PART 1 - GENERAL 

1.01            SCOPE OF RULES 

The rules of the Maumee Municipal Court are adopted, published and periodically revised pursuant to 1901.14 O.R.C. These rules are to be read in conjunction with, and at all times subordinate to, the Revised Code, Civil Rules, Criminal Rules, Traffic Rules, and Rules of Superintendence for Municipal Courts and County Courts. 

1.02            SESSIONS 

The Court hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, except on those days designated by law as legal holidays. 

There shall be a criminal arraignment session beginning at 10 a.m. each Monday (excluding holidays). 

There shall be a traffic arraignment session each Tuesday (excluding holidays), commencing at 5:00 p.m. as well as each Friday (excluding holidays), commencing at 9:00 a.m.  A prosecutor will be available on the above traffic arraignment times for court referrals.  (See Rule 3.0l -F) 

The order of call of the docket in arraignment sessions shall be as follows:  (1) Cases where the defendant is represented by an attorney, (2) cases where the defendant is in custody, and (3) the balance of the docket according to the order in which the defendant arrives at the Court premises as reflected on the sign-in sheet for that arraignment session. 

Small claims sessions shall be scheduled twice a month on Tuesdays, commencing at l: 30 p.m.  Dates and times for Mediations vary. 

1.03     NO TERM OF COURT   

There shall be no term of Court, but in accordance with Section 1901.29 O.R.C., for the purpose of computing time, ninety days following judgment shall be considered within term and time thereafter shall be considered after term. 

1.04            PRACTICE BEFORE THE COURT 

Only attorneys regularly admitted to the practice of law in the State of Ohio or those certified to specially practice by the Supreme Court of the State of Ohio shall be permitted to practice in this Court. This rule shall not prohibit a party from acting as his own counsel in any proceeding in this Court.

A.  Any attorney practicing in this court shall provide the court with the following information:  cell phone number and cell phone provider, whether or not they can receive text messaging, and a business email address, if available.  It is the responsibility of the attorney to keep the court updated as to any changes to the above information.

1.05            REQUIREMENTS OF PLEADINGS 

A. All documents filed with the Clerk, including, but not limited to pleadings, motions, applications, judgments and orders, shall be neatly prepared on 8 1/2" x 11" paper. If consisting of more than one sheet of paper, the sheets shall be securely fastened together. The use of covers or jackets shall not be permitted. 

B. Each document filed by each party represented by counsel shall designate, on the first page thereof, immediately beneath the name of the paper, the name, address, telephone number, fax number, and code number of the attorney responsible for the case. 

C. The mailing address must be given for all parties and counsel and shall include the correct zip code. 

D. It shall be the duty of the plaintiff, or his attorney, to file with the complaint as many copies thereof as there are defendants to be served the summons in said action. Copies shall be clear photo copies. Pleadings which do not conform to this rule may be ordered stricken from the file by the Court.

1.06            FACSIMILE FILINGS 

The provisions of this local rule are adopted under Civ.R.5(E) and CrimR.12(B).

Pleadings and other documents may be filed by facsimile transmission with the Clerk of Courts to 419-897-7129 subject to the following conditions:

1.  These rules apply to traffic, criminal, civil, and small claims proceedings in the Maumee Municipal Court.

2.  The following documents will not be accepted as originals for fax filing:  traffic, criminal, civil, or small claim complaints, and cognovit promissory notes.

A.  Original Filing

A document filed by fax shall be accepted as the effective original filing.  The person making a fax filing need not file any source document with the Clerk of Court but must, however, maintain in his or her records and have available for production on request by the court the source document filed by fax, with original signatures as otherwise required under the applicable rules, together with the source copy of the facsimile cover sheet used for the subject filing.

The source document filed by fax shall be maintained by the person making the filing until the case is closed and all opportunities for post judgment relief are exhausted.  

B.  Definitions

As used in these rules, unless the context requires otherwise:

(1)  A "facsimile transmission" means the transmission of a source document by a facsimile machine that encodes a document into optical or electrical signals, transmits and reconstructs the signals to print a duplicate of the source document at the receiving end.

(2)  A "facsimile machine" means a machine that can send and receive a facsimile transmission.

