Government of Ohio - Judicial Branch

Judicial Branch

The judicial branch is headed by the supreme court, which has one chief justice and six associate justices, each elected to staggered six-year terms.

There are several other levels of elected judiciary in the Ohio court system:

• State court of claims, which has jurisdiction over all civil actions against the State of Ohio in situations in which the state has waived its sovereign immunity.
• State courts of appeal (12 district appeals courts): These are the intermediate appellate courts.
• County courts of common pleas: 88 county common pleas courts – These are the principal courts of first instance for civil and criminal matters. In populous areas, there are often several divisions, such as general, juvenile, probate, and domestic relations.
• Municipal courts and county courts – these court primarily handle minor matters, such as traffic adjudication and other misdemeanor and small claims.

Judges in Ohio are generally elected, except for the Court of Claims, for which judges sit by assignment of the chief justice. When there are temporary vacancies in elected judgeships, those vacancies are also filled by assignment by the chief justice.