": "owes compared to what the citation had already imposed. Here, Alexander owes $16,000", "paragraph_id": "para_211" }, { "text": "less.", "paragraph_id": "para_212" }, { "text": "{¶ 21} The $20,000 penalty was also reasonable, as R.C. 3781.031(D) required", "paragraph_id": "para_213" }, { "text": "the trial court to find. The gravity of the violations was substantial—a vacant four-story", "paragraph_id": "para_214" }, { "text": "building stocked with combustible material and lacking any operable suppression system.", "paragraph_id": "para_215" }, { "text": "The history was long—the same conditions were documented since 2014, with", "paragraph_id": "para_216" }, { "text": "correspondence running back to 2013. As to good faith, the record shows a missed March", "paragraph_id": "para_217" }, { "text": "14 proof-of-progress deadline, an ignored May 22 compliance deadline, and nothing", "paragraph_id": "para_218" }, { "text": "Warren CA2026-03-035", "paragraph_id": "para_219" }, { "text": "- 9 -", "paragraph_id": "para_220" }, { "text": "produced but an unsigned contractor's estimate submitted more than a month late. See", "paragraph_id": "para_221" }, { "text": "R.C. 3737.51(F).", "paragraph_id": "para_222" }, { "text": "{¶ 22} Alexander's last objection to the $20,000 penalty comes from the hearing", "paragraph_id": "para_223" }, { "text": "transcript, which he reads as showing the Board improvising, discussing what one", "paragraph_id": "para_224" }, { "text": "member called an \"incentive,\" and floating figures ranging from $20,000 to $30,000. But", "paragraph_id": "para_225" }, { "text": "an agency's deliberations are not its order. We review what the Board entered: an order", "paragraph_id": "para_226" }, { "text": "upholding the citation, resting on the Board's express finding that \"the overwhelming", "paragraph_id": "para_227" }, { "text": "evidence and testimony\" supported it, and fixing a penalty below both the accrued total", "paragraph_id": "para_228" }, { "text": "and the statutory maximum. The Board members' reasoning aloud is what deliberation", "paragraph_id": "para_229" }, { "text": "looks like, and the transcript shows the members discussing the very figures Alexander", "paragraph_id": "para_230" }, { "text": "says they ignored.", "paragraph_id": "para_231" }, { "text": "{¶ 23} Nor does the format of the Goldman hearing, which did not permit Alexander", "paragraph_id": "para_232" }, { "text": "to present evidence, change the analysis. The citation advised Alexander of his right to", "paragraph_id": "para_233" }, { "text": "appeal to the Board within 30 days, an appeal that would have brought a full adjudication", "paragraph_id": "para_234" }, { "text": "of \"the citation and penalty.\" R.C. 3737.43(A). He let that right lapse, and he did not", "paragraph_id": "para_235" }, { "text": "appear when the fire division brought the matter to the Board, though he had notice of", "paragraph_id": "para_236" }, { "text": "the hearing. In the trial court, Alexander was entitled to introduce additional evidence,", "paragraph_id": "para_237" }, { "text": "R.C. 3781.031(D), and the court received and considered his affidavit. The trial court did", "paragraph_id": "para_238" }, { "text": "not abuse its discretion in concluding that the $20,000 penalty was reasonable and lawful.", "paragraph_id": "para_239" }, { "text": "D. The Prospective $1,000 Per Diem Penalty", "paragraph_id": "para_240" }, { "text": "{¶ 24} Alexander's remaining contentions challenge the forward-looking portion of", "paragraph_id": "para_241" }, { "text": "the Board's order, which provides that \"[i]f any violations are not abated within thirty (30)", "paragraph_id": "para_242" }, { "text": "days of the date of this order an additional $1,000 per day for each violation remaining", "paragraph_id": "para_243" }, { "text": "will be assessed.