(3) "Fax" is an abbreviation for facsimile or facsimile transmission.

C.  Cover Page

(1)  The person filing a document by fax shall also provide therewith a cover page containing the following information:

(a) the name of the court

(b) the caption (title) of the case

(c) the case number

(d) the title of the document being filed (e.g. Defendant Jones' Answer to Amended Complaint; Plaintiff Smith's Response to Defendants' Motion to Dismiss, etc.)

(e) the date of transmission

(f) the transmitting fax number and the sender's phone number

(g) an indication of the number of pages included in the transmission, including the cover page

(h) the name, address, telephone number, fax number, Supreme Court Registration number, if applicable, and e-mail address of the person filing the fax document if available.

(2)  If a document is sent by fax to the Clerk of Court without the cover page information listed above, the Clerk may, at its discretion:

(a) enter the document in the Case Docket and file the document; or

(b) deposit the document in a file of failed faxed documents with a notation of the reason for the failure; in this instance, the document shall not be considered filed with the Clerk of Courts.

(3)  The Clerk of Court is not required to send any form of notice to the sending party of a failed fax filing.  However, if practicable, the Clerk of Court may inform the sending party of a failed fax filing.

D.  Signature

(1)  A party who wishes to file a signed source document by fax shall either: 

(a) fax a copy of the signed source document; or

(b) fax a copy of the document without the signature but with the notation "/s/" followed by the name of the signing person where the signature appears in the signed source document.

(2)  A party who files a signed document by fax represents that the physically signed source document is in his/her possession or control

E.  Exhibits

(1) Each exhibit to a facsimile produced document that cannot be accurately transmitted via facsimile transmission for any reason must be replaced by an insert page describing the exhibit and why it is missing.  Said missing exhibit shall be filed with the court, as a separate document, not later than five court days following the filing of the facsimile document.  Failure to file the missing exhibit as required by this paragraph may result in the court striking the document and/or exhibit.

(2)  Any exhibit filed in this manner shall be attached to a cover sheet containing the caption of the case which sets forth the name of the court, caption (title) of the case, the case number, name of the judge and the title of the exhibit being filed (e.g., Plaintiff Smith's Notice of Filing Exhibit "G" to Plaintiff Smith's Response to Defendants' Motion to Dismiss), and shall be signed and served in conformance with the rules governing the signing and service of pleadings in this court.

F.  Time of Filing

(1)  Subject to the provisions of these rules, all documents sent by fax and accepted by the Clerk shall be considered filed with the Clerk of Courts as of the date and time the Clerk time-stamps the document received, as opposed to the date and time of the fax transmission.  The office of the Clerk of Court will be deemed open to receive facsimile transmission of documents on the basis of 24 hours per day seven days per week including holidays.  Any facsimile document received by the Clerk after normal court hours will be time-stamped on the next open business day of the court.

(2) The Clerk of Court may, but need not, acknowledge receipt of a facsimile transmission.

(3) The risks of transmitting a document by fax to the Clerk of Court shall be borne entirely by the sending party.  Anyone using facsimile filing is urged to verify receipt of such filing by the Clerk of Court through whatever technological means are available.

(4) To verify that a facsimile filing has been filed, you may go to our web site www.maumee.org and check the docket page for the entry of your filing.  

G.  Fees and Costs

(1) Documents which require a filing fee must be received by the Clerk with said fee..

(2) No additional fee shall be assessed for facsimile filings.

H.  Length of Document

Facsimile filings shall not exceed 20 pages in length.  The filer shall not transmit service copies by facsimile.                                  

1.07            RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS, COURT REPORTERS 

All Court proceedings, which are required to be recorded, shall be recorded by an audio-tape machine, except in a trial by jury, where a court reporter will be supplied.  In other actions, a court reporter may be supplied upon the written request of either party or his counsel, provided such request is filed in writing at least five court days prior to trial.  In such a case the reporter's costs shall be borne by the party requesting the same, who shall pay the costs directly to the reporter. 

1.08            ORDER AND DECORUM 

A.   All persons inside the courtroom shall be required to stand during the opening and closing of Court. The wearing of hats by males and unduly immodest or revealing clothing by any person shall not be permitted in the courtroom. 

