Butler County Law Library Home Page

For calendar year 2010 and thereafter, the Butler County Law Library Resources Board (Board) is required by Ohio law to provide legal research, reference, and library services and to "manage the coordination, acquisition and utilization of legal resources" within County government. The Board fulfills its statutory mandate through the operation of the John F. Holcomb Butler County Law Library (hereinafter as "Law Library" or "Butler County Law Library"). In general, statutorily required court fines and penalties are the sources of revenue for the Board's activities.

Open to the General Public. The Board welcomes members of the public to use the Butler County Law Library for the purpose of performing legal research during regular business hours. Access to the law library is free of charge but public patrons are responsible for service charges, such as photocopies fees. The Law Library's collection can searched using the online catalog. The Butler County Law Library is located in downtown Hamilton, Ohio. Metered and public parking garages are conveniently available in the vicinity.

Downtown Hamilton Map Showing Location of Butler County Law Library Location and Hours of Operation

John F. Holcomb Butler County Law Library
10 Journal Square, Suite 200
Hamilton, OH 45011

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Contact: Phone: 513-887-3455, Fax: 513-887-3696

Regular Business Hours:

Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

Closed on Law Library Resources Board recognized holidays and when weather-related emergencies are declared by the Butler County Sheriff's Office.

Law Library Staff

Contact for Butler County Law Library Resources Board inquires, library administration policies, privileges and procedures, legal materials acquisition requests for county offices, courts or the law library collection, financial, employment, general business matters, billing, accounting, information technology and inventory control matters.
513-887-3455 or e-mail

Kristy Wells

Law Library Administrator

Butler County Law Library

10 Journal Square Suite 200

Hamilton, Ohio 45011

Office (513) 887-3455

Fax (513) 887-3696

County Law Libraries
in Ohio

To promote and encourage law library associations, the General Assembly passed legislation in 1872 that distributed criminal court fines to law libraries that provided "free of charge to all county officers and judges of the courts … the use of its law books the same as to its regular members… ."

Thirteen years later, the General Assembly required that counties provide law library associations with housing and furniture for library operations. Later mandates included compensation for library staff and funding to support the law library coming from municipal, county, common pleas, probate and juvenile courts fines.

In 1889, the Butler County Bar Association incorporated "to procure a law library, to keep the same up by the purchase of the latest law publications, for the essential improvement of members of said association in the science and practice of the law… ."

The Association’s Articles of Incorporation were amended in 1908 to change the name and purpose to the Butler County Law Library Association and "to maintain a law library … and furnish to all officers of Butler County and Judges of the several courts … use of its books free of charge… ."

Am. Sub. H.B. 420 (127th General Assembly) transferred authority to operate county law libraries and to "manage the coordination, acquisition and utilization of legal resources" within county governments to county law library resources boards effective January 1, 2010.