Cleveland Law Library Weblog

New Records Retention Rules for Ohio Courts

Court news Ohio just announced changes to the Ohio Rules of Superintendence regarding records retention for Ohio Courts. Effective April 1, 2025, Superintendence Rule 26 generally covers how records must be preserved and the minimum amount of time required to keep the records. These changes affect the following Ohio courts: courts of appeals; general, domestic-relations, and juvenile divisions of the common pleas courts; probate courts; and county and municipal courts. A few specifics include:

• restoration of the requirement to notify the Ohio History Connection before destroying records with a retention period greater than 10 years and created more than 50 years ago;
• removal of transcripts and depositions from Superintendence Rule 26.06 regarding the destruction of court records; and
• addition in Superintendence Rule 26.03(D)(6) related to the retention period based on the type of felony conviction.

The ABA Issues Opinion on Generative AI

The American Bar Association standing committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued formal opinion 512 which identified potential risks for lawyers who are using generative AI technology. The opinion offers general guidance while focusing on professional conduct such as competence, confidentiality, communication, supervisory responsibilities, and fees. The risks associated with the use of GAI can vary, and the opinion mentions specific issues of meritorious claims and candor toward a tribunal. The ABA addresses concerns of GAI tools having "hallucinations", providing responses that have no basis in fact, false citations to nonexistent cases, inaccurate analysis of legal authorities, and many other inconsistencies. Though the Ohio Bar Association has not issued a formal opinion regarding generative AI, the current Ohio rules are similar to the guidelines presented by the American Bar Association. To conclude, formal opinion 512 affirms that lawyers have duties of both legal and technological competence, and lawyers utilizing AI must have a reasonable understanding of GAI tools. 

Ohio Supreme Court Adopts Amendments to its Rules of Practice

Yesterday, the Ohio Supreme Court announced the that it had adopted various amendments to the rules that govern how cases are filed and proceed before the Court. A Press Release from the Court summarized the changes as follows:

• Rule 2.02 – Pro Hac Vice Admission – Clarifies the requirement that out-of-state attorneys must file a motion for admission before being deemed to have made an appearance in a case.
• Rule 3.02 – Filing Electronic Documents by E-mail – Eliminates filing by email because attorneys and self-represented litigants can file electronically through the Court’s e-filing portal.
• Rule 4.06 – Substitution of Parties – Directs parties on how to proceed when substituting a party is required.
• Rule 11.06 – Applications for Reopening in Death-Penalty Cases – Increases to 15 the page limit for applications and requires specific citations to the record.
• Rules 16.08 and 17.08 – Modifies the rules to permit filing a citation to relevant authority less than seven days before oral argument if the authority was issued within that timeframe.

Click here for the text of the amendments.

Ohio Supreme Court Adopts New Probate Forms for Alcohol and Drug Treatment and Public Notice Waivers for Name Changes

The Ohio Supreme Court has just adopted new Probate Court forms for alcohol and drug treatment and public notice waivers for name changes. According to the Court, new Forms 26.0-26.14 were designed for the following situations:

"A person petitioning the court for the involuntary treatment can now submit forms to demonstrate that someone is suffering from alcohol or other drug abuse; represents a danger to himself or herself, family members, or others; and would likely benefit from treatment. The forms also include a physician evaluation, a form for emergency commitment if a respondent refuses to undergo the required evaluation, and various hearing notices."

In addition, 

"The Court also approved a new probate form to allow a person seeking a name change to do so without publishing it in a newspaper if his or her personal safety would be threatened by its publication. Applicants could include domestic violence victims or those under orders of protection. Form 21.6 reflects a process provided in R.C. 2717.01(A)(4), which requires notice of the name change in a general circulation newspaper. An applicant now can use the form to ask the probate court to waive the requirement."

The new forms will be added to the existing Standard Probate Forms in the Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio.

For more information, read the Ohio Supreme Court's New Release.

Ohio Supreme Court Rules and Forms to Contain Gender-neutral Terms

Effective today, Ohio Supreme Court rules and forms will contain gender-neutral terms. Specifically, these changes affect the following Rules: the Rules for the Government of the Bar; the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct; the Ohio Rules of Superintendence; and the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure. The topics covered include address marriage, divorce, child support, guardianships, adoption, domestic relations, and domestic violence. These changes were precipitated by the United States Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, Case No. 14-556. All of the changes can be found at this link.

