1. Name and Address of Reporting Person
Hockemeyer, Rex A.
8366 Meadowlard Drive
West Chester, OH 45069
2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
First Financial Bancorp (FFBC)
3. IRS or Social Security Number of Reporting Person (Voluntary)
303-58-2339
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 1062 A $0.0000 2892 D
Common Stock 01/17/2003 J -1773 D $0.0000 11964 I Restricted
Stock
Award(s)
Common Stock 534 I 401K
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 |
+----------+--------+-------+-------+------+--+-----+-----+----------+----------+-------+--------+----------+-------+-------+------+
1997 (ISO) $11.1355 01/28/2007 Common 1398 D
Stock Stock
Option
1998 (ISO) $19.087 01/27/2008 Common 2541 D
Stock Stock
Option
1999 (ISO) $22.565 01/25/2009 Common 1155 D
Stock Stock
Option
2000 (ISO) $17.56 01/24/2010 Common 5694 D
Stock Stock
Option
2000 (NQ) $17.56 01/24/2010 Common 7798 D
Stock Stock
Option
2001 (ISO) $16.0124 01/22/2011 Common 6244 D
Stock Stock
Option
2001 (NQ) $16.0124 01/22/2011 Common 1631 D
Stock Stock
Option
2002 (ISO) $17.2 01/17/2012 Common 5000 D
Stock Stock
Option
Explanation of Responses:
Vesting of Restricted Stock Award (less shares sold to cover taxes)
Vesting of Restricted Stock Award
SIGNATURE OF REPORTING PERSON
/s/ Terri J. Ziepfel
DATE
01/22/2003