OH · rules
Ohio Sup.R. 5.18
Assignment of Cases to New Judicial Positions and Successor Judges
(A) Newly Established Judicial Positions
(1) After the date of election, but prior to the first day of the term of a newly established
judicial position, the administrative judge of the court or division of the court, as
applicable, through a random selection of pending cases shall equitably reassign
cases pending in the court or division between or among the judges of the court or
division and shall create a docket for the newly established judicial position similar
to a representative docket. Reassignment shall be completed in a manner consistent
with this rule and may exclude criminal cases and cases scheduled for trial.
(2) Any matters arising in cases assigned to the docket for the newly established
judicial position prior to the date on which the judge elected to that position takes
office shall be resolved by the administrative judge or assigned to another judge.
(B) Successor Judges
Upon taking office, an appointed or elected successor judge shall assume all cases
previously assigned to the predecessor judge. If the terms of two or more successor judges
commence simultaneously and there is no identified predecessor judge for each suc cessor
judge, the administrative judge of the court or division shall randomly designate the
predecessor judge for each successor judge.
History
Effective Date: January 1, 2018 Amended: November 13, 2025 Commentary (November 13, 2025) For newly established judicial positions, the reassignment of cases must be random, equitable, and accomplished in a manner consistent with the principles set forth in Sup.R. 36.011(C)(2). In effect, a random selection system must be used, rather than culling cases from pending dockets. Certain dockets or portions of dockets may be created through the individual assignment system. This method may be particularly useful in assigning criminal cases. The process set forth in this rule should facilitate the creation of a balanced docket with a minimum disruption of the pending caseload of the court or division. Pursuant to Sup.R. 38(B), judges must complete a case inventory within three months of the date of taking office. Gov.Jud.R. VII(2) requires the predecessor judge to deliver to the judge’s successor all records; papers, books, and other instruments; and other property and effects belonging to the court. Please contact the Case Management Section in the Office of Court Services of the Supreme Court if the court needs assistance determining the impacted judgeship. Commentary (July 1, 2026) Rule 36.018 was renumbered to Rule 5.18 as part of the 2026 restructuring of the Rules of Superintendence.
Provenance
- Source
- supremecourt.ohio.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-14
- Edition
- 2026-09-14
- Content hash
4876d94348459114644c93090539b2758e6558caa8924be392b65f49541709d6
The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.
Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.