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The Legislative Service Commission staff updates the Revised Code on an ongoing basis, as it completes its act review of enacted legislation. Updates may be slower during some times of the year, depending on the volume of enacted legislation.
 
 
 
Section
Section 1905.01 | Jurisdiction in ordinance cases and traffic violations.
 

(A) In Georgetown in Brown county, in Mount Gilead in Morrow county, in any municipal corporation located entirely on an island in Lake Erie, and in all other municipal corporations having a population of more than two hundred, other than Batavia in Clermont county, not being the site of a municipal court nor a place where a judge of the Auglaize county, Crawford county, Jackson county, Miami county, Montgomery county, Portage county, or Wayne county municipal court sits as required pursuant to section 1901.021 of the Revised Code or by designation of the judges pursuant to section 1901.021 of the Revised Code, the mayor of the municipal corporation has jurisdiction, except as provided in divisions (B), (C), and (E) of this section and subject to the limitation contained in section 1905.03 and the limitation contained in section 1905.031 of the Revised Code, to hear and determine any prosecution for the violation of an ordinance of the municipal corporation, to hear and determine any case involving a violation of a vehicle parking or standing ordinance of the municipal corporation unless the violation is required to be handled by a parking violations bureau or joint parking violations bureau pursuant to Chapter 4521. of the Revised Code, and to hear and determine all criminal causes involving any moving traffic violation occurring on a state highway located within the boundaries of the municipal corporation, subject to the limitations of sections 2937.08 and 2938.04 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) In Georgetown in Brown county, in Mount Gilead in Morrow county, in any municipal corporation located entirely on an island in Lake Erie, and in all other municipal corporations having a population of more than two hundred, other than Batavia in Clermont county, not being the site of a municipal court nor a place where a judge of a court listed in division (A) of this section sits as required pursuant to section 1901.021 of the Revised Code or by designation of the judges pursuant to section 1901.021 of the Revised Code, the mayor of the municipal corporation has jurisdiction, subject to the limitation contained in section 1905.03 of the Revised Code, to hear and determine prosecutions involving a violation of an ordinance of the municipal corporation relating to operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a combination of them or relating to operating a vehicle with a prohibited concentration of alcohol, a controlled substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance in the whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine, and to hear and determine criminal causes involving a violation of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code that occur on a state highway located within the boundaries of the municipal corporation, subject to the limitations of sections 2937.08 and 2938.04 of the Revised Code, only if the person charged with the violation, within ten years of the date of the violation charged, has not been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the following:

(a) A violation of an ordinance of any municipal corporation relating to operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a combination of them or relating to operating a vehicle with a prohibited concentration of alcohol, a controlled substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance in the whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine;

(b) A violation of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code;

(c) A violation of any ordinance of any municipal corporation or of any section of the Revised Code that regulates the operation of vehicles, streetcars, and trackless trolleys upon the highways or streets, to which all of the following apply:

(i) The person, in the case in which the conviction was obtained or the plea of guilty was entered, had been charged with a violation of an ordinance of a type described in division (B)(1)(a) of this section, or with a violation of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code;

(ii) The charge of the violation described in division (B)(1)(c)(i) of this section was dismissed or reduced;

(iii) The violation of which the person was convicted or to which the person pleaded guilty arose out of the same facts and circumstances and the same act as did the charge that was dismissed or reduced.

(d) A violation of a statute of the United States or of any other state or a municipal ordinance of a municipal corporation located in any other state that is substantially similar to section 4511.19 of the Revised Code.

(2) The mayor of a municipal corporation does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine any prosecution or criminal cause involving a violation described in division (B)(1)(a) or (b) of this section, regardless of where the violation occurred, if the person charged with the violation, within ten years of the violation charged, has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any violation listed in division (B)(1)(a), (b), (c), or (d) of this section.

If the mayor of a municipal corporation, in hearing a prosecution involving a violation of an ordinance of the municipal corporation the mayor serves relating to operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a combination of them or relating to operating a vehicle with a prohibited concentration of alcohol, a controlled substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance in the whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine, or in hearing a criminal cause involving a violation of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code, determines that the person charged, within ten years of the violation charged, has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any violation listed in division (B)(1)(a), (b), (c), or (d) of this section, the mayor immediately shall transfer the case to the county court or municipal court with jurisdiction over the violation charged, in accordance with section 1905.032 of the Revised Code.

