Ohio Mayor's Courts

Not to be confused with Ohio Municipal Courts.

Mayor's courts are state courts in Ohio created by some municipalities. Mayor's courts hear traffic cases, violations of city ordinances and other misdemeanors. The presiding officer is a magistrate (not a judge) appointed by the mayor, or even being the mayor, and paid by the city or village.

Mayor's courts are not considered trial courts or courts of record and are not subject to the supervision of the Ohio Supreme Court. Mayor's courts are not authorized to conduct jury trials. If a defendant is entitled to and desires a jury trial, then the case is transferred to the jurisdiction's trial court of limited jurisdiction (Municipal Court or County Court). Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 1905.23 provides that within 10 days, a defendant may appeal a decision to the Mayor's Court, and it will be transferred to the appropriate county or municipal court. ^[1]

There has been criticism of the courts. ^[2] The majority of revenue generated from fines and court costs go to the city or village, in contrast to fines and court costs levied by the municipal court or county court. The late Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court Thomas J. Moyer pointed out that the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled that there is an unconstitutional conflict of interest for a mayor to levy a fine paid into a budget that the mayor himself controls. ^[3]

History

Mayor's Courts were not created by the state's constitution or the Ohio Supreme Court. The exact timeline of creation is unclear, but Cincinnati created a Mayor's Court in 1819. The state legislature enacted Section 1905.05 on August 17, 2006. ^[4]

List of Mayor's Courts

The following is a list of mayor's courts and their caseloads as of 2022: ^[5]

