Clinton County Dog Warden: Licensing, Bites, and Your Rights

The Clinton County Dog Warden operates out of 1330 Fife Avenue in Wilmington, Ohio, and can be reached at 937-382-8388. The office enforces Ohio’s dog laws across the county: registering dogs, picking up strays, running the county shelter, investigating bites, and handling dangerous dog cases. Its authority comes from Ohio Revised Code Chapter 955, and the warden is appointed by the Clinton County Board of Commissioners.¹

The facility is open Monday through Saturday by appointment and closed on Sundays.²

Licensing Your Dog in Clinton County

Ohio requires every person who owns or keeps a dog over three months old to register the dog with the county auditor. The registration window runs from December 1 through January 31 for the following year, though the county commissioners can extend that deadline.³

The 2026 Clinton County fees are:⁴

One-year license: $18
Three-year license: $54
Permanent license: $180
Kennel license: $90

Online purchases add a $2 service charge per tag. Mail-in applications carry a $1 processing fee.⁴

The application asks for the dog’s age, sex, color, hair type (short or long), breed if known, and the owner’s name and address.³ You can get forms at the Clinton County Auditor’s office, at the Dog Warden’s facility on Fife Avenue, or through authorized retail agents.²

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

Miss January 31 and the price doubles. Starting February 1, 2026, a regular tag costs $36 instead of $18, and a kennel license jumps to $180.⁴ The penalty comes from state law: the auditor adds a surcharge equal to a full year’s registration fee on top of the base cost.³

Not registering at all is a strict liability offense. A first violation carries a fine of $25 to $100. Repeat offenders face $75 to $250 and up to 30 days in jail.³

Reporting a Stray or Lost Dog

If you spot a stray or you’ve lost your own dog, call 937-382-8388 or visit the facility. A deputy warden will schedule a pickup or start a search.² A dog wearing a current tag is far easier to return, because the warden’s records connect the tag number to the owner’s name and address.

If Your Dog Has Been Impounded

Dogs picked up by the warden go to the county shelter and are held so owners can reclaim them. The holding period depends on registration:⁵

Unregistered dogs are held for three days.
Registered dogs are held for fourteen days when the warden’s attempts to contact the owner fail.

An owner who has already been reached can request an additional 48 hours to arrange pickup.⁵

To reclaim your dog, you’ll pay the costs assessed against the animal and provide a valid registration tag if the dog doesn’t already have one.⁶ State law doesn’t set a specific dollar amount for impoundment and boarding; those are set locally. Call the warden’s office at 937-382-8388 for current amounts.

After a Dog Bite: The Ten-Day Quarantine

When the warden investigates a bite report, Ohio law imposes a mandatory ten-day quarantine on the dog. During that time you cannot move the dog out of the county, transfer it to anyone other than the dog warden or another animal control authority, or kill it, unless doing so is necessary to prevent further injury or the dog is seriously ill.⁷

The local board of health can adjust the quarantine period if a different observation window is needed to rule out rabies, and the board is responsible for making quarantine arrangements available to owners.⁷

Confinement and Dog-at-Large Rules

Ohio requires every owner to keep a dog physically confined on the property by leash, fence, tether, or supervision, or under the direct control of a person at all times. This applies at home and off the property. The only exception is a dog lawfully engaged in hunting with its owner or handler.⁸

Female dogs in heat cannot leave the owner’s property at all unless on a leash.⁸

A first confinement violation involving a dangerous dog is a fourth-degree misdemeanor; subsequent offenses are third-degree misdemeanors. The court can order you to supervise the dog personally, enroll it in obedience training, or both. The court can instead order the dog humanely destroyed at your expense.⁹

Dangerous Dog Requirements

If your dog has been legally classified as dangerous, the rules get tighter. On your property, the dog must be kept in a locked enclosure with a top. Off the property, the dog must be on a chain-link leash no longer than six feet, and you must also do at least one of the following: keep the dog in a locked topped enclosure, have the leash controlled by a person of suitable age, or muzzle the dog.⁸

Owners of dangerous dogs must obtain a dangerous dog registration certificate from the county auditor, attach a tag identifying the dog as dangerous, and keep the dog wearing that collar and tag at all times. If a court orders it, the owner must carry liability insurance and show proof to any law enforcement officer, warden, or public health official who asks.⁸

An owner who negligently fails to prevent a dangerous or vicious dog from injuring someone faces a first-degree misdemeanor. A court can also order the dog destroyed if it committed a vicious or dangerous act, injured another dog, or attempted to bite someone and caused injury.⁸

What a Bite Will Cost You

Ohio imposes strict liability on dog owners. If your dog injures a person, kills or injures livestock, or damages property, you’re responsible regardless of whether you knew the dog was aggressive. There is no “first bite free” in Ohio.¹⁰

The exceptions are narrow. You are not liable if the injured person was committing or attempting a criminal offense (other than a minor misdemeanor) on your property, was committing a crime against another person, or was teasing or tormenting the dog. Ohio law also addresses door-to-door solicitors specifically: you remain liable if your dog injures someone going door to door, even if that person lacked a solicitation permit, as long as they weren’t committing a separate crime or provoking the dog.¹⁰

Anyone who encounters a dog actively chasing, menacing, or attacking a person or livestock may legally kill the dog at that moment to stop the threat.¹⁰

Your Rights When the Warden Shows Up

A dog warden can pick up an unregistered or loose dog on sight in public or on someone else’s property. A registered dog that is on its owner’s property and wearing a valid tag generally cannot be seized unless a natural disaster is occurring.¹

The Fourth Amendment still applies. Searches and seizures inside a home without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable. A warden entering your home to seize a dog would generally need a warrant, your consent, or an emergency such as an animal in immediate danger of death or serious injury.¹¹ If a warden enters without a warrant and no emergency exists, you may have grounds to challenge the seizure.

Service Animals

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, no state or local government office, including the Dog Warden, can require documentation that a dog is registered, licensed, or certified as a service animal. Officials cannot demand that a service dog demonstrate its task or ask about the nature of the handler’s disability. They can only ask whether the dog is a service animal required because of a disability, and what task the dog has been trained to perform.¹²

Clinton County can still require service dogs to be licensed and vaccinated, because that requirement applies to all dogs in the county. A voluntary service dog registration program is permitted, but participation cannot be made mandatory.¹²

1
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 955.12 – Dog Wardens
2
Clinton County Ohio. Dog Warden
3
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 955.02 – Registration of Dogs
4
Clinton County Sheriff. 2026 Dog License Sales, Fee Changes
5
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 955.16 – Disposing of Impounded Dogs
6
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 955.18 – Redemption of Impounded Dogs
7
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 955.261 – Duties After Dog Bites Person
8
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 955.22 – Confining, Restraining, and Controlling Dogs
9
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 955.99 – Penalty
10
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 955.28 – Dog May Be Killed for Certain Acts, Owner Liability
11
United States Courts. What Does the Fourth Amendment Mean?
12
ADA.gov. Service Animals