Guidelines for Ohio court news
In general, misdemeanors are prosecuted in Municipal Court, though they are occasionally prosecuted in Common Pleas Court, sometimes because a lower-level felony is reduced to a misdemeanor as part of a plea agreement.
Felonies are typically filed in Municipal Court, then are presented to the grand jury, which returns an indictment if the grand jury finds probable cause to believe the defendant committed a crime. The case is then dismissed (“Nolle prosequi entered”) in Municipal Court and filed in Common Pleas Court.
General court process for felonies
- Indictment on charges by a grand jury
- Arraignment on charges (where defendant receives an attorney, enters a not guilty plea, has bond set, and has future court dates scheduled)
- Pretrial hearings
- Trial or change of plea
- Sentencing
Pleas
- Not guilty: Denial of charges, but also the standard plea at arraignment.
- Guilty: Total admission of guilt.
- In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit to committing a crime, but acknowledges evidence is sufficient for a conviction that could result in a more severe sentence. The court treats it as a guilty plea.
- No contest: Not an admission of guilt, but it is an admission of the truth of the facts alleged in the indictment. The court finds the defendant guilty. *As an aside, when defendants plead no contest, they do not have to make a statement about what they did, which is important in cases that are likely to result in civil litigation. It protects them from making a statement in court that could be used against them in a civil suit.
Sentences
- Defendants convicted of misdemeanors may be placed on probation and/or sent to jail. The Lucas County jail and CCNO (the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio) are jails, not prisons.
- Defendants convicted of felonies may be placed on community control and/or sent to prison. There are state prisons and (for federal cases) federal prisons.
*Note on life sentences: defendants may be sentenced to 15-to-life, 20-to-life, etc. but the bottom line is they have been sentenced to life in prison. They will have an opportunity to go before the parole board after they serve 15 years or 20 years etc., but there is no guarantee they will be released on parole.
After prison
Convicted felons, upon release from prison, are placed on parole.