Thursday, November 21, 2013

Ohio Mayors’ Courts new online caseload reporting portal


  In Ohio, "mayor's courts" existed by virtue of the law conferring jurisdiction on officials of  municipal corporations to hear and determine prosecutions for violations of municipal ordinances and certain moving traffic violations up until 2002 without population formalities. In that year, however, House Bill 24 “generally imposed such a requirement by specifying that only mayors of certain municipal corporations having a population of more than 100 had jurisdiction to hear and determine such prosecutions.” (Sec. 1905.01.) At about the same time HB 490 (2002) and SB 57 (2003) came along proscribing Sec. 1905.033. (A), in which “mayors of a municipal corporation who conduct a mayor's court shall register annually with the supreme court as provided further in this division…  not later than the fifteenth day of January in any year in which the mayor conducts a mayor's court or at least fifteen days before the mayor first conducts a mayor's court in a particular year, whichever is later…” This past March legislation was passed further “increasing from more than 100 to more than 200 the population necessary for a municipal corporation to have a mayor's court and jurisdiction over certain specified matters.  [HB 606 ]

  The Supreme Court’s news service earlier this week reported that Ohio’s 300-plus mayor’s courts will now be receiving new prompts to comply with their caseload reporting requirements under a new online portal developed by the Ohio Supreme Court when they register their courts by that January 15, 2014 deadline, including a 23 minute video presenting an overview of the registration and quarterly reporting process. [Mayor's Courts Registration & Reporting]

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