Henry v. Ohio Dept. of Pub. Safety

2026 Ohio 1581
Ohio Court of Appeals·Decided May 1, 2026·No. 30604·Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT MONTGOMERY COUNTY

CHARLES HENRY :

: C.A. No. 30604

Appellant :

: Trial Court Case No. 2025 CV 00320 v. :

: (Civil Appeal from Common Pleas OHIO DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC : Court) SAFETY :

: FINAL JUDGMENT ENTRY & Appellee : OPINION

...........

Pursuant to the opinion of this court rendered on May 1, 2026, the judgment of the trial court is reversed.

Costs to be paid as stated in App.R. 24.

Pursuant to Ohio App.R. 30(A), the clerk of the court of appeals shall immediately serve notice of this judgment upon all parties and make a note in the docket of the service. Additionally, pursuant to App.R. 27, the clerk of the court of appeals shall send a certified copy of this judgment, which constitutes a mandate, to the clerk of the trial court and note the service on the appellate docket.

For the court,

RONALD C. LEWIS, PRESIDING JUDGE TUCKER, J., and HUFFMAN, J., concur.

OPINION

MONTGOMERY C.A. No. 30604

RYAN THOMAS, Attorney for Appellant WILLIAM KOVALESKI, Attorney for Appellee

LEWIS, J.

{¶ 1} Plaintiff-appellant, Charles Henry, appeals from a judgment of the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court affirming the adjudication order of the Ohio Department of Public Safety (“ODPS”). For the following reasons, the judgment of the trial court is reversed.

I. Facts and Procedural History

{¶ 2} Henry was the sole member and owner of Sentry Security Solutions, LLC, a licensed private investigation and security services company operating throughout Ohio. Because Henry occasionally performed armed duties in the course of his work, he was required to obtain a firearm bearer license in accordance with R.C. 4749.10. In September 2021, Henry completed a basic firearm training course with a semiautomatic handgun and obtained a valid certificate of completion. On March 1, 2022, pursuant to Henry’s application request, the Private Investigator and Security Guard Services section of ODPS (“PISGS”) issued Henry a firearm bearer identification card with semiautomatic and revolver designations.

{¶ 3} On February 28, 2023, PISGS received an application from Henry to renew his firearm bearer notation with a semiautomatic handgun and revolver designation. Along with his application, Henry included a certificate from the Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission (“OPOTC”) showing Henry’s successful completion on February 11, 2023, of

the Private Security Firearms Requalification Program (“Requalification”). According to the certificate, Henry used a semiautomatic handgun to complete the Requalification.

{¶ 4} On March 6, 2023, PISGS issued Henry an identification card with a firearm bearer notation with only a semiautomatic handgun designation. PISGS denied Henry’s request for a firearm bearer notation with a revolver designation on the basis that Henry did not demonstrate that he had completed the basic firearms training course with a revolver. Henry resubmitted his application to obtain a revolver designation, arguing that Ohio law does not distinguish between revolvers and semiautomatic handguns for licensing purposes. Henry’s request for a revolver designation was again rejected.

{¶ 5} Henry requested an administrative hearing to contest the denial of the revolver designation. At the hearing, PISGS presented testimony from Veronica Evans, the hearings coordinator in the Legal Office of ODPS, and Molly Seitz, the Licensing and Registration Administrator for PISGS. Henry presented testimony from Christy Clark, an Administrative Officer for PISGS, and Aleta Dodson, a Program Administrator in the PISGS Section. Henry also testified on his own behalf.

{¶ 6} According to the evidence presented at the hearing, PISGS is tasked with reviewing firearm bearer notation applications, which allow qualified registrants to carry a firearm in the course of their duties. There are three different firearm designations that an applicant can obtain: revolver, semiautomatic handgun, and shotgun. The application requires that the applicant undergo an FBI background check and submit an OPOTC certificate of completion for firearms training.1 The OPOTC certificate is issued directly to

1. While OPOTC is responsible for overseeing the training requirements, curriculum, and certification standards, the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy (“OPOTA”) provides the training courses that satisfy the necessary OPOTC requirements. Thus, while some of the testimony referred to OPOTA, we use OPOTC for clarity.

the applicant from OPOTC following the applicant’s successful completion of a qualifying firearms course. The certificate identifies the individual’s name, where they completed the qualification course, the date the certificate was issued, and the date they must requalify, and the certificate designates the weapon or weapons with which they qualified. PISGS does not issue the certificate or have any involvement in the issuance of the certificates. The certificates issued by OPOTC use a letter system to designate successful completion with a particular weapon: “A” for semiautomatic handgun, “R” for revolver, and “S” for shotgun. The same certificate can bear multiple weapon certifications. Henry’s certificate had only an “A” designation.

{¶ 7} In reviewing an application, PISGS simply looks at the certificate that is issued from OPOTC to see whether it supports the issuance of a firearm bearer notation. PISGS’s policy to accept or reject applications for firearm bearer notations was taught to employees verbally. Although there were some written operating procedures, none of them were introduced at the hearing.

{¶ 8} PISGS relied on OPOTC to properly categorize firearms designations on the certificates. The firearm bearer notification Henry received in 2022 was for both a semiautomatic and a revolver designation even though his certificate indicated he successfully completed the firearm training with only a semiautomatic handgun. According to PISGS, the revolver designation must have been a computer glitch because Henry should not have received a revolver designation.

{¶ 9} Henry testified to and submitted a copy of the private security semiautomatic pistol proficiency testing records for qualification in the basic firearm course. He likewise testified to and submitted a copy of the private security revolver proficiency testing records. In comparing the two exams, there were virtually no differences apart from a slight deviation

in the student performance Objective 4, which required the student to check, clear, and load a semiautomatic handgun as opposed to a double-action revolver. A student taking the private security basic course operated and handled both types of handguns. The written examination for both the basic training program and the requalification program was the same for a revolver and a semiautomatic handgun.

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Henry v. Ohio Dept. of Pub. Safety, 2026 Ohio 1581 (Ohio Ct. App. 2026).

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