As Reported by the House State Government and Elections Committee

129th General Assembly
Regular Session
2011-2012
H. B. No. 29


Representative Mecklenborg 

Cosponsors: Representatives Combs, Blessing, Gardner, Huffman, Dovilla, Grossman, Young, Buchy, Hite, Adams, J., Stinziano, Gerberry, Patmon 



A BILL
To amend section 1901.07 of the Revised Code to 1
increase the number of signatures required on, and 2
to revise the process for filing, a nominating 3
petition for election as a judge of the Hamilton 4
County Municipal Court and to declare an 5
emergency.6


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

       Section 1. That section 1901.07 of the Revised Code be 7
amended to read as follows:8

       Sec. 1901.07.  (A) All municipal court judges shall be 9
elected on the nonpartisan ballot for terms of six years. In a 10
municipal court in which only one judge is to be elected in any 11
one year, that judge's term commences on the first day of January 12
after the election. In a municipal court in which two or more 13
judges are to be elected in any one year, their terms commence on 14
successive days beginning the first day of January, following the 15
election, unless otherwise provided by section 1901.08 of the 16
Revised Code.17

       (B) All candidates for municipal court judge may be nominated 18
either by nominating petition or by primary election, except that 19
if the jurisdiction of a municipal court extends only to the 20
corporate limits of the municipal corporation in which the court 21
is located and that municipal corporation operates under a 22
charter, all candidates shall be nominated in the same manner 23
provided in the charter for the office of municipal court judge 24
or, if no specific provisions are made in the charter for the 25
office of municipal court judge, in the same manner as the charter 26
prescribes for the nomination and election of the legislative 27
authority of the municipal corporation.28

        If the jurisdiction of a municipal court extends beyond the 29
corporate limits of the municipal corporation in which it is 30
located or if the jurisdiction of the court does not extend beyond 31
the corporate limits of the municipal corporation in which it is 32
located and no charter provisions apply, all candidates for party 33
nomination to the office of municipal court judge shall file a 34
declaration of candidacy and petition not later than four p.m. of 35
the ninetieth day before the day of the primary election in the 36
form prescribed by section 3513.07 of the Revised Code. The 37
petition shall conform to the requirements provided for those 38
petitions of candidacy contained in section 3513.05 of the Revised 39
Code, except that the petition shall be signed by at least fifty 40
electors of the territory of the court. If no valid declaration of 41
candidacy is filed for nomination as a candidate of a political 42
party for election to the office of municipal court judge, or if 43
the number of persons filing the declarations of candidacy for 44
nominations as candidates of one political party for election to 45
the office does not exceed the number of candidates that that 46
party is entitled to nominate as its candidates for election to 47
the office, no primary election shall be held for the purpose of 48
nominating candidates of that party for election to the office, 49
and the candidates shall be issued certificates of nomination in 50
the manner set forth in section 3513.02 of the Revised Code.51

       If the jurisdiction of a municipal court extends beyond the 52
corporate limits of the municipal corporation in which it is 53
located or if the jurisdiction of the court does not extend beyond 54
the corporate limits of the municipal corporation in which it is 55
located and no charter provisions apply, nonpartisan candidates 56
for the office of municipal court judge shall file nominating 57
petitions not later than four p.m. of the day before the day of 58
the primary election in the form prescribed by section 3513.261 of 59
the Revised Code. The petition shall conform to the requirements 60
provided for those petitions of candidacy contained in section 61
3513.257 of the Revised Code, except that the petition shall be 62
signed by at least fifty electors of the territory of the court.63

       The nominating petition or declaration of candidacy for a 64
municipal court judge shall contain a designation of the term for 65
which the candidate seeks election. At the following regular 66
municipal election, the candidacies of the judges nominated shall 67
be submitted to the electors of the territory on a nonpartisan, 68
judicial ballot in the same manner as provided for judges of the 69
court of common pleas, except that, in a municipal corporation 70
operating under a charter, all candidates for municipal court 71
judge shall be elected in conformity with the charter if 72
provisions are made in the charter for the election of municipal 73
court judges.74

