LibGuides: Ohio Primary Law Legal Research Guide: Court Rules, Briefs, Dockets

Ohio Briefs and Dockets

Briefs, Motions and Pleadings, & Oral Arguments Guide - Ohio Page

Rule Amendments

"Legislative History" or Background Materials for Rules

If you are looking for commentary as to why a rule was changed, see:

Ohio Supreme Court Final Rule Amendments
Baldwin's Ohio Legislative Service Annotated
(a.k.a. Ohio Legislative Service Pamphlet), KFO30 1994 .A4x. In the final volume for the year in which the rule was passed or amended, look in the index table for the rule number. The index will tell you the volume and page number where you can find the rule changes, and possibly commentary on the rule. (example: 3R-16 is volume 3 page R-16)
Annotated Codes
Page's Ohio Revised Code Annotated or Baldwin's Ohio Revised Code may reprint committee comments in the rules volumes.
Law review and journal articles
may discuss why a particular rule was enacted or changed. Ohio Bar Journal or Cleveland Bar Journal may contain such articles.
Contact the Ohio Supreme Court
You may want to contact the Ohio Supreme Court and/or the court committee that enacted the rule to see if more materials are available. As of 2006, the Commission on the Rules of Practice and Procedure recommends rules and rule amendments to the Ohio Supreme Court. Procedure for rule amendments.
Amendments to Evidence Rules
Chart of Amendments over time - Baldwin's Ohio Practice Evidence, Chart C (WestlawNext), also in print, Giannelli Snyder Evidence KFO 540 .G52

History of the Ohio Civil Rules

On July 1, 1970, Ohio went from a code based pleading system (ie. statutes enacted by the legislature) to a rules-based system where the Ohio Supreme Court creates and amends court rules. The Court submits the rules to the General Assembly, which may adopt a concurrent resolution of disapproval. See Art IV, Ohio Constitution, Section 5(b). The original 1970 Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure were created by the Ohio Judicial Conference, Rules Advisory Committee, and were based on the federal rules. For a good description of the process by which the rules were made in 1970, see John V. Corrigan, A Look at the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure, The Ohio Bar, Vol 43, No. 24 , p. 727. A helpful resource in comparing the old code based system to the 1970 rules is John W. McCormac, Ohio Civil Rules Practice, with Forms, (1970), KFO530.M31. The University of Cincinnati Law Review has many useful articles in its symposium issue: Volume 43, 1970, which can be viewed at HeinOnline.