\" Alexander argues that the Board had no authority to order any", "paragraph_id": "para_244" }, { "text": "prospective penalty and that the $1,000 rate doubled the $500 rate the inspector", "paragraph_id": "para_245" }, { "text": "Warren CA2026-03-035", "paragraph_id": "para_246" }, { "text": "- 10 -", "paragraph_id": "para_247" }, { "text": "proposed. Neither issue was preserved.", "paragraph_id": "para_248" }, { "text": "{¶ 25} Alexander's objections to the magistrate's decision challenged the issuance", "paragraph_id": "para_249" }, { "text": "of the citation, an estoppel question, the reliability of the inspectors' testimony, and the", "paragraph_id": "para_250" }, { "text": "Board's authority to impose the $20,000 penalty. None mentioned the prospective per", "paragraph_id": "para_251" }, { "text": "diem or its rate. Accordingly, the trial court decided neither, resting its penalty holding", "paragraph_id": "para_252" }, { "text": "entirely on the conclusion that $20,000 reduced Alexander's accrued liability. Under", "paragraph_id": "para_253" }, { "text": "Civ.R. 53(D)(3)(b)(iv), \"[e]xcept for a claim of plain error, a party shall not assign as error", "paragraph_id": "para_254" }, { "text": "on appeal the court's adoption of any factual finding or legal conclusion\" to which the party", "paragraph_id": "para_255" }, { "text": "has not objected as the rule requires. Our review is therefore limited to plain error.", "paragraph_id": "para_256" }, { "text": "Whitson v. Dixie Imports, Inc., 2020-Ohio-1549, ¶ 44 (12th Dist.). \"When applying plain", "paragraph_id": "para_257" }, { "text": "error in a civil case, . . . this court is required to be 'extremely deferential' to the trial court.\"", "paragraph_id": "para_258" }, { "text": "Brock v. Servpro, 2022-Ohio-158, ¶ 33 (12th Dist.), quoting Capano & Assocs., L.L.C. v.", "paragraph_id": "para_259" }, { "text": "On Assignment, Inc., 2016-Ohio-998, ¶ 13 (12th Dist.).", "paragraph_id": "para_260" }, { "text": "{¶ 26} \"The Rules of Civil Procedure do not provide for plain-error review.\" Jones", "paragraph_id": "para_261" }, { "text": "v. Cleveland Clinic Found., 2020-Ohio-3780, ¶ 24. \"Because of this, '[t]he Ohio Supreme", "paragraph_id": "para_262" }, { "text": "Court has set a \"very high standard\" for invoking the plain error doctrine in a civil case.'\"", "paragraph_id": "para_263" }, { "text": "Brock at ¶ 34, quoting Bryan v. Chytil, 2021-Ohio-4082, ¶ 200 (4th Dist.), quoting Perez", "paragraph_id": "para_264" }, { "text": "v. Falls Fin., Inc., 2000-Ohio-453, ¶ 16. The doctrine is reserved for \"the extremely rare", "paragraph_id": "para_265" }, { "text": "case involving exceptional circumstances where error, to which no objection was made", "paragraph_id": "para_266" }, { "text": "at the trial court, seriously affects the basic fairness, integrity, or public reputation of the", "paragraph_id": "para_267" }, { "text": "judicial process, thereby challenging the legitimacy of the underlying judicial process", "paragraph_id": "para_268" }, { "text": "itself.\" Goldfuss v. Davidson, 1997-Ohio-401, syllabus. The appellant must establish a", "paragraph_id": "para_269" }, { "text": "deviation from a legal rule, that the deviation was obvious, and that it had the above effect", "paragraph_id": "para_270" }, { "text": "on the proceedings. Whitson at ¶ 44, citing State v. Morgan, 2017-Ohio-7565, ¶ 40.", "paragraph_id": "para_271" }, { "text": "{¶ 27} Alexander does not claim plain error, and we would be entitled to end the", "paragraph_id": "para_272" }, { "text": "Warren CA2026-03-035", "paragraph_id": "para_273" }, { "text": "- 11 -", "paragraph_id": "para_274" }, { "text": "inquiry there. We add only that no obvious error appears. The Board did not invent a daily", "paragraph_id": "para_275" }, { "text": "penalty for continued noncompliance. It was in the citation from the start, and the", "paragraph_id": "para_276" }, { "text": "magistrate found, without objection, that the citation \"informed Appellant that civil", "paragraph_id": "para_277" }, { "text": "penalties would accrue on each day the violations remained outstanding after his May 22,", "paragraph_id": "para_278" }, { "text": "2025 compliance deadline.