Supreme Court of Ohio

Ohio Supreme Court
Seal of the Supreme Court of Ohio
Established	1841
Country	Ohio , 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
Number of positions	7
Website	Official Website
Chief Justice
Currently	Maureen O'Connor
Since	2003 (Associate Justice) 2011 (Chief Justice)
Lead position ends	2017
Jurist term ends	2017

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. 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.

Justice (party)	Born	Date service began	Term ends	Mandatory retirement
Maureen O'Connor (R) (Chief Justice)	1951	Associate Justice-January 1, 2003 Chief Justice-January 1, 2011	December 31, 2016	2021
Paul E. Pfeifer (R)	1942	January 2, 1993	January 1, 2017	2012*
Terrence O'Donnell (R)	1946	May 19, 2003	December 31, 2018	2016*
Judith Ann Lanzinger (R)	1946	January 1, 2005	December 31, 2016	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
William M. O'Neill (D)	1947	January 2, 2013	January 1, 2019	2017*

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 three instances where the female justice have outnumbered the male justices. The first occurred from January to May 2003. The second time this occurred in 2005 and 2006. The third time was beginning in January 2011 and remains the case under the current configuration of the court even though there have been several changes in justices since 2011.

Important cases

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

In Mapp v. Ohio (1961) found that evidence seized unlawfully without a search warrant can't be used in criminal prosecutions.

Compensation

Name	Job description	Wages	Overtime	Year
Maureen O'Connor	Chief Justice	$157,585	$0.00	2012
Paul E. Pfeifer	Judge	$148,335	$0.00	2012
Terrence O'Donnell	Judge	$148,335	$0.00	2012
Judith L. French	Judge	$141,600^[2]	$0.00	2013
William O'Neill	Judge	$141,600^[2]	$0.00	2013
Judith A. Lanzinger	Judge	$148,335	$0.00	2012
Sharon L. Kennedy	Judge	$141,600^[2]	$0.00	2013

The data contained in the table comes from the website of the Buckeye Institute.^[3] Salaries are paid by the Ohio Treasurer.

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. Currently Scott Drexel is Disciplinary Counsel and his office investigates grievances.

References

↑ Ohio Revised Code § 2503.01
1 2 3 First year of service. Statutory salary $141,600 plus COLA since 2008
↑ "State Salary". Buckeye Institute. Retrieved 1 July 2015.

External links

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

Current elected statewide political officials of Ohio

U.S. Senators	Sherrod Brown Rob Portman

State government	John Kasich, Governor Mary Taylor, Lieutenant Governor Jon A. Husted, Secretary of State Mike DeWine, Attorney General Dave Yost, State Auditor Josh Mandel, Treasurer

Senate	Keith Faber, President Larry Obhof, President pro tempore Tom Patton, Majority Leader Joe Schiavoni, Minority Leader

House	Cliff Rosenberger, Speaker Ron Amstutz, Speaker pro tempore Barbara Sears, Majority Leader Fred Strahorn, Minority Leader

Supreme Court	Maureen O'Connor, Chief Justice Paul Pfeifer Terrence O'Donnell Judith Ann Lanzinger William O'Neill Sharon L. Kennedy Judith L. French

Highest judicial bodies in the United States

Federal court	Supreme Court of the United States 1st Cir. 2nd Cir. 3rd Cir. 4th Cir. 5th Cir. 6th Cir. 7th Cir. 8th Cir. 9th Cir. 10th Cir. 11th Cir. DC Cir. Fed. Cir. Armed Forces

State supreme courts	Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma (Civil) (Criminal) Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas (Civil) (Criminal) Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Territorial supreme courts	American Samoa District of Columbia Guam Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico United States Virgin Islands

Obsolete	Panama Canal Zone Philippine Islands

Complete list	Courts of the United States (Federal and state, all levels)

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