Ohio Supreme Court posts local rules of court

The Ohio Supreme Court last week announced the inclusion of local rules of court from the majority of Ohio's trial courts being posted online on the Court's website. Not all Ohio courts have internet access.

Supreme Court Clerk of Court Kristina D. Frost said Rule 5 of the Rules of Superintendence for Ohio Courts, in pertinence here, requires local courts to file copies of their rules with the Supreme Court, or changes to them, by the first of February of every year. Rule 5 in its present form was adopted in July 1997 "to ensure that the Court has a current, comprehensive set of local rules adopted by each court or division." That availability is now online in most cases.

The Court's availability parallels the efforts of the Ohio Law Library Consortium which started their online project in 2008. (OCCL local rules of court)

County law libraries in Ohio were assimilated fully under "county control" in 2005 when they collectively became known as "county law library resource boards." The Ohio Law Library Consortium was a voluntary growth out of that with the intent of creating a forum for sharing the collective resources of the county libraries in Ohio. That outgrowth became more formalized in 2010 when the law actually went into effect. [ "Consortium of county law library" ORC - 3375.481 (eff. Jan. 1, 2010 ) ]




The Supreme Court's rules can be accessed via one of three drop-down menus on the left-hand side of the Supreme Court's website: "The Ohio Judicial System – Ohio Trial Courts & Local Rules," "Clerk of Court & Case Information – Local Rules" or "Ohio Rules of Court – Local Rules."