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Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Ohio

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Court

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas

Court information
Judges:	49
Location:	Cleveland, Ohio
Judicial selection
Method:	Nonpartisan election of judges
Term:	6 years

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The Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas is a trial Court of Common Pleas in Cleveland, Ohio.

Judges

Cuyahoga County Courthouse - houses the Domestic Relations and Probate Courts

General Division

Domestic Relations Division

Juvenile Division

Probate Division

Noteworthy events

A division of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas handled the arrests and pleas of Sierra Day and Deonte Lewis, who were arrested for the murder of Day's four-year-old daughter, Aniya Day-Garrett, in March 2018. Aniya Day-Garrett's father, Mickhal Garrett, had petitioned the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court for custody of Aniya in December 2017, alleging that Aniya had been abused while in the custody of her mother. Separately, Day had obtained a restraining order against Garrett in November 2017. The trial on Day's restraining order was scheduled for March 15, 2018. A hearing on Garrett's custody application had been held on February 26, 2018, after which a magistrate had ordered home visits for both parents and appointed a guardian ad litem. Cuyahoga County stated that it had investigated three reports of abuse against Aniya during 2017 but had not removed Aniya from Day's home.^[1]

External links

Elections

See also: Ohio judicial elections

Ohio is one of 43 states that hold elections for judicial positions. To learn more about judicial selection in Ohio, click here.

Selection method

See also: Nonpartisan election of judges

The 391 judges of the Ohio Courts of Common Pleas are all selected in an identical manner. Qualified individuals wishing to join the bench must participate in partisan primary elections followed by nonpartisan general elections.^[2]

The chief judges of the Ohio Courts of Common Pleas are chosen by peer vote and serve for one year.^[2]

Qualifications
To serve on an appellate or general jurisdiction court, a judge must be:^[2]

a district or county resident (for court of appeals and common pleas judges);
at least six years practiced in law; and
under the age of 70.

Under the Ohio Constitution, a judge who reaches 70 years of age may be assigned by the chief justice to active duty, receiving payment on a per-day basis in addition to whatever retirement benefits he or she is entitled to.

Election rules

Primary election

In Ohio, primary elections serve to nominate a candidate of a political party for election to an office. The winners of each party's primary go on to face each other in the general election. Primaries are held "on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in May of each year except in years in which a presidential primary election is held."^[3]