Ohio Supreme Court Adopts a Lot of Changes to Protection Order Forms and Corresponding Rule

The Ohio Supreme Court has adopted changes to Superintendence Rule 10.03 (governing civil and criminal protection orders) and 30 protection order forms. According to the Supreme Court's news release, these changes and the new forms will go into effect on March 1st and include the following changes:

• encouraging law enforcement to enter promptly properly issued protection orders into the FBI’s protection order database and firearms disability database
• placing in a prominent position the no abuse term in the protection order, as this is the most distinguishable characteristic of a protection order,
• underscoring the importance of providing an address that does not compromise the petitioner’s safety to receive correspondence from the court,
• expanding references to social media to clarify the no contact provision in the order,
• articulating that law enforcement officers and U.S. Armed Forces members may be exempt from firearms disability because of their jobs,
• clarifying the weapons surrender term in the order and return procedures,
• indicating the new judicial review standard for protection order proceedings before a magistrate,
• and revising the forms consistent with the no fee prohibition in last year’s reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act.

Ohio Supreme Court Adopts Revised Probate Forms That Will Take Effect March 1st, 2014

The Ohio Supreme Court has adopted revised probate forms that will take effect on March 1, 2014. These new forms concern real property certificates of transfer, foreign adoption, and disinterment applications and relate to Probate Forms 12.0, 12.1, 19.2, 19.3, 25.0, 25.1, 25.2, 25.3, 25.4, 25.5, and 25.6. Forms 12.0 and 12.1 relating to Certificates of Transfer have been revised, but the rest of the forms are new:

Form 19.2 (Petition to Recognize Foreign Adoption)

• Form 19.3 (Order for Ohio Birth Record for Foreign Born Child)

• Form 25.0 (Application for Order to Disinter Remains)

• Form 25.1 (Judgment Entry Setting Hearing on Application for Disinterment)

• Form 25.2 (Notice on Hearing for Disinterment)

• Form 25.3 (Affidavit of Service of Notice of Hearing on Application for Disinterment)

• Form 25.4 (Verification of Reinterment)

• Form 25.5 (Waiver of Notice of Application to Disinter Remains)

• Form 25.6 (Order to Disinter Remains)

Cuyahoga Juvenile Court Accepting Comments on Proposed Rule Changes and Amendments

The Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court is accepting comments on proposed changes and amendments to its Rules of Court. Comments will be accepted until 12/20/13 on the following proposals:

• Proposed Local Rule 5. Use of juvenile initials
• Proposed Local Rule 51. Juvenile court civil protection orders/juvenile domestic violence protection orders
• Amended Local Rule 28. Custody actions
• Amended Local Rule 44. Genetic tests
• Amended Local Rule 47. Motions to show cause and complaint in contempt
• Amended Local Rule 48. Recording of proceeding, transcript, use of court reporters

Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court Amends Local Rules 19, 20, 29, 30 and 31

Last week, the Cuyahoga County Domestic Relations Court amended Local Rules 19, 20, 29, 30 and 31. Rule 19 relates to child and spousal support modifications; Rule 20 pertains to motions to show cause; Rule 29 relates to issuance of a citation or capias; and Rules 30 and 31 pertain to foreign parenting orders. These new amendments took effect on July 29, 2013. 

The State of Ohio Has Launched a New Site That Allow You to Track Agency Rule Changes and Receive Email Alerts

Ohio has launched a new website called RuleWatch Ohio that will allow you to track Agency Rules that affect you, your family, or your business. An OSBA News Release for the launch states that:

"RuleWatch Ohio allows individuals to track a specific rule they are interested in, or rules that cover a particular area of interest. By creating an account on the RuleWatch Ohio site, users can receive email alerts when there is activity on any of the rules they have selected."

Rule watchers may already be aware of the Register of Ohio online, which provides public notices of state Agency rule-making. However, RuleWatch Ohio proposes to be more user-friendly, and it may encourage more citizens to become involved in the rule-making process.