1. Name and Address of Reporting Person
Murrell, III, C. Thomas
10946 Allenhurst Blvd., East
Cincinnati, OH 45241
2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
First Financial Bancorp (FFBC)
3. IRS or Social Security Number of Reporting Person (Voluntary)
301-38-1937
4. Statement for Month/Day/Year
01/17/2003
5. If Amendment, Date of Original (Month/Day/Year)
6. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable)
( ) Director ( ) 10% Owner
(X) Officer (give title below) ( ) Other (specify below)
Executive Officer
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- |2A.Execu- |3. Trans-|4. Securities Acquired (A)|5. Amount of |6. Owner- |7. Nature |
| | action | action | action| or Disposed of (D) |Securities | ship | of In- |
| | Date | Date | Code | |Beneficially | Form: | direct |
| | | | | |Owned | Direct | Bene- |
| | (Month/ | (Month/ | | |Following | (D) or | ficial |
| | Day/ | Day/ +-----+---+-----------+---+----------+Reported | Indirect| Owner- |
| | Year) | Year) |Code |V |Amount |A/D|Price |Transaction(s)| (I) | ship |
+------------------------------+----------+----------+-----+---+-----------+---+----------+--------------+-----------+------------+
Common Stock 01/17/2003 J 2325 A $0.0000 2525 D
Common Stock 01/17/2003 J -2325 D $0.0000 6977 I Restricted
Stock Awards
TABLE II -- Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
+----------+--------+-------+-------+---------+-----------+---------------------+----------------+----------+-------+-------+------+
|1. |2. |3. |3A. |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- |Trans- |Execu- | |Number of | |Securities | |ities |Secur- |of |
| |sion or |action |tion | |Derivative |Date Exercisable +-------+--------+ |Benefi-|ity: |In- |
| |Exercise|Date |Date | |Securities |and Expiration Date | |Amount | |cially |Direct |direct|
| |Price of| | |Transac- |Acquired(A)|(Month/Day/Year) | |or | |Owned |(D) or |Bene- |
|Title of |Deriv- |(Month/|(Month/|tion Code|Disposed(D)+----------+----------+ |Number |Price of | |In- |ficial|
|Derivative|ative | Day/ | Day/ +------+--+-----+-----+Date Exer-|Expira- | |of |Derivative| |direct |Owner-|
|Security |Security|Year) |Year) |Code |V |(A) |(D) |cisable |tion Date |Title |Shares |Security | |(I) |ship |
+----------+--------+-------+-------+------+--+-----+-----+----------+----------+-------+--------+----------+-------+-------+------+
2001 (ISO) $15.37 04/30/2011 Common 6506 D
Stock Stock
Option
2001 (NQ) $15.37 04/30/2011 Common 994 D
Stock Stock
Option
2002 (ISO) $17.2 01/17/2012 Common 5813 D
Stock Stock
Option
2002 (NQ) $17.2 01/17/2012 Common 4187 D
Stock Stock
Option
Explanation of Responses:
Vesting of Restricted Stock Award
SIGNATURE OF REPORTING PERSON
/s/ Terri J. Ziepfel
DATE
01/22/2003