1. Name and Address of Reporting Person
Garland, James C.
201 Roudebush Hall
Oxford, OH 45056
2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
First Financial Bancorp (FFBC)
3. IRS or Social Security Number of Reporting Person (Voluntary)
515-42-5680
4. Statement for Month/Year
10/2002
5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)
6. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable)
(X) Director ( ) 10% Owner
( ) Officer (give title below) ( ) Other (specify below)
7. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)
(X) Form filed by One Reporting Person
( ) Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
TABLE I -- Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
+---------------------------------+----------+-------------+-----------------------------+----------------+-----------+------------+
|1. Title of Security |2. Trans- |3. Trans- |4. Securities Acquired (A) |5. Amount of |6. Owner- |7. Nature |
| | action | action | or Disposed of (D) | Securities | ship | of In- |
| | Date | Code | | Beneficially | Form: | direct |
| | | | | Owned at | Direct | Bene- |
| | (Month/ | | | End of | (D) or | ficial |
| | Day/ +-------+-----+-----------+------+----------+ Month | Indirect| Owner- |
| | Year) |Code |V |Amount |A/D |Price | | (I) | ship |
+---------------------------------+----------+-------+-----+-----------+------+----------+----------------+-----------+------------+
Common Stock 9874.4766 D
FFBC (Directors Fee Stock Plan) 10/07/2002 P 140 A $18.2500 2102 D
TABLE II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
+-------------+--------+----------+---------+-----------+---------------------+----------------+----------+--------+-------+-------+
|1. |2. |3. |4. |5. |6. |7. |8. |9. |10. |11. |
| | | | | | | | |Number |Owner- | |
| | | | | | | | |of |ship | |
| | | | | | | | |Deriv- |Form of| |
| | | | | | |Title and Amount| |ative |Deriv- | |
| | | | | | |of Underlying | |Secur- |ative |Nature |
| |Conver- | | |Number of | |Securities | |ities |Secur- |of |
| |sion or | | |Derivative |Date Exercisable +-------+--------+ |Benefi- |ity: |In- |
| |Exercise| | |Securities |and Expiration Date | |Amount | |cially |Direct |direct |
| |Price of|Transac- |Transac- |Acquired(A)|(Month/Day/Year) | |or | |Owned |(D) or |Bene- |
|Title of |Deriv- |tion Date |tion Code|Disposed(D)+----------+----------+ |Number |Price of |at End |In- |ficial |
|Derivative |ative |(Month/ +------+--+-----+-----+Date Exer-|Expira- | |of |Derivative|of |direct |Owner- |
|Security |Security|Day/Year) |Code |V |(A) |(D) |cisable |tion Date |Title |Shares |Security |Month |(I) |ship |
+-------------+--------+----------+------+--+-----+-----+----------+----------+-------+--------+----------+--------+-------+-------+
1997 (NQ) $13.1484 04/22/2007 Common 6195 D
Stock Option Stock
2000 (NQ) $16.9048 04/25/2010 Common 8663 D
Stock Option Stock
Explanation of Responses:
Includes shares in dividend reinvestment account
SIGNATURE OF REPORTING PERSON
/s/ Terri J. Ziepfel
DATE
10/07/2002