Ohio Court Records

Online Resources

 * Black Sheep Ancestors Ohio
 * 1810-1930 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images

Records
Court records include record books, dockets, bonds, journals, petitions, minutes, final records, case files, and so forth. They contain many primary source materials that are useful for genealogical research. The FamilySearch Library has many Ohio court records. Additional records are available at county courthouses, the Ohio Historical Society, and the National Archives at Chicago. Major courts that kept records of genealogical value were established as follows:

1787-present: Courts of common pleas have districtwide jurisdiction over felonies, marriages, major civil cases, juvenile matters, probates until 1852, naturalization's until 1860 and after 1906, chancery matters until 1900, and divorces until 1894. The FamilySearch Library has copies of some of the common pleas records, such as Cuyahoga County journals for 1823 to 1852.

1787-present: Supreme Court is a statewide appellate court. It originally had jurisdiction over common law and chancery matters. 1787-1802, 1852-present: Probate court has handled guardianship, general probate, land sales, a few divorces, and naturalizations. 1800s-present: County, municipal, mayor, justice of the peace, and police courts have kept records with some genealogical value. 1851-1883:District courts have county-wide jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases, including chancery and divorces. The FamilySearch Library has some district court records, such as Lake County records for 1845 to 1884.

1883-1912:Circuit courts have county-wide jurisdiction over civil and criminal records, including equity and divorce. They have been replaced by courts of appeal. The FamilySearch Library has some circuit court records.

There is often an overlapping of jurisdiction since newer courts have been established. Therefore all court records should be checked for those periods.


 * For more information about court records and procedures

A History of the Courts and Lawyers of Ohio" 


 * Court records are listed in the Place Search in The FamilySearch Catalog under:


 * OHIO - COURT RECORDS
 * OHIO, [COUNTY] - COURT RECORDS
 * OHIO, [COUNTY], [CITY] - COURT RECORDS

Common Pleas Court
Ohio: The trial court of general criminal and civil jurisdiction, located in each of Ohio's counties. Judges are elected at large.Court of Common Pleas


 * Anita Short and Ruth Bowers, Preble County, Preble County, Ohio Common Pleas Court Records, 1810-1850  (1970)Land disputes, guardianship's, petitions for divorce, estate records, pension claims, declarations of intent for citizenship, and lists of Preble County justices of the peace involving over 3000 individuals. The abstracts are all indexed.

Probate Court
The Ohio Constitution of 1851 provided for the formation of a probate court in each Ohio county. Marriage records previously kept by the Common Pleas Court were transferred to this court beginning in 1852. All probate functions, such as the proving and recording of wills, the appointment of administrators, executors and guardians, the appraisment and inventories of estates, bonds and the settling of accounts all came under the jurisdiction of the Probate Court. Some other records of genealogical value found in this court include birth and death registers (1867-1909), Delayed Registration and Correction of Births from 1941 forward, various forms of naturalization records (to 1906) and Mothers' Pensions from 1914 to ca. 1930's. The Probate Court also presided over matters regarding incompetancies, lunacy, insanity, adoptions and juvenile delinquencies. These record types are generally regarded as not public records but can nevertheless be sometimes found in earlier court journal or minute books before such records were segregated and recorded into their own record books.

U.S. Circuit and District Courts RG, 21
Southern District Ohio, all divisions — How to retrieve records from the court that have been sent to National Archives at Chicago and the schedule for records transfer.

The following archived information is available at the Chicago National Archives center.

Columbus (Eastern Division) Listings:
Civil Docket Books – 1913 – 1964

Criminal Docket Books 1894 – 1964

Petitions for citizenship 1917 – 1964

Military Petitions for Naturalization – 1894 – 1919

Equity Journal – 1925 – 1938

Bar Admission Book 1880 -1955

Declaration of Intention – 1894 – 1964

Dayton (Western Division) Listings:
Civil Docket Books – 1938 – 1956

Criminal Docket Books 1917 – 1969

Petitions for citizenship 1916 – 1951

Military Petitions for Naturalization – 1918 – 1919

Equity Journal – 1915 – 1938

Law Journal – 1915 – 1941

Declaration of Intention – 1916 – 1951

Cincinnati (Western Division) Listings:

 * Southern District of Ohio, Western Division (Cincinnati) finding aid

Online Court Records

 * 1810-1930 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images

Websites

 * Ohio Public Record Search
 * Ohio Divorce and Custody Records
 * Ohio Court Records Licking County
 * Ohio Sunshine Laws

FamilySearch Historical Record Collections

 * 1797-1940 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images
 * 1809-1917 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images
 * 1880-1950 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; images