(C)(1) In Georgetown in Brown county, in Mount Gilead in Morrow county, in any municipal corporation located entirely on an island in Lake Erie, and in all other municipal corporations having a population of more than two hundred, other than Batavia in Clermont county, not being the site of a municipal court and not being a place where a judge of a court listed in division (A) of this section sits as required pursuant to section 1901.021 of the Revised Code or by designation of the judges pursuant to section 1901.021 of the Revised Code, the mayor of the municipal corporation, subject to sections 1901.031, 2937.08, and 2938.04 of the Revised Code, has jurisdiction to hear and determine prosecutions involving a violation of a municipal ordinance that is substantially equivalent to division (A) of section 4510.14 or section 4510.16 of the Revised Code and to hear and determine criminal causes that involve a moving traffic violation, that involve a violation of division (A) of section 4510.14 or section 4510.16 of the Revised Code, and that occur on a state highway located within the boundaries of the municipal corporation only if all of the following apply regarding the violation and the person charged:

(a) Regarding a violation of section 4510.16 of the Revised Code or a violation of a municipal ordinance that is substantially equivalent to that division, the person charged with the violation, within six years of the date of the violation charged, has not been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the following:

(i) A violation of section 4510.16 of the Revised Code;

(ii) A violation of a municipal ordinance that is substantially equivalent to section 4510.16 of the Revised Code;

(iii) A violation of any municipal ordinance or section of the Revised Code that regulates the operation of vehicles, streetcars, and trackless trolleys upon the highways or streets, in a case in which, after a charge against the person of a violation of a type described in division (C)(1)(a)(i) or (ii) of this section was dismissed or reduced, the person is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation that arose out of the same facts and circumstances and the same act as did the charge that was dismissed or reduced.

(b) Regarding a violation of division (A) of section 4510.14 of the Revised Code or a violation of a municipal ordinance that is substantially equivalent to that division, the person charged with the violation, within six years of the date of the violation charged, has not been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any of the following:

(i) A violation of division (A) of section 4510.14 of the Revised Code;

(ii) A violation of a municipal ordinance that is substantially equivalent to division (A) of section 4510.14 of the Revised Code;

(iii) A violation of any municipal ordinance or section of the Revised Code that regulates the operation of vehicles, streetcars, and trackless trolleys upon the highways or streets in a case in which, after a charge against the person of a violation of a type described in division (C)(1)(b)(i) or (ii) of this section was dismissed or reduced, the person is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation that arose out of the same facts and circumstances and the same act as did the charge that was dismissed or reduced.

(2) The mayor of a municipal corporation does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine any prosecution or criminal cause involving a violation described in division (C)(1)(a)(i) or (ii) of this section if the person charged with the violation, within six years of the violation charged, has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any violation listed in division (C)(1)(a)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this section and does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine any prosecution or criminal cause involving a violation described in division (C)(1)(b)(i) or (ii) of this section if the person charged with the violation, within six years of the violation charged, has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to any violation listed in division (C)(1)(b)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this section.

(3) If the mayor of a municipal corporation, in hearing a prosecution involving a violation of an ordinance of the municipal corporation the mayor serves that is substantially equivalent to division (A) of section 4510.14 or section 4510.16 of the Revised Code or a violation of division (A) of section 4510.14 or section 4510.16 of the Revised Code, determines that, under division (C)(2) of this section, mayors do not have jurisdiction of the prosecution, the mayor immediately shall transfer the case to the county court or municipal court with jurisdiction over the violation in accordance with section 1905.032 of the Revised Code.

(D) If the mayor of a municipal corporation has jurisdiction pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section to hear and determine a prosecution or criminal cause involving a violation described in division (B)(1)(a) or (b) of this section, the authority of the mayor to hear or determine the prosecution or cause is subject to the limitation contained in division (C) of section 1905.03 of the Revised Code. If the mayor of a municipal corporation has jurisdiction pursuant to division (A) or (C) of this section to hear and determine a prosecution or criminal cause involving a violation other than a violation described in division (B)(1)(a) or (b) of this section, the authority of the mayor to hear or determine the prosecution or cause is subject to the limitation contained in division (C) of section 1905.031 of the Revised Code.