Municipality	County	2020 Population	New Cases in 2022	New Cases per 100 Population
Aberdeen	Brown	1,515	653	43.1
Addyston	Hamilton	927	666	71.8
Albany	Athens	917	46	5.0
Amberley	Hamilton	3,840	908	23.6
Andover	Ashtabula	972	90	9.3
Antwerp	Paulding	1,676	40	2.4
Arlington Heights	Hamilton	817	276	33.8
Ashville	Pickaway	4,529	567	12.5
Athalia	Lawrence	279	150	53.8
Avon	Lorain	24,847	1,090	4.4
Baltimore	Fairfield	2,981	128	4.3
Barnesville	Belmont	4,008	156	3.9
Beachwood	Cuyahoga	14,040	1,598	11.4
Bellaire	Belmont	3,870	215	5.6
Bellville	Richland	1,963	529	26.9
Belmont	Belmont	414	40	9.7
Belpre	Washington	6,728	570	8.5
Bentleyville	Cuyahoga	897	175	19.5
Berkey	Lucas	275	301	109.5
Bethel	Clermont	2,620	1,301	49.7
Bethesda	Belmont	1,211	176	14.5
Beverly	Washington	1,233	91	7.4
Bexley	Franklin	13,928	252	1.8
Bloomville	Seneca	867	36	4.2
Blue Ash	Hamilton	13,394	922	6.9
Boston Heights	Summit	1,402	1,164	83.0
Bradner	Wood	971	75	7.7
Bratenahl	Cuyahoga	1,430	1,190	83.2
Brecksville	Cuyahoga	13,635	1,087	8.0
Broadview Heights	Cuyahoga	19,936	1,357	6.8
Brook Park	Cuyahoga	18,595	2,842	15.3
Brooklyn	Cuyahoga	11,359	2,429	21.4
Brooklyn Heights	Cuyahoga	1,519	735	48.4
Brunswick	Medina	35,426	2,093	5.9
Buchtel	Athens	518	59	11.4
Buckeye Lake	Licking	2,520	206	8.2
Byesville	Guernsey	2,364	78	3.3
Camden	Preble	1,989	282	14.2
Canal Winchester	Franklin	9,107	686	7.5
Canfield	Mahoning	7,699	97	1.3
Cardington	Morrow	2,079	122	5.9
Carlisle	Warren	5,501	277	5.0
Carroll	Fairfield	501	11	2.2
Catawba	Clark	245	48	19.6
Chagrin Falls	Cuyahoga	4,188	179	4.3
Chesapeake	Lawrence	765	575	75.2
Cheviot	Hamilton	8,658	1,031	11.9
Coal Grove	Lawrence	1,889	1,360	72.0
Coalton	Jackson	445	67	15.1
Coldwater	Mercer	4,774	37	0.8
Columbiana	Columbiana	6,559	338	5.2
Columbus Grove	Putnam	2,160	40	1.9
Commercial Point	Pickaway	3,078	209	6.8
Corning	Perry	488	386	79.1
Crestline	Crawford	4,525	625	13.8
Creston	Wayne	2,139	259	12.1
Cridersville	Auglaize	1,791	39	2.2
Crooksville	Perry	2,418	51	2.1
Cuyahoga Falls	Summit	51,114	4,573	8.9
Cuyahoga Heights	Cuyahoga	573	189	33.0
Deer Park	Hamilton	5,432	216	4.0
Dillonvale	Jefferson	3,436	0	0.0
Donnelsville	Clark	255	390	152.9
Doylestown	Wayne	3,051	74	2.4
Dublin	Franklin	49,328	1,282	2.6
East Canton	Stark	1,521	264	17.4
Elida	Allen	1,923	79	4.1
Empire	Jefferson	232	212	91.4
Enon	Clark	2,449	80	3.3
Evendale	Hamilton	2,669	725	27.2
Fairfax	Hamilton	1,768	812	45.9
Fairlawn	Summit	7,710	614	8.0
Fairport Harbor	Lake	3,108	59	1.9
Fayetteville	Brown	317	299	94.3
Felicity	Clermont	651	83	12.7
Forest Park	Hamilton	20,189	833	4.1
Frazeysburg	Muskingum	1,354	139	10.3
Gahanna	Franklin	35,726	3,550	9.9
Gates Mills	Cuyahoga	2,264	720	31.8
Geneva-on-the-Lake	Ashtabula	916	78	8.5
Georgetown	Brown	4,453	570	12.8
Glendale	Hamilton	2,298	732	31.9
Glenwillow	Cuyahoga	994	360	36.2
Glouster	Athens	1,659	74	4.5
Golf Manor	Hamilton	3,814	482	12.6
Grafton	Lorain	5,895	103	1.7
Grand River	Lake	394	45	11.4
Grandview Heights	Franklin	8,085	445	5.5
Granville	Licking	5,946	788	13.3
Greenhills	Hamilton	3,741	449	12.0
Grove City	Franklin	41,252	5,496	13.3
Groveport	Franklin	6,009	300	5.0
Hamden	Vinton	727	113	15.5
Hamersville	Brown	485	916	188.9
Hanging Rock	Lawrence	204	1,193	584.8
Hanoverton	Columbiana	354	0	0.0
Harrison	Hamilton	12,563	1,231	9.8