\" The Board carried that structure forward and reset the clock,", "paragraph_id": "para_279" }, { "text": "giving Alexander 30 penalty-free days from the date of the order in which to comply, an", "paragraph_id": "para_280" }, { "text": "accommodation the citation did not offer.", "paragraph_id": "para_281" }, { "text": "{¶ 28} The rate presents a closer question, but not one that we need to answer.", "paragraph_id": "para_282" }, { "text": "R.C. 3737.51(D) caps the penalty at \"not more than one thousand dollars for each day", "paragraph_id": "para_283" }, { "text": "during which such failure or violation continues,\" and whether that ceiling attaches to each", "paragraph_id": "para_284" }, { "text": "uncorrected violation or to each day in the aggregate is a question neither party has", "paragraph_id": "para_285" }, { "text": "raised. It makes no practical difference here, because Conway reads the Board's order", "paragraph_id": "para_286" }, { "text": "as imposing $1,000 per day in total, the same daily figure the citation carried at $500 for", "paragraph_id": "para_287" }, { "text": "each of two violations, and asks us to affirm the order so construed. On that construction,", "paragraph_id": "para_288" }, { "text": "the rate was not increased at all. If the parties later disagree about what is owed, the", "paragraph_id": "para_289" }, { "text": "statute will resolve the dispute. Civil penalties \"may be recovered in a civil action in the", "paragraph_id": "para_290" }, { "text": "name of the state brought in the court of common pleas,\" R.C. 3737.51(H), and the further", "paragraph_id": "para_291" }, { "text": "remedies of repair, demolition, and sale require a separate action as well, R.C. 3737.45.", "paragraph_id": "para_292" }, { "text": "An order that operates only against future noncompliance, that must be proved in court", "paragraph_id": "para_293" }, { "text": "before recovery of penalties, and whose meaning the enforcing party construes in the", "paragraph_id": "para_294" }, { "text": "responsible person's favor is not the exceptional case that civil-plain error exists to", "paragraph_id": "para_295" }, { "text": "correct.", "paragraph_id": "para_296" }, { "text": "III. Conclusion", "paragraph_id": "para_297" }, { "text": "{¶ 29} The Board acted within its authority by reducing the penalty the enforcing", "paragraph_id": "para_298" }, { "text": "agency proposed. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding the $20,000 penalty", "paragraph_id": "para_299" }, { "text": "Warren CA2026-03-035", "paragraph_id": "para_300" }, { "text": "- 12 -", "paragraph_id": "para_301" }, { "text": "reasonable and lawful, and Alexander's unpreserved challenge to the prospective per", "paragraph_id": "para_302" }, { "text": "diem penalty presents no plain error. The assignment of error is overruled, and the trial", "paragraph_id": "para_303" }, { "text": "court's judgment is affirmed.", "paragraph_id": "para_304" }, { "text": "{¶ 30} Judgment affirmed.", "paragraph_id": "para_305" }, { "text": "PIPER, P.J., and SIEBERT, J., concur.", "paragraph_id": "para_306" }, { "text": "J U D G M E N T E N T R Y", "paragraph_id": "para_307" }, { "text": "The assignment of error properly before this court having been ruled upon, it is the", "paragraph_id": "para_308" }, { "text": "order of this court that the judgment or final order appealed from be, and the same hereby", "paragraph_id": "para_309" }, { "text": "is, affirmed.", "paragraph_id": "para_310" }, { "text": "It is further ordered that a mandate be sent to the Warren County Court of", "paragraph_id": "para_311" }, { "text": "Common Pleas for execution upon this judgment and that a certified copy of this Opinion", "paragraph_id": "para_312" }, { "text": "and Judgment Entry shall constitute the mandate pursuant to App.R. 27.", "paragraph_id": "para_313" }, { "text": "Costs to be taxed in compliance with App.R. 24.", "paragraph_id": "para_314" }, { "text": "/s/ Robin N. Piper, Presiding Judge", "paragraph_id": "para_315" }, { "text": "/s/ Mike Powell, Judge", "paragraph_id": "para_316" }, { "text": "/s/ Melena S. 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