NOTICE: This glossary of legal words and phrases is provided to help you better understand the legal terminology used in the court system. THIS GLOSSARY IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE ADVICE OF AN ATTORNEY.
THIS WEBSITE CANNOT GIVE YOU LEGAL ADVICE. YOU SHOULD NEVER RELY ON THESE VERY BASIC DEFINITIONS TO MAKE LEGAL DECISIONS. Please use this glossary to get a general understanding of your legal circumstance and have a better interaction with your attorney.
Judge—A public official authorized to exercise the power of the court and make all decisions and rulings in all cases. In Ohio, judges are elected and preside over both criminal and civil cases. All judges are attorneys with at least six years of experience.
Magistrate—An attorney appointed by a court to preside over certain trials and hearings, and make some of the decisions and rulings on cases before the court. Magistrates exercise the same judicial authority as judges to make rulings when presiding over cases. Judges retain the legal authority to make final rulings in cases. Both Judges and Magistrates should be addressed as “Your Honor” in trials or hearings.
Clerk of Courts—The elected official in charge of receiving, processing, maintaining, and safely storing the complete record of all documents filed in court cases. There are separate offices for the Clerk of Courts for Common Pleas Court, Domestic Relations, Juvenile, and Probate courts. A different Clerk of Courts handles such matters for a local Municipal Court.
Docket—The official record of all documents filed by the parties or generated by the court in a case. The Clerk of Courts creates and keeps the docket for all cases, criminal and civil.
Docket can also mean the daily schedule for court trials and hearings. A case that is set for a hearing or a trial is said to be “on the judge’s docket” for that day.
File—To deliver documents to a court for legal consideration by a judge or magistrate. A document is filed when it is physically delivered to the Clerk of Court in person, by mail, by delivery service, or in certain circumstances by fax. When a document is filed, it is stamped with the date and time of filing, noted on the court’s docket, stored as an electronic image, and placed in the permanent record of the case.
Serve—A copy of a document that is filed with the Clerk of Courts must also be provided to all other parties in the case by the person who files the original papers. A document must be served to be legally considered by a judge or magistrate. Service of a document must be done according to the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure; for instance by mailing it, physically delivering it, or using a delivery service. Service must be made on the attorneys who have appeared in a case on behalf of a party, or if a party is unrepresented, on the party themselves.
Serve also refers to what the Clerk of Courts does with documents to make sure that an individual or entity receives those papers, or gets notice of a court hearing or a court order. The Clerk can serve documents by regular mail, certified mail, through the Sheriff’s office, or by a designated person called a process server.
Moot—A matter or legal question that has already been resolved or has become a point of no further legal consequence because of something that has happened outside of court. Moot should not be confused with “mute”, which means to remain silent.