Hartford	Licking	401	1	0.2
Hartville	Stark	3,329	431	12.9
Harveysburg	Warren	554	735	132.7
Haskins	Wood	1,245	44	3.5
Hicksville	Defiance	3,431	117	3.4
Higginsport	Brown	213	1,062	498.6
Highland Hills	Cuyahoga	662	712	107.6
Hilliard	Franklin	37,114	1,624	4.4
Hubbard	Trumbull	7,636	242	3.2
Independence	Cuyahoga	7,584	1,172	15.5
Indian Hill	Hamilton	6,065	544	9.0
Jackson Center	Shelby	1,441	95	6.6
Johnstown	Licking	5,182	490	9.5
Kelleys Island	Erie	256	45	17.6
Kirkersville	Licking	471	203	43.1
Lagrange	Lorain	2,595	20	0.8
Lexington	Richland	4,848	208	4.3
Lincoln Heights	Hamilton	3,144	316	10.1
Lockland	Hamilton	3,514	4,581	130.4
Loudonville	Ashland	2,786	178	6.4
Louisville	Stark	9,521	112	1.2
Loveland	Clermont	13,307	541	4.1
Lucas	Richland	589	29	4.9
Macedonia	Summit	12,168	1,702	14.0
Madeira	Hamilton	9,487	975	10.3
Madison	Lake	3,435	457	13.3
Malta	Morgan	559	1	0.2
Maple Heights	Cuyahoga	23,701	684	2.9
Mariemont	Hamilton	3,518	1,424	40.5
Marshallville	Wayne	789	89	11.3
Martins Ferry	Belmont	6,260	647	10.3
Matamoras	Washington	702	227	32.3
McArthur	Vinton	1,783	0	0.0
McConnelsville	Morgan	1,667	244	14.6
McDonald	Trumbull	3,172	110	3.5
Middleburg Heights	Cuyahoga	16,004	1,633	10.2
Middleport	Meigs	2,208	139	6.3
Midvale	Tuscarawas	673	16	2.4
Milan	Erie	1,371	86	6.3
Milford	Clermont	6,582	1,478	22.5
Minerva	Stark	3,684	221	6.0
Minerva Park	Franklin	2,009	213	10.6
Minster	Auglaize	3,046	46	1.5
Mogadore	Portage	3,811	250	6.6
Monroe	Butler	15,412	1,097	7.1
Montgomery	Hamilton	10,853	799	7.4
Moraine	Montgomery	6,393	1,857	29.0
Morrow	Warren	2,049	219	10.7
Mount Eaton	Wayne	171	150	87.7
Mount Gilead	Morrow	3,503	490	14.0
Mount Healthy	Hamilton	6,996	1,294	18.5
Mt. Orab	Brown	4,347	2,623	60.3
Munroe Falls	Summit	5,044	430	8.5
Nelsonville	Athens	4,612	492	10.7
New Albany	Franklin	10,825	1,187	11.0
New Boston	Scioto	2,297	410	17.8
New Bremen	Auglaize	3,034	151	5.0
New Carlisle	Clark	5,559	91	1.6
New Concord	Muskingum	2,361	300	12.7
New Holland	Pickaway	804	296	36.8
New Knoxville	Auglaize	946	7	0.7
New Middletown	Mahoning	1,507	211	14.0
New Richmond	Clermont	2,727	448	16.4
New Straitsville	Perry	652	44	6.7
New Vienna	Clinton	1,108	83	7.5
New Waterford	Columbiana	1,194	188	15.7
Newburgh Heights	Cuyahoga	1,862	1,560	83.8
Newcomerstown	Tuscarawas	3,702	241	6.5
Newtown	Hamilton	2,702	875	32.4
North Baltimore	Wood	3,369	37	1.1
North College Hill	Hamilton	9,663	1,350	14.0
North Hampton	Clark	457	1,065	233.0
North Kingsville	Ashtabula	2,742	660	24.1
North Olmsted	Cuyahoga	32,442	6,422	19.8
North Randall	Cuyahoga	960	1,049	109.3
North Ridgeville	Lorain	35,280	4,126	11.7
North Royalton	Cuyahoga	31,322	1,710	5.5
Northwood	Wood	5,160	1,617	31.3
Norwood	Hamilton	19,043	1,654	8.7
Oakwood	Cuyahoga	3,566	2,234	62.6
Obetz	Franklin	5,489	480	8.7
Olmsted Falls	Cuyahoga	8,582	581	6.8
Ontario	Richland	6,656	1,474	22.1
Orange	Cuyahoga	3,421	644	18.8
Owensville	Clermont	786	357	45.4
Parma Heights	Cuyahoga	20,863	2,418	11.6
Pataskala	Licking	17,886	647	3.6
Payne	Paulding	1,192	3	0.3
Peebles	Adams	1,774	261	14.7
Perrysville	Ashland	729	25	3.4
Pickerington	Fairfield	23,094	2,074	9.0
Piketon	Pike	2,111	2,347	111.2
Plymouth	Richland	1,707	135	7.9
Poland	Mahoning	2,463	1,408	57.2
Pomeroy	Meigs	1,573	189	12.0
Port Jefferson	Shelby	308	53	17.2
Powhatan Point	Belmont	1,461	80	5.5