(E)(1) The mayor of a municipal corporation does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine any prosecution or criminal cause involving any of the following:

(a) A violation of section 2919.25 or 2919.27 of the Revised Code;

(b) A violation of section 2903.11, 2903.12, 2903.13, 2903.211, or 2911.211 of the Revised Code that involves a person who was a family or household member of the defendant at the time of the violation;

(c) A violation of a municipal ordinance that is substantially equivalent to an offense described in division (E)(1)(a) or (b) of this section and that involves a person who was a family or household member of the defendant at the time of the violation.

(2) The mayor of a municipal corporation does not have jurisdiction to hear and determine a motion filed pursuant to section 2919.26 of the Revised Code or filed pursuant to a municipal ordinance that is substantially equivalent to that section or to issue a protection order pursuant to that section or a substantially equivalent municipal ordinance.

(3) As used in this section, "family or household member" has the same meaning as in section 2919.25 of the Revised Code.

(F) In keeping a docket and files, the mayor, and a mayor's court magistrate appointed under section 1905.05 of the Revised Code, shall be governed by the laws pertaining to county courts.

Section 1905.02 | Application of county court provisions.
 

The provisions of Chapter 1907. of the Revised Code, insofar as they are relevant, apply in proceedings in a mayor's court, if the municipal corporation in which the mayor's court is located is within the jurisdiction of a county court.

Section 1905.03 | Rules prescribing educational standards for mayor wishing to exercise OVI jurisdiction -continuing education.
 

(A) The supreme court may adopt rules prescribing educational standards for mayors of municipal corporations who conduct a mayor's court and who wish to exercise the jurisdiction granted by section 1905.01 of the Revised Code over a prosecution or criminal cause involving a violation of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code or a municipal OVI ordinance as defined in section 4511.181 of the Revised Code. Any educational standards prescribed by rule under authority of this division shall be for the purpose of assisting mayors of municipal corporations who conduct a mayor's court and who wish to exercise the jurisdiction granted by section 1905.01 of the Revised Code over such a prosecution or cause in the handling of such a prosecution or cause, and shall include, but shall not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) Provisions for basic training in the general principles of law that apply to the hearing and determination of such prosecutions and causes and provisions for periodic continuing education in those general principles;

(2) Provisions for basic training in the laws of this state that apply relative to persons who are convicted of or plead guilty to any such violation, particularly as those laws apply relative to a person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to any such violation in a prosecution or cause that is within the jurisdiction of a mayor's court as specified in section 1905.01 of the Revised Code, and provisions for periodic continuing education in those laws;

(3) Provisions specifying whether periodic continuing education for a mayor who conducts a mayor's court, who wishes to exercise the jurisdiction granted by section 1905.01 of the Revised Code over such a prosecution or cause, and who has received basic training in the principles and laws described in divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section will be required on an annual or biennial basis;

(4) Provisions specifying the number of hours of basic training that a mayor who conducts a mayor's court and who wishes to exercise the jurisdiction granted by section 1905.01 of the Revised Code over such a prosecution or cause will have to obtain to comply with the educational standards and provisions specifying the number of hours of periodic continuing education that such a mayor will have to obtain within each time period specified under authority of division (A)(3) of this section to comply with the educational standards;

(5) Provisions establishing an exemption, for a reasonable period of time, from the basic training requirements for mayors who initially take office on or after July 1, 1991, and who wish to conduct a mayor's court and exercise the jurisdiction granted by section 1905.01 of the Revised Code over such a prosecution or cause.

(B) If the supreme court adopts rules under authority of division (A) of this section prescribing educational standards for mayors of municipal corporations who conduct a mayor's court and who wish to exercise the jurisdiction granted by section 1905.01 of the Revised Code over a prosecution or criminal cause involving a violation described in division (A) of this section, the court may formulate a basic training course and a periodic continuing education course that such a mayor may complete to satisfy those educational standards, and may offer or provide for the offering of the basic training course and the periodic continuing education course to mayors of municipal corporations.

If the supreme court offers or provides for the offering of a basic training course and a periodic continuing education course formulated under this division, the court may prescribe a reasonable fee to cover the cost associated with formulating, offering, and teaching the particular course, which fee would have to be paid by each mayor who attends the particular course or the municipal corporation served by the mayor.

If the supreme court offers or provides for the offering of a basic training course and a periodic continuing education course formulated under this division, the court or other entity that offers either course shall issue to each mayor who successfully completes the particular course a certificate attesting to the mayor's satisfactory completion of the particular course.

