Personal jurisdiction is the authority a court has to make legally enforceable orders related to a person or entity and the property of the person or entity, and usually arises when a person has been sued in a lawsuit. For a court to have personal jurisdiction, the person or entity generally (1) must be a resident of the state in which the court is located; (2) as a nonresident, must have initiated sufficient minimum contacts with the state in which the lawsuit is filed; or (3) must have agreed to be governed by the laws of the state (in a contract or website terms) in which the lawsuit is filed.

In Ohio, personal jurisdiction refers to the power of Ohio courts to bring an individual or entity into its legal process and to make decisions that are binding upon them. For an Ohio court to have personal jurisdiction, typically, the defendant must have a substantial connection to the state. This can be established if the defendant is a resident of Ohio or if the nonresident defendant has sufficient minimum contacts with Ohio, such as conducting business, owning property, or committing a tort within the state. Additionally, personal jurisdiction can be established if a nonresident defendant consents to the jurisdiction, either explicitly through a contractual agreement or implicitly, for example, by participating in court proceedings without objecting to jurisdiction. Ohio's long-arm statute and the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure provide specific provisions regarding the exercise of personal jurisdiction over nonresidents. These laws are consistent with the due process requirements of the U.S. Constitution, which mandate that exercising jurisdiction must not violate traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.