Proctorville	Lawrence	523	515	98.5
Put-in-Bay	Ottawa	154	194	126.0
Racine	Meigs	683	4	0.6
Reading	Hamilton	10,600	4,605	43.4
Richfield	Summit	3,729	552	14.8
Rio Grande	Gallia	724	35	4.8
Ripley	Brown	1,591	498	31.3
Risingsun	Wood	541	218	40.3
Rockford	Mercer	1,051	61	5.8
Roseville	Muskingum	1,746	25	1.4
Russells Point	Logan	1,320	126	9.5
Russellville	Brown	542	719	132.7
Rutland	Meigs	427	226	52.9
Sardinia	Brown	1,083	195	18.0
Seaman	Adams	973	129	13.3
Senecaville	Guernsey	422	0	0.0
Seven Hills	Cuyahoga	11,720	902	7.7
Seven Mile	Butler	712	8	1.1
Shadyside	Belmont	3,454	131	3.8
Sharonville	Hamilton	14,117	1,572	11.1
Sheffield	Lorain	4,184	1,379	33.0
Sheffield Lake	Lorain	8,957	256	2.9
Shreve	Wayne	1,497	61	4.1
Silverton	Hamilton	4,908	84	1.7
Smithville	Wayne	1,338	82	6.1
Solon	Cuyahoga	24,262	709	2.9
South Amherst	Lorain	1,581	479	30.3
South Bloomfield	Pickaway	2,143	947	44.2
South Charleston	Clark	1,706	346	20.3
South Lebanon	Warren	6,384	223	3.5
South Point	Lawrence	3,836	1,021	26.6
Spencerville	Allen	2,198	1	0.0
Springboro	Warren	19,062	1,627	8.5
Springdale	Hamilton	11,007	1,438	13.1
St. Bernard	Hamilton	4,070	584	14.3
St. Clairsville	Belmont	5,096	91	1.8
St. Louisville	Licking	352	106	30.1
Strongsville	Cuyahoga	46,491	2,571	5.5
Sunbury	Delaware	6,614	306	4.6
Syracuse	Meigs	781	236	30.2
Terrace Park	Hamilton	2,355	403	17.1
Thornville	Perry	1,087	43	4.0
Tremont City	Clark	352	563	159.9
Trenton	Butler	13,021	1,029	7.9
Upper Arlington	Franklin	36,800	2,352	6.4
Utica	Licking	2,064	298	14.4
Valley View	Cuyahoga	1,897	801	42.2
Valleyview	Franklin	669	100	14.9
Walbridge	Wood	3,011	177	5.9
Walton Hills	Cuyahoga	2,033	973	47.9
Washingtonville	Columbiana	712	268	37.6
Waverly	Pike	4,153	884	21.3
Wayne	Wood	841	11	1.3
Waynesburg	Stark	925	326	35.2
Waynesfield	Auglaize	749	154	20.6
Waynesville	Warren	2,669	780	29.2
West Carrollton	Montgomery	13,129	510	3.9
West Salem	Wayne	1,430	90	6.3
West Union	Adams	3,004	201	6.7
Westerville	Franklin	39,190	1,878	4.8
Westfield Center	Medina	1,184	3	0.3
Whitehall	Franklin	20,127	2,985	14.8
Williamsburg	Clermont	2,570	432	16.8
Willoughby Hills	Lake	10,019	2,823	28.2
Winchester	Adams	987	194	19.7
Wintersville	Jefferson	3,765	451	12.0
Woodlawn	Hamilton	3,916	1,845	47.1
Woodmere	Cuyahoga	641	657	102.5
Woodsfield	Monroe	2,210	27	1.2
Worthington	Franklin	14,786	722	4.9
Wyoming	Hamilton	8,756	1,005	11.5
Yellow Springs	Greene	3,697	41	1.1
Total		1,566,884	180,653	11.5

References

1. "Appealing a Mayor's Court Decision" . Retrieved August 4, 2025.
2. "Ohio's mayor's courts, big business". The Columbus Dispatch. July 22, 2012. Archived from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
3. Small Ohio Towns Use Mayor's Court for Big Revenue
4. "Section 1905.05, Mayor's court magistrate". April 9, 2025. Retrieved August 4, 2025.
5. "Mayor's Courts Registration and Reporting » Supreme Court of Ohio". www.supremecourt.ohio.gov. Retrieved April 20, 2024.

External links

• "Murky Future In Store For Ohio Mayor's Courts", Hudsonhubtimes.com, 11-14-2007.
• The Guide to Ohio Courts last retrieved June 10, 2009.
• The Supreme Court of Ohio: Mayor’s Courts Summary 2019
• Nemann, Adam Lee. "What are Mayor's Courts, and how can I defend myself when I am ordered to appear in Mayor's Court?" . Retrieved February 21, 2025.