(C) Notwithstanding section 1905.01 of the Revised Code, if the supreme court adopts rules under authority of division (A) of this section, if the supreme court formulates a basic training course and a periodic continuing education course under division (B) of this section, and if the supreme court offers or provides for the offering of the basic training course and the periodic continuing education course to mayors, a mayor shall not hear or determine, on or after July 1, 1991, any prosecution or criminal cause involving a violation described in division (A) of this section unless the exemption under the provisions described in division (A)(5) of this section applies to the mayor, or unless, prior to hearing the prosecution or criminal cause, the mayor successfully has completed the basic training course offered or provided for by the supreme court and has been issued a certificate attesting to satisfactory completion of the basic training course and also successfully has completed any periodic continuing education course offered or provided for by the supreme court that is applicable to the mayor under the rules and has been issued a certificate attesting to satisfactory completion of the periodic continuing education course.

This division does not affect and shall not be construed as affecting the authority of a mayor to appoint a mayor's court magistrate under section 1905.05 of the Revised Code. If a mayor is prohibited from hearing or determining a prosecution or criminal cause involving a violation described in division (A) of this section due to the operation of this division, the prohibition against the mayor hearing or determining the prosecution or cause does not affect and shall not be construed as affecting the jurisdiction or authority of a mayor's court magistrate appointed under that section to hear and determine the prosecution or cause in accordance with that section.

Section 1905.031 | Rules prescribing educational standards and procedural and operational standards for mayors.
 

(A) The supreme court may adopt rules prescribing educational standards and procedural and operational standards for mayors of municipal corporations who conduct a mayor's court and who wish to exercise the jurisdiction granted by section 1905.01 of the Revised Code over a prosecution or criminal cause other than a prosecution or cause within the scope of the standards described in section 1905.03 of the Revised Code. Any educational standards and procedural and operational standards prescribed by rule under authority of this division shall be for the purpose of assisting mayors of municipal corporations who conduct a mayor's court, and shall include, but shall not be limited to, all of the following:

(1) Provisions for basic training in the general principles of law that apply to the hearing and determination of prosecutions and causes that are within the jurisdiction of a mayor's court as specified in section 1905.01 of the Revised Code, other than prosecutions and causes that are within the scope of the standards described in section 1905.03 of the Revised Code, provisions for basic training in the procedural and operational standards prescribed by the court under this division, and provisions for periodic continuing education in those general principles and in those procedural and operational standards;

(2) Provisions for basic training in the laws of this state that apply relative to persons who are convicted of or plead guilty to any violation of a statute or ordinance, particularly as those laws apply relative to a person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to any such violation in a prosecution or cause that is within the jurisdiction of a mayor's court as specified in section 1905.01 of the Revised Code, other than prosecutions and causes that are within the scope of the standards described in section 1905.03 of the Revised Code, and provisions for periodic continuing education in those laws;

(3) Provisions specifying whether periodic continuing education for a mayor who conducts a mayor's court, who wishes to exercise the jurisdiction granted by section 1905.01 of the Revised Code over a prosecution or cause, and who has received basic training in the principles and laws described in divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this section will be required on an annual or biennial basis;

(4) Provisions specifying the number of hours of basic training that a mayor who conducts a mayor's court and who wishes to exercise the jurisdiction granted by section 1905.01 of the Revised Code over a prosecution or cause, other than a prosecution or cause that is within the scope of the standards described in section 1905.03 of the Revised Code, will have to obtain to comply with the educational standards and provisions specifying the number of hours of periodic continuing education that such a mayor will have to obtain within each time period specified under authority of division (A)(3) of this section to comply with the educational standards;

(5) Provisions establishing an exemption, for a reasonable period of time, from the basic training requirements for mayors who initially take office on or after July 1, 1992, and who wish to conduct a mayor's court and exercise the jurisdiction granted by section 1905.01 of the Revised Code over a prosecution or cause other than a prosecution or cause within the scope of the standards described in section 1905.03 of the Revised Code;

(6) Provisions establishing procedural and operational standards for mayor's courts.

(B) If the supreme court adopts rules under authority of division (A) of this section prescribing educational standards and procedural and operational standards for mayors of municipal corporations who conduct a mayor's court and who wish to exercise the jurisdiction granted by section 1905.01 of the Revised Code over a prosecution or criminal cause, other than a prosecution or cause that is within the scope of the standards described in section 1905.03 of the Revised Code, the court may formulate a basic training course and a periodic continuing education course that such a mayor may complete to satisfy the basic training and periodic continuing education required relative to those standards, and may offer or provide for the offering of the basic training course and the periodic continuing education course to mayors of municipal corporations.

