Municipal Courts and County Courts are law courts of limited jurisdiction in the U.S. state of

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. They handle cases involving

traffic Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...

, non-traffic

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

s, evictions and small civil claims (in which the amount in controversy does not exceed $3,000 for small claims and $15,000 for municipal court). These courts also conduct

preliminary hearing Within some criminal justice, criminal justice systems, a preliminary hearing, preliminary examination, preliminary inquiry, evidentiary hearing or probable cause hearing is a proceeding, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecuto ...

s in felony cases.Judicial System Structure
from

Supreme Court of Ohio The Ohio Supreme Court, Officially known as The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a ...

Municipal courts in Ohio are far more limited in scope than the Common Pleas courts. Ohio's municipal and

county court A county court is a court based in or with a jurisdiction covering one or more counties, which are administrative divisions (subnational entities) within a country, not to be confused with the medieval system of ''county courts'' held by the high ...

s are courts of

limited jurisdiction Limited jurisdiction, or special jurisdiction, is the court's jurisdiction only on certain types of cases such as bankruptcy, and family matters. Courts of limited jurisdiction, as opposed to general jurisdiction, derive power from an issuing autho ...

and

courts of record A court of record is a trial court or appellate court in which a record of the proceedings is captured and preserved, for the possibility of appeal. A court clerk or a court reporter takes down a record of oral proceedings. That written record ( ...

. The first municipal court was created in 1910, and county courts were created in 1957 as a replacement for justice courts. In 2014, there were 129 municipal courts and 35 county courts. They are created by the General Assembly as provided in R.C. 1901 and 1907, and are limited by

subject-matter jurisdiction Subject-matter jurisdiction (also called jurisdiction ''ratione materiae')'' is the authority of a court to hear cases of a particular type or cases relating to a specific subject matter. For instance, bankruptcy court only has the authority ...

. Municipal courts may cover part or all of a county; any areas not covered by a municipal court are covered by the county court. In 2014, 12 counties had only a county court, 10 had both municipal and county courts, and 66 had one or more municipal court and no county court.{{Cite web, date=2014, title=Municipal & County Courts, url=https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/Publications/annrep/14OCSR/summary/11.pdf, url-status=live, access-date=2021-12-20, website=Supreme Court of Ohio In some counties, there is only one municipal court which exercises jurisdiction countywide (i.e. Wayne County Municipal Court). Some counties have several municipal courts (Cuyahoga county has 14 municipal courts). Some, like Portage County, has only the Portage County Municipal Court, but has 2 separate courthouses: 1 in Ravenna and 1 in Kent, for all its municipal case needs. Judges of the municipal courts are elected to six-year terms on a nonpartisan ballot, although candidates may choose to run in partisan primary elections. In order to be appointed or elected to the court, a person must be an attorney with at least six years of experience in the

practice of law In its most general sense, the practice of law involves giving legal advice to clients, drafting legal documents for clients, and representing clients in legal negotiations and court proceedings such as lawsuits, and is applied to the professi ...

References

Ohio state courts Municipal courts

See also

References