B.  No smoking shall be permitted within the courthouse at any time. 

C. All broadcasting, televising, recording and photographic equipment in the courtroom, except for the recording equipment referred to in Rule 1.07, shall be subject to the permission of the Judge of the Court and its usage shall be restricted, as provided by Municipal Court Superintendence Rule 12. 

1.09            SURETY 

Good and sufficient surety shall be required in all matters where surety, bail, bond or undertaking is offered. 

Neither attorneys nor other officers of the Court shall be accepted as bail or surety, and no bond shall be approved with such person's name(s) thereon as surety. 

1.10              JURY SELECTION 

Jurors shall be drawn as provided by Section 2313.21 of the Ohio Revised Code and shall be assigned by the Jury Commissioner of this Court and selected at random.

1.11               GENERAL RULES OF REFERENCE FOR THE MAGISTRATE

In order to effectively and expeditiously administer the duties of the Court, all powers authorized by Rule 53 of the Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 19 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure, and Rule 14 of the Ohio Traffic Rules, are hereby authorized to be adjudicated by a Magistrate of this Court.

A.   Civil and Small Claims Cases

The Magistrate is hereby authorized to conduct the following hearings as to small claims or civil cases:

1.   Any pre-trial or post-judgment motion in any case.
2.   The trial of any case that will not be tried to a jury.
3.   Upon the unanimous consent of the parties, the trial of any case that will be tried to a jury.

The Magistrate shall regulate all proceedings in every hearing as if by the Court and do all acts and take all measures necessary or proper for the efficient performance of the Magistrate's duties under this Order.  The Magistrate may do all of the following:

1.   Issue subpoena for the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence.
2.   Rule upon the admissibility of evidence.
3.   Call the parties to the action and examine them under oath.
4.   Put witnesses under oath and examine them.
5.   In cases involving direct or indirect contempt of court, and when necessary to obtain the alleged contemnor's presence for hearing, issue an attachment for the alleged contemnor and set bail to secure the alleged contemnor's appearance, considering the conditions of release prescribed in Criminal Rule 46.

The Magistrate may enter orders without judicial approval in pretrial proceedings under Civil Rule 26 to 37 and other as necessary to regulate proceedings.

Any person may appeal to the court from any order of a Magistrate entered under the authority of the previous paragraph by filing a motion to set the order aside, stating the party's objection with particularity.  The motion shall be filed no later than ten (10) days after the Magistrate's order is entered.  The pendency of a motion to set aside does not stay the effectiveness of the Magistrate's order unless the Magistrate or the Court grants a stay.  The Magistrate shall promptly conduct all proceedings necessary for decision of referred matters in civil and small claims cases.  The Magistrate shall prepare, sign and file a Magistrate's decision of the referred matter with the clerk.  Findings of fact and conclusions of law are not required unless requested by a party under Rule 52 or otherwise required by law or the court.

Within fourteen (14) days of the filing of a Magistrate's decision, a party may file written objections thereto.  If any party timely filed objections, then any other party may also file objections not later than ten (1) days after the first objections are filed.  If a party makes a request for findings of fact or conclusions of law under Civil Rule 52, the time for filing objections begins to run when the Magistrate files a decision including findings of fact and conclusions of law.  The filing of objections shall operate a stay of execution of the judgment only if the court specifically grants said stay.

B.   Criminal Cases

In accordance with Rule 19 of the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Magistrate is hereby authorized to conduct the following criminal hearings:

1.   Initial appearance and preliminary hearings conducted pursuant to Criminal Rule 5.
2.   Arraignments conducted pursuant to Criminal Rule 10.
3.   Proceedings at which a plea may be entered in accordance with Criminal Rule 11.
4.   In felony and misdemeanor cases, the Magistrate may accept and enter not guilty pleas.
5.   In misdemeanor cases, the Magistrate may accept and enter guilty and no contest pleas, determine guilt or innocence, receive statements in explanation and in mitigation of sentence, and state a penalty to be imposed.  If the offense charged is an offense for which imprisonment is a possible penalty, the matter may be referred only with the unanimous consent of the parties on the record in open court.  Pre-trial conferences may be conducted pursuant to Criminal Rule 17.1.
6.   Motions filed pursuant to Criminal Rule 19 and Criminal Rule 47.
7.   Proceedings for the issuance of a temporary protection order as authorized by law.
8.   Proceedings to establish bail pursuant to Criminal Rule 46.
9.   The trial of any misdemeanor case that will not be tried to a jury.  If the offense charged is an offense for which imprisonment is a possible penalty, the matter may be heard only with consent of the parties.
10.  The Magistrate shall regulate all proceedings in every hearing as if by the Court and do all acts and take all measures necessary or proper for the efficient performance of the magistrate's duties.

