Ohio
- The form
- The agency's own form and instructions were read, not just the statute. The form governs what the office will accept, and it can require more than the statute says: Arizona's statute never mentions a notary, and its form requires one.
- Read on October 5, 2026:
- The law
- The statute was read on a government website during the current verification pass.
- How this page was checked
- statute and rule read on codes.ohio.gov (3107.062 as amended by HB 96, effective September 30, 2025; Ohio Admin. Code 5180:7-1-03, effective July 15, 2026); form DCY 01694 (Rev. 07/2026), the Department of Children and Youth registry page and pamphlet DCY 08090 read on the state's own sites. The form is where the addresses, the email filing route, the P.O. box rule and the receipt come from.
Ohio Putative Father Registry
Ohio Department of Children and Youth
The registry sends a receipt once the registration is entered: by email, or by mail if no email address is given.
Questions: 1-888-313-3100 (voicemail)
What Ohio requires
Register with the Ohio Putative Father Registry, online or on form DCY 01694
Required by statute- What the statute requires
- A putative father may register at any time. For the purpose of preserving the requirement of his consent to an adoption, a putative father shall register before or not later than fifteen days after the birth of the child.
- Ohio Rev. Code 3107.062(A)(2)
- When it counts as filed
- It counts when the office receives it, not when it is mailed.
- Notarization
- Not required
- The state's own form
- DCY 01694, Ohio Putative Father Registry - Registration for Fathers (Rev. 07/2026)
- Fee
- No fee
- Where it goes
Online, through the state's portal
By mail
Ohio Department of Children and YouthOhio Putative Father Registry, P.O. Box 183204Columbus, OH 43218In person
Ohio Department of Children and YouthOhio Putative Father Registry, 246 N. High St.Columbus, OH 43215Certified mail with a return receipt is not required, but it gives the sender a dated record that the envelope arrived.
- What the form itself requires
- The address he gives must be one where he can be contacted. A post office box is not accepted.
- If his address or any other information on the form changes, he must file an amended registration immediately.
- Signing certifies the information is true; knowingly registering false information is a first-degree misdemeanor.
Who gets notice of an adoption
A registered father. When a search of the registry finds him, the department sends him written notice that the child is being or may be placed for adoption. No final decree may issue without a certified search dated sixteen or more days after the birth.
What filing does, under this state's law
- Filing bears on an adoption only. It does not stop another man from signing an acknowledgment of paternity.
The state's own page
Ohio Department of Children and Youth, Putative Father Registry
Sources
This page states what the law and the state agency say. It is not legal advice about any particular situation and is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. See which states could decide a case.