Q: What geographical area within the borders of Ohio would best define the territorial jurisdiction and

A: Territorial jurisdiction of what? A court? A law enforcement agency? Which one?

The territorial jurisdiction is the land on which a court or agency has power. For example, the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas court has jurisdiction over Cuyahoga county. Or, the Cleveland Municipal Court has jurisdiction within the city of Cleveland. Some municipal courts have jurisdiction over a collection of suburbs. Other municipal courts have jurisdiction within an entire county. In such counties, the jurisdictional difference between municipal and common pleas court is only subject matter jurisdiction: municipal courts hear minor cases while felonies are heard in common pleas. An appellate court typically has jurisdiction over several counties, though some, such as the 8th Dist. cover only a single county. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over the entire state. Federal courts have wider territorial jurisdiction, but subject matter jurisdiction over federal law issues. Similarly, with law enforcement agencies, a sheriff may have jurisdiction within an entire county, but a local police force only within one or more cities, and the FBI, ICE, DEA, or ATF has jurisdiction nationwide.

The State is a sovereign entity, which means it has the power to delegate authority over portions of the state. The power of the State ultimately comes from a social contract between all of us citizens, but is expressed in the state constitution and laws. For example, http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/1901 sets up numerous municipal courts within the state.