What Is an F4 Felony in Ohio? Penalties, Restitution, and Rights

An F4 felony in Ohio is a fourth-degree felony, the second-lowest of the state’s five felony classes. It carries a prison term of six to eighteen months and a fine of up to $5,000, but many first-time offenders receive community control (Ohio’s version of probation) rather than prison. The conviction itself still carries weight well beyond the sentence, affecting firearm rights, employment, housing, and certain federal benefits.

Prison, Fines, and Community Control

The statutory prison range for a fourth-degree felony is a definite term of six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen months.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2929.14 – Definite Prison Terms The maximum fine is $5,000.2Supreme Court of Ohio. Felony Sentencing Reference Guide Those are ceilings. What a judge actually imposes depends on the offense, your record, and the facts of the case.

Prison is not the default. Ohio law requires the court to impose community control instead of prison for an F4 offender who meets all three of these conditions: no prior felony conviction, the F4 is the most serious charge in the current case, and no misdemeanor-of-violence conviction within the past two years.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2929.13 – Sanction Imposed by Degree of Felony This is where most first-time F4 defendants land. The court keeps discretion to send someone to prison anyway if specific aggravating factors apply, like a prior prison term or serious physical harm from the offense.

Community control can last up to five years. Standard conditions include regular reporting to a probation officer, drug or alcohol treatment, community service, and sometimes electronic monitoring.4Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2929.15 – Community Control Sanctions, Felony Violate those conditions and the judge can revoke community control and send you to prison to serve the original sentence.

If you do go to prison, the Ohio Parole Board can impose up to two years of post-release control after you’re released. For most F4 offenses this is discretionary. The exception is an F4 sex offense, where five years of post-release control is mandatory.5Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2967.28 – Post-Release Controls

Restitution Is Not Optional

If the offense caused a victim any economic loss, the court must order restitution covering the victim’s actual financial losses from the crime.6Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2929.18 – Financial Sanctions, Felony The judge sets the amount at sentencing based on evidence from the victim, the prosecutor, and the defense. If the figure is contested, the court holds a separate hearing. Someone convicted of grand theft of a motor vehicle, for example, owes the owner the car’s value or the cost of damage. Any amount the victim later recovers in a civil lawsuit is credited against the restitution order.

What Gets Charged as an F4

The fourth-degree label applies across a wide mix of offenses. Whether a particular act lands at F4 often depends on aggravating circumstances, prior convictions, or the amount involved. Common examples include:

This is a sample, not a full list. Many other offenses carry the F4 designation when specific aggravating factors are present.

Firearm Rights After an F4

Firearm consequences work on two separate tracks. Ohio’s weapons-under-disability statute prohibits firearm possession for anyone convicted of a felony offense of violence or a felony drug offense.13Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2923.13 – Having Weapons While Under Disability If your F4 falls in either category, state law takes your gun rights.

Federal law reaches further. Under 18 U.S.C. ยง 922(g), anyone convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year in prison is barred from possessing firearms or ammunition.14Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts Every F4 carries a maximum of eighteen months, so the federal prohibition applies to every F4 conviction regardless of the offense type. Any F4 effectively ends your legal right to own a firearm unless the disability is later removed through a process like expungement or a pardon.

Other Consequences You’ll Live With

Voting

Ohio suspends voting rights only during incarceration. Voting resumes automatically on release, and people on parole, probation, or community control can vote. A felony conviction does not permanently cost you the ballot in Ohio.

Jobs and Professional Licenses

Private employers routinely run background checks, and a felony can disqualify applicants from certain positions outright. Ohio also allows state licensing boards to deny professional licenses based on convictions with a direct connection to the licensed profession.15Ohio Department of Commerce. Disqualifying Offenses for Application for Licensure, Certification or Registration Denial isn’t automatic for every offense, since the agency reviews facts individually, but real estate, healthcare, and education regularly screen felony histories.

Housing

Private landlords commonly run criminal background checks and may refuse applicants with felony convictions. Federally assisted housing follows HUD guidelines that require public housing authorities to deny admission to people subject to lifetime sex offender registration and those convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine in federally assisted housing. For other criminal histories, housing providers must conduct an individualized assessment, and looking back more than three years from the criminal activity is considered presumptively unreasonable under proposed HUD rules.16Federal Register. Reducing Barriers to HUD-Assisted Housing

Social Security and Student Aid

Social Security retirement and disability payments stop after 30 consecutive days of incarceration, though benefits to eligible dependents like a spouse or children continue. You can restart your own benefits in the month you’re released by taking proof of release to a Social Security office. Supplemental Security Income cuts off sooner, and if you’re incarcerated 12 months or longer, you must file a new SSI application after release.17Social Security Administration. Benefits after Incarceration: What You Need To Know

Federal student aid is generally unaffected. The FAFSA Simplification Act removed the Title IV bar for most drug-related convictions, and the drug conviction question was taken off the FAFSA form. The one exception is a specific court order denying federal benefits as part of a drug trafficking or possession sentence.18Federal Student Aid (FSA) Knowledge Center. School-Determined Requirements

Sealing an F4 Conviction

Ohio lets people with eligible F4 convictions seal their records, which hides the conviction from most public background checks. A sealed record still exists and remains accessible to law enforcement, prosecutors investigating new cases, and employers in fields like law enforcement, education, and healthcare. For a typical employer or landlord running a standard check, though, the record won’t appear.19Supreme Court of Ohio. Adult Rights Restoration and Record Sealing

To apply, you must first finish the entire sentence, including any prison, community control, post-release control, and payment of fines and restitution. From the date of final discharge, you wait one year before filing an application with the sentencing court.19Supreme Court of Ohio. Adult Rights Restoration and Record Sealing

Not every F4 qualifies. Felony offenses of violence are excluded, as are sexually oriented offenses where the defendant was subject to sex offender registration.19Supreme Court of Ohio. Adult Rights Restoration and Record Sealing Sealing is also discretionary. The court weighs the nature of the offense and your rehabilitation before granting the application. When an F4 is eligible, sealing is the single most effective step for reducing its long-term weight.