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Ohio Primary Law Legal Research Guide

Guide based on Cleveland-Marshall's Ohio Primary Law Research Guide.Covers Ohio cases, statutes, legislative history, regulations, and administrative decisions.

"Legislative History" or Background Materials for Rules

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

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.

Ohio Court Rules

Some Ohio court rules apply statewide, such as the Rules of Civil Procedure, Rules of Criminal Procedure, Rules of Appellate Procedure and Rules of Evidence. There are also local rules, which apply to an individual Ohio appellate, common pleas or municipal court. Federal courts also have rules that apply to the entire federal system, as well as local rules of court.