OH · rules
Ohio Crim.R. 10
Arraignment
(A) Arraignment procedure
Arraignment shall be conducted in open court, and shall consist of reading the indictment,
information or complaint to the defendant, or stating to the defendant the substance of the
charge, and calling on the defendant to plead thereto. The defendant may in open court
waive the reading of the indictment, information, or complaint. The defendant shall be
given a copy of the indictment, information, or complaint, or shall acknowledge receipt
thereof, before being called upon to plead.
(B) Presence of defendant
(1) The defendant must be present, except that the court, with the written consent of
the defendant, may permit arraignment without the presence of the defendant, if a
plea of not guilty is entered.
(2) In a felony or misdemeanor arraignment or a felony initial appearance, a court may
permit the remote presence and participation of a defendant, provided the
appearance complies with the requirements set out in Crim.R. 43(A)(2).
(C) Explanation of rights
When a defendant not represented by counsel is brought before a court and called upon to
plead, the judge or magistrate shall cause the defendant to be informed and shall determine
that the defendant understands all of the following:
(1) The defendant has a right to retain counsel even if the defendant intends to
plead guilty, and has a right to a reasonable continuance in the proceedings
to secure counsel.
(2) The defendant has a right to counsel, and the right to a reasonable
continuance in the proceeding to secure counsel, and, pursuant to Crim.R.
44, the right to have counsel assigned without cost if the defendant is unable
to employ counsel.
(3) The defendant has a right to bail, if the offense is bailable.
(4) The defendant need make no statement at any point in the proceeding, but
any statement made can and may be used against the defendant.
(D) Joint arraignment
If there are multiple defendants to be arraigned, the judge or magistrate may by general
announcement advise them of their rights as prescribed in this rule.
History
Effective Date: July 1, 1973 Amended: July 1, 1990; July 1, 2008; July 1, 2023 Staff Note (July 1, 2008 Amendment) In 1995 the Ohio Supreme Court authorized video teleconferencing for arraignments as long as it was “functionally equivalent to live, in-person arraignment” ( State v. Phillips, 1995 Ohio 171). This amendment will codify Philips by explicitly giving a court the option of using video teleconferencing at arraignments, and will clarify that if video teleconferencing is used, the procedure must conform to the requirements of Rule 43.
Provenance
- Source
- supremecourt.ohio.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-14
- Edition
- 2026-09-14
- Content hash
aa56594cc108cccea5ed9bf28d1bb26fd312e712044da8db39900fd6bb5d9668
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