Supreme Court of Ohio

Ohio Supreme Court
Established 1841
Country Ohio Ohio, United States United States
Location Columbus, Ohio
Composition method Semipartisan election
Authorized by Ohio Constitution
Decisions are appealed to Supreme Court of the United States
Judge term length 6 Years
No. of positions 7
Website Official Website
Chief Justice
Currently Maureen O'Connor
Since January 1, 2011
Lead position ends 2022
Jurist term ends 2021*
The Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center

The Supreme Court of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, each serving six-year terms. Since 2004, the court has met in the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center (formerly known as the Ohio Departments Building) on the east bank of the Scioto River in downtown Columbus. Prior to 2004, the court met in the James A. Rhodes State Office Tower and earlier in the Judiciary Annex (now the Senate Building) of the Ohio Statehouse.

The Ohio Supreme Court and the rest of the judiciary is established and authorized within Article IV of the Ohio Constitution.

Justices

All the seats on the court are elected at large by the voters of Ohio. Every two years, two of the associate justice seats are up for election. For one of those three elections in a cycle, the chief justice's seat is up for election. In order to run for a seat on the court, a person must be admitted to the Bar in Ohio, and have practiced as a lawyer or served as a judge for at least six years.[1] There is an age limit: One may not run for a seat on any Ohio court if one is more than 70 years of age. This limit often forces the retirement of long-time justices. Justice Francis E. Sweeney, Sr., was barred by this rule from running for re-election in 2004, as was Justice Terrence O'Donnell in 2018 and as Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor will be in 2022. However, a judge who reaches the age of 70 after being elected is not prevented from completing her or his term in office.

The Governor of Ohio may appoint a Justice to the Court when there is a vacancy.

Officially, the judicial elections are non-partisan. However, in practical terms, all this means is that party designations for the candidates are left off the ballot and justices are restricted in making public political statements. Major and minor parties all nominate candidates for the court in their primary elections. The vast majority of justices have been nominated by the two major parties in Ohio, Democratic or Republican. Many of the individuals who have contested Supreme Court seats have also contested for explicitly partisan political offices, both state and federal.

From the election of Justice Robert R. Cupp in November 2006 to replace Democrat Alice Robie Resnick until the 2010 appointment of Eric Brown as Chief Justice, the Court was all Republican. With the January 2018 appointment of Mary DeGenaro to fill the seat vacated by Bill O'Neal, the Court went back to being all Republican.

Justice (party)BornDate service beganTerm endsMandatory
retirement
Maureen O'Connor (R) (Chief Justice)
1951
Associate Justice-January 1, 2003
Chief Justice-January 1, 2011
December 31, 2022
2022*
Terrence O'Donnell (R)
1946
May 19, 2003
December 31, 2018
2016*
Sharon L. Kennedy (R)
1962
December 7, 2012
December 31, 2020
2032
Judith L. French (R)
1962
January 1, 2013
January 1, 2021
2032
Patrick DeWine (R)
1968
January 2, 2017
January 1, 2023
2038
Patrick F. Fischer (R)
1957
January 1, 2017
January 1, 2023
2027
Mary DeGenaro (R)
1961
January 26, 2018
January 1, 2019
2032

Asterisks (*) next to retirement dates indicate justices who will be permitted to complete their current terms, but will be barred from running for reelection due to having exceeded the mandatory retirement age of 70 years.

  • In the court's history, there have been four instances where the female justice have outnumbered the male justices. The first occurred from January to May 2003, the second time occurred in 2005 and 2006, the third time occurred between January 2011 and January 2017, and the fourth time occurred beginning in January 2018.

Important cases

In DeRolph v. State (1997) the Supreme Court of Ohio found that Ohio's method of funding its schools was unconstitutional. The case originated in the Perry County Schools.

In Mapp v. Ohio (1961), the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the Supreme Court of Ohio, and found that evidence seized unlawfully without a search warrant can not be used in criminal prosecutions.

Compensation

Name Job description Salary Overtime Year
Maureen O'Connor Chief Justice $174,700[2] $0.00 2018
Patrick DeWine Associate Justice $164,000[2] $0.00 2018
Terrence O'Donnell Associate Justice $164,000[2] $0.00 2018
Judith L. French Associate Justice $164,000[2] $0.00 2018
Mary DeGenaro Associate Justice $164,000[2] $0.00 2018
Patrick F. Fischer Associate Justice $164,000[2] $0.00 2018
Sharon L. Kennedy Associate Justice $164,000[2] $0.00 2018

Disciplinary Counsel

The Ohio Supreme Court Disciplinary Counsel investigate Ohio judges and attorneys in order to protect the public. The Ohio Supreme Court announced though its website the dismissal of former Disciplinary Counsel on 29 August 2013. As of 2018, Scott Drexel is Disciplinary Counsel and his office investigates grievances.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Ohio Revised Code § 2503.01
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Judge's Salary Chart". www.supremecourt.ohio.gov. Retrieved 2018-07-19.

Coordinates: 39°57′37″N 83°00′09″W / 39.960358°N 83.002487°W / 39.960358; -83.002487

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