       (C) Notwithstanding divisions (A) and (B) of this section, in 75
the following municipal courts, the judges shall be nominated and 76
elected as follows:77

       (1) In the Cleveland municipal court, the judges shall be 78
nominated only by petition. The petition shall be signed by at 79
least fifty electors of the territory of the court. It shall be in 80
the statutory form and shall be filed in the manner and within the 81
time prescribed by the charter of the city of Cleveland for filing 82
petitions of candidates for municipal offices. Each elector shall 83
have the right to sign petitions for as many candidates as are to 84
be elected, but no more. The judges shall be elected by the 85
electors of the territory of the court in the manner provided by 86
law for the election of judges of the court of common pleas.87

       (2) In the Toledo municipal court, the judges shall be 88
nominated only by petition. The petition shall be signed by at 89
least fifty electors of the territory of the court. It shall be in 90
the statutory form and shall be filed in the manner and within the 91
time prescribed by the charter of the city of Toledo for filing 92
nominating petitions for city council. Each elector shall have the 93
right to sign petitions for as many candidates as are to be 94
elected, but no more. The judges shall be elected by the electors 95
of the territory of the court in the manner provided by law for 96
the election of judges of the court of common pleas.97

       (3) In the Akron municipal court, the judges shall be 98
nominated only by petition. The petition shall be signed by at 99
least fifty electors of the territory of the court. It shall be in 100
statutory form and shall be filed in the manner and within the 101
time prescribed by the charter of the city of Akron for filing 102
nominating petitions of candidates for municipal offices. Each 103
elector shall have the right to sign petitions for as many 104
candidates as are to be elected, but no more. The judges shall be 105
elected by the electors of the territory of the court in the 106
manner provided by law for the election of judges of the court of 107
common pleas.108

       (4) In the Hamilton county municipal court, the judges shall 109
be nominated only by petition. The petition shall be signed by at 110
least fiftyone hundred electors of the territory of the court111
judicial district of the county from which the candidate seeks 112
election, which petitions shall be signed, verified, and filed in 113
the manner and within the time required by law for nominating 114
petitions for members of council of the city of Cincinnatinot 115
later than four p.m. of the day before the day of the primary 116
election in the form prescribed by section 3513.261 of the Revised 117
Code. Unless otherwise provided in this section, the petition 118
shall conform to the requirements provided for nominating 119
petitions in section 3513.257 of the Revised Code. The judges 120
shall be elected by the electors of the territory of the court121
relative judicial district of the county at the regular municipal 122
election and in the manner provided by law for the election of 123
judges of the court of common pleas.124

       (5) In the Franklin county municipal court, the judges shall 125
be nominated only by petition. The petition shall be signed by at 126
least fifty electors of the territory of the court. The petition 127
shall be in the statutory form and shall be filed in the manner 128
and within the time prescribed by the charter of the city of 129
Columbus for filing petitions of candidates for municipal offices. 130
The judges shall be elected by the electors of the territory of 131
the court in the manner provided by law for the election of judges 132
of the court of common pleas.133

       (6) In the Auglaize, Brown, Carroll, Clermont, Crawford, 134
Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence, Madison, Miami, Morrow, Putnam, and 135
Wayne county municipal courts, the judges shall be nominated only 136
by petition. The petitions shall be signed by at least fifty 137
electors of the territory of the court and shall conform to the 138
provisions of this section.139

       (D) In the Portage county municipal court, the judges shall 140
be nominated either by nominating petition or by primary election, 141
as provided in division (B) of this section.142

       (E) As used in this section, as to an election for either a 143
full or an unexpired term, "the territory within the jurisdiction 144
of the court" means that territory as it will be on the first day 145
of January after the election.146

       Section 2. That existing section 1901.07 of the Revised Code 147
is hereby repealed.148

       Section 3. This act is declared to be an emergency measure 149
necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, 150
health, and safety. The reason for the emergency is the 151
abbreviated time candidates for judge of the Hamilton County 152
Municipal Court will have to file nominating petitions prior to 153
May 3, 2011. Therefore this act goes into immediate effect.154