Section 3 - Application for Ohio Bar Examination; Updating Character and Fitness Information after the Examination(A) An applicant who has filed a registration application pursuant to Section 2 of this rule and who seeks to take the Ohio bar examination shall file with the Office of Bar Admissions of the Supreme Court an Application to Take the Bar Examination. An application to take the February examination shall be filed by the first day of November immediately preceding the examination. An application to take the July examination shall be filed by the first day of April immediately preceding the examination.(B) The examination application shall be on forms furnished by the Office of Bar Admissions and shall include all of the following: (1) An affidavit that the applicant has read and studied the Rules for the Government of the Bar of Ohio, the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct, and the Code of Judicial Conduct adopted by the Court;(2) An affidavit that the applicant has not engaged in the unauthorized practice of law;(3) A certificate signed by the dean or associate dean of the applicant's law school certifying that the signatory does not have knowledge of any information that would cause signatory to doubt the applicant's character, fitness, and moral qualifications to practice law;(4) A typed and completed supplemental character questionnaire, in duplicate, in the form prescribed by the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness, updating the information on the applicant's character, fitness, and moral qualifications furnished on the applicant's registration application pursuant to Section 2 of this rule;(5) A fee in the amount charged by the NCBE for the UBE components;(6) A fee of three hundred thirty dollars if the examination application is filed on or before the dates set forth in division (A) of this section. The fee shall be four hundred thirty dollars if either of the following applies: (a) An examination application for the February examination is filed after the first day of November but on or before the tenth day of December;(b) An examination application for the July examination is filed after the first day of April but on or before the tenth day of May.(C) The Office of Bar Admissions shall refer the examination application to the regional or local bar association admissions committee in accordance with Section 13 of this rule. The admissions committee shall review the examination application, conduct further investigation and interviews under Section 13 of this rule if appropriate or necessary, and report its final recommendation regarding the applicant's character, fitness, and moral qualifications to the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness on a form prescribed by the Board. The Board shall make a final determination regarding the applicant's character, fitness, and moral qualifications to practice.(D) Notwithstanding an applicant's timely filing of an Application to Register as a Candidate for Admission to the Practice of Law and an Application to Take the Bar Examination, an applicant may not take the Ohio bar examination unless the Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness has issued a final approval of the applicant's character, fitness, and moral qualifications at least three weeks prior to the examination.(E) At least thirty days before the date fixed for the examination, the applicant shall submit all of the following:(1) A certificate signed by the dean or associate dean of the applicant's law school certifying that the applicant has received a law degree, has sufficient knowledge and ability to discharge the duties of an attorney at law, and has successfully completed a course of not fewer than ten classroom hours of instruction in legal ethics;(2) A certificate from a law school or a continuing legal education sponsor, certifying that the applicant has received at least one hour of instruction on substance abuse, including causes, prevention, detection, and treatment alternatives. Substance abuse instruction that is provided by a continuing legal education sponsor qualifies under this section only if it has been accredited by the Commission on Continuing Legal Education as an approved activity under Gov. Bar R. X.(3) A properly authenticated transcript of college credits showing the applicant has earned a bachelor's degree in compliance with Section 1(B) of this rule if the applicant earned the bachelor's degree through a three-plus-three program.(F) The applicant is under a continuing duty to update the information contained in the examination application, including the supplemental character questionnaire, and to report promptly to the Office of Bar Admissions all changes or additions to information in the application that occur prior to the applicant's admission to practice.(G) If an applicant passes the Ohio bar examination but is not admitted to practice within twelve months following that bar examination, the applicant shall file another supplemental character questionnaire with the Office of Bar Admissions. The supplemental character questionnaire shall supplement the information on the applicant's character, fitness, and moral qualifications furnished in the applicant's examination application. The Office of Bar Admissions shall refer the supplemental character questionnaire to a regional or local bar association admissions committee in accordance with Section 13 of this rule. The admissions committee shall review the supplemental character questionnaire, conduct further investigation and interviews pursuant to Section 13 of this rule, if appropriate and necessary, and report to the Board its recommendation regarding the applicant's character, fitness, and moral qualifications to practice law. The applicant shall not be admitted to the practice of law unless the Board reissues a final approval of the applicant's character, fitness, and moral qualifications no fewer than six months before the applicant's admission.(H) As used in this rule: (1) "Accredited college or university" means a college or university approved by one of the following accrediting associations or, if not located in the United States or Canada, a college or university evaluated and approved in accordance with Section 2(C), 10(C)(12), or 11(B)(7) of this rule: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools/Commission on Higher Education; New England Association of Schools and Colleges--Commission on Institutions of Higher Education; Higher Learning Commission; Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges; Southern Association of Colleges and Schools-- Commission on Colleges; Western Association of Schools and Colleges--Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges--Universities Canada.(2) "Three-plus-three program" means an education program requiring six years of full-time study through which an individual earns a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university while simultaneously earning a J.D. or an L.L.B. degree from a law school approved by the American Bar Association at the time the J.D. or L.L.B. degree is earned.Amended April 4, 2020, effective 6/1/2020; amended January 10, 2024, effective 4/1/2024.