Liquor Control Commission seeks modest budget change, says new case‑management system will cut costs

Sarah Creedon, executive director of the Ohio Liquor Control Commission, presented the commission's biennial budget request to the House Development Committee and described efforts to streamline hearings and citation processing. The commission requested $1,177,114 for fiscal year 2026 (a 4% decrease from the FY25 estimate) and $1,241,735 for fiscal year 2027 (a 5.2% increase over FY26), Creedon said.

Creedon described the Commission as a neutral, quasi‑judicial body that hears cases against permit holders and oversees administrative appeals. She said the commission typically handles about 2,000 cases a year but recently handled roughly 4,800 and collected about $1.8 million in fines deposited to the General Revenue Fund.

A major operational item Creedon highlighted is adoption of a new case management system, Matrix, which she said replaces an outdated internal database, will help partner agencies manage citation cases and "will ultimately achieve a cost savings" by reducing continuances and improving document sharing.

In questions, members asked where fines and forfeitures are deposited; Creedon said they are deposited to the GRF but she did not know the specific account and deferred details to the Division of Liquor Control, which administers the fund. On staffing and pay, Creedon said the commission's chair is required by statute to be an attorney and that the chair's salary is roughly $61,000 with the other two commissioners at about $51,000; she said she would follow up with specifics about individual staff salaries.

The committee did not act on the budget request during the hearing.