The Magistrate may do all of the following:

1.   Issue subpoenas for the attendance of witnesses and the production of evidence.
2.   Rule upon the admissibility of evidence in misdemeanor cases.
3.   Put witnesses under oath and examine them.
4.   In cases involving direct or indirect contempt of court, and when necessary, to obtain the alleged contemnor's presence for hearing, issue an attachment for the alleged contemnor and set bail to secure the alleged contemnor's appearance, considering the conditions of release prescribed in Criminal Rule 46.
5.   Issue search warrants to search and seize property located within the Court's territorial jurisdiction, upon the request of a prosecuting attorney or a law enforcement officer.
6.   Swear to probably cause affidavits and make a finding as to probably cause for issuance of a summons or warrant.

The Magistrate may enter pre-trial orders without judicial approval which are necessary to regulate the proceedings and are not dispositive of a claim or a defense of a party.

Any person may appeal to the Court from any pre-trial order of a Magistrate entered under the authority of the previous paragraph by filing a motion to set the order aside, stating the party's objections with particularity.  The motion shall be filed within fourteen (14) days after the Magistrate's order is entered.  The pendency of a motion to set aside does not stay the effectiveness of the Magistrate's order unless the Magistrate or the Judge grants a stay.  A party's failure to appeal dose not preclude review of the order on objections to the Magistrate's decision.

The Magistrate shall promptly conduct all proceedings necessary for decision of referred matters in criminal cases.

Within fourteen (14) days after the filing of a Magistrate's decision, a party may file written objections thereto.  If any party timely files objections, any other party may also file objections no later than ten (1) days after the first objections are filed.  Objection will not stay enforcement of any order or sentence of incarceration unless a stay is specifically granted by the Judge or Magistrate.

C.   Traffic Cases

In accordance with Rule 14 of the Ohio Traffic Rules and Rule 19 of the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure, the traffic cases of the court, including operating a vehicle under the influence cases, the Magistrate is hereby authorized to do the following:

1.   Receive pleas, statements in explanation and in mitigation of sentence.
2.   State a penalty to be imposed.
3.   Hear contested cases for the taking of evidence and make findings of guilt or innocence and state a penalty, if consented to by the defendant.

The Magistrate shall promptly conduct all proceedings necessary for decision of referred matters in traffic cases.

Within fourteen (14) days after the filing of the Magistrate's decision, a party may file written objections thereto.  If any party timely files objections, any other party may also file objections not later than ten (10) days after the first objections are filed.  Objection will not stay enforcement of any order or sentence of incarceration unless a stay is specifically granted by the Judge or Magistrate.

D.   General Authority for all Referred Cases

Nothing in these Rules shall be construed as prohibiting a Magistrate from the entry of orders when authority is specifically conveyed by statute to Magistrate.

All orders of the Magistrate shall be in writing and signed by the Magistrate.  The Magistrate shall prepare reports of his or her work, recommendations and orders as directed by the court.

The proceedings before the Magistrate shall be in accordance with the Ohio Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure, the Ohio Traffic Rules, any applicable statutes, and the Rules of the Court, as if before the Court.

In cases of contempt in the presence of the Magistrate, the Magistrate may impose an appropriate civil or criminal contempt sanction.  Contempt sanctions may be imposed only by a written order that recites the facts and certifies that the Magistrate saw or heard the conduct constituting contempt.  The contempt order shall be filed and a copy provided by the clerk to the appropriate Judge of the Court.  The contemnor may by motion obtain immediate review of the Magistrate's order by a Judge, or the Judge or Magistrate may set bail pending judicial review.

E.   Compensation

The Magistrate shall be compensated at the same daily rate as a visiting or acting Judge of this court.