Ohio Code 323.691 – Transfer of complaint to court of common pleas or municipal court
(A)(1) A county board of revision may order that a proceeding arising from a complaint filed under section 323.69 of the Revised Code be transferred to the court of common pleas or to a municipal court with jurisdiction. The board may order such a transfer upon the motion of the record owner of the parcel or the county prosecuting attorney, representing the county treasurer, or upon its own motion.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 323.691
- Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
- Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
- Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
- Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Plea: In a criminal case, the defendant's statement pleading "guilty" or "not guilty" in answer to the charges, a declaration made in open court.
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Rule: includes regulation. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
(2) A court of common pleas or municipal court may order that a proceeding arising from a complaint filed under sections 323.25 to 323.28 or Chapter 5721 of the Revised Code be transferred to a county board of revision if the court determines that the real property that is the subject of the complaint is abandoned land, provided that the appropriate board of revision has adopted a resolution under section 323.66 of the Revised Code to adjudicate cases as provided under sections 323.65 to 323.79 of the Revised Code. There is a rebuttable presumption that a parcel of land is unoccupied if any of the factors described in division (F)(2) of section 323.65 of the Revised Code apply to the parcel. The court may order a transfer under this division upon the motion of the record owner of the parcel or the county prosecuting attorney, representing the county treasurer, or upon its own motion.
(B) On or before the twenty-eighth day after the journalization of an order of transfer issued pursuant to division (A) of this section, the county prosecuting attorney shall file a copy of the journalized order of transfer and a notice of transfer and dismissal with the clerk of court and with the court or board to which the case was transferred. In any action transferred to a county board of revision, the prosecuting attorney shall serve the notice of transfer upon all parties to the action except any party that previously failed to answer, plea, or appear in the proceeding as required in Civil Rule 12. In any action transferred to a court, the prosecuting attorney shall serve the notice of transfer upon all parties to the action except those parties deemed to be in default under division (D) of section 323.69 of the Revised Code.
(C) Upon journalization of the order of transfer, the clerk of court shall proceed as if the transferred complaint had been filed with the court or board to which the proceeding was transferred, except that the clerk is not required to perfect a notice of summons and complaint to any party that had already been served such notice. When the prosecuting attorney files the notice of transfer as prescribed in division (B) of this section, the clerk shall stamp or otherwise indicate on the notice a new case number for the proceeding. The clerk shall assign the entire case file to the court or board to which the proceeding was transferred, including any preliminary or final reports, documents, or other evidence made available to the transferring court or board. All such reports, documents, and other evidence shall be received by the court or board to which the proceeding was transferred as competent evidence for the purposes of adjudicating the proceeding. That court or board shall accept all such reports, documents, and evidence in the case file unless otherwise required by law or unless the court or board determines that doing so would not be in the interests of justice.
The court or board to which the proceeding is transferred shall serve notice of the summons and the complaint as required in Civil Rule 4 or section 323.69 of the Revised Code, as applicable, upon any parties not yet served such notice in the proceeding.
(D) If a county prosecuting attorney does not file a notice of transfer as required under division (B) of this section on or before the twenty-eighth day after the journalization of an order of transfer issued under division (A) of this section, or upon the motion of the prosecuting attorney, court, or board before that date, the complaint that is the subject of the order of transfer shall be deemed to have been dismissed without prejudice by both the court and the board of revision.
(E) Upon the journalization of an order of transfer issued under division (A) of this section, the case shall be deemed to have been dismissed without prejudice by the transferring court or board.