If the supreme court offers or provides for the offering of a basic training course and a periodic continuing education course formulated under this division, the court may prescribe a reasonable fee to cover the cost associated with formulating, offering, and teaching the particular course, which fee would have to be paid by each mayor who attends the particular course or the municipal corporation served by the mayor.

If the supreme court offers or provides for the offering of a basic training course and a periodic continuing education course formulated under this division, the court or other entity that offers either course shall issue to each mayor who successfully completes the particular course a certificate attesting to the mayor's satisfactory completion of the particular course.

(C) Notwithstanding section 1905.01 of the Revised Code, if the supreme court adopts rules under authority of division (A) of this section on or before July 1, 1991, if the supreme court formulates a basic training course and a periodic continuing education course under division (B) of this section, and if the supreme court offers or provides for the offering of the basic training course and the periodic continuing education course to mayors within a reasonable period of time after the adoption of the rules, a mayor shall not hear or determine, on or after July 1, 1992, any prosecution or criminal cause involving a violation described in division (A) of this section unless the exemption under the provisions described in division (A)(5) of this section applies to the mayor, or unless, prior to hearing the prosecution or criminal cause, the mayor has successfully completed the basic training course offered or provided for by the supreme court and has been issued a certificate attesting to satisfactory completion of the basic training course and also has successfully completed any periodic continuing education course offered or provided for by the supreme court that is applicable to the mayor under the rules and has been issued a certificate attesting to satisfactory completion of the periodic continuing education course.

This division does not affect and shall not be construed as affecting the authority of a mayor to appoint a mayor's court magistrate under section 1905.05 of the Revised Code. If a mayor is prohibited from hearing or determining a prosecution or criminal cause involving a violation described in division (A) of this section due to the operation of this division, the prohibition against the mayor hearing or determining the prosecution or cause does not affect and shall not be construed as affecting the jurisdiction or authority of a mayor's court magistrate appointed under that section to hear and determine the prosecution or cause in accordance with that section.

Section 1905.032 | Transfer of cases.
 

(A) If a person who is charged with a violation of a law or an ordinance is brought before a mayor's court and the violation charged is not within the jurisdiction of the court, as set forth in section 1905.01 of the Revised Code, the mayor promptly shall transfer the case to the municipal court, county court, or court of common pleas with jurisdiction over the alleged violation and shall require the person to enter into a recognizance to appear before that court.

If a person who is charged with a violation of a law or an ordinance is brought before a mayor's court and the violation charged is within the jurisdiction of the court, as set forth in section 1905.01 of the Revised Code, the mayor, at any time prior to the final disposition of the case, may transfer it to the municipal court, county court, or court of common pleas with concurrent jurisdiction over the alleged violation. If a mayor transfers a case under this provision, the mayor shall require the person charged to enter into a recognizance to appear before the court to which the case is transferred.

(B) Upon the transfer of a case by a mayor under division (A) of this section, all of the following apply:

(1) The mayor shall certify all papers filed in the case, together with a transcript of all proceedings, accrued costs to date, and the recognizance given, to the court to which the case is transferred.

(2) All further proceedings under the charge, complaint, information, or indictment in the transferred case shall be discontinued in the mayor's court and shall be conducted in the court to which the case is transferred, in accordance with the provisions governing proceedings in that court.

(3) If the case is transferred to a municipal court that has an environmental division and the case is within the jurisdiction of the environmental division, as set forth in division (A)(1) of section 1901.181 of the Revised Code, the case thereafter shall be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the environmental division of the municipal court to which it is transferred. In all other situations, the case thereafter shall be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the court to which it is transferred.

Section 1905.033 | Annual registration.
 

(A) The mayor of a municipal corporation who conducts a mayor's court shall register annually with the supreme court as provided in this division. The mayor shall file the registration on a form prescribed by the supreme court and not later than the fifteenth day of January in any year in which the mayor conducts a mayor's court or at least fifteen days before the mayor first conducts a mayor's court in a particular year, whichever is later. The registration shall include the name of the mayor, the name of any magistrate appointed by the mayor pursuant to section 1905.05 of the Revised Code, and the dates on which the mayor and magistrate last received the training required by section 1905.031 of the Revised Code.

(B) The mayor of any municipal corporation who conducts a mayor's court shall make the following reports:

(1) A report to the supreme court of all cases filed, pending, or terminated in the mayor's court in the reporting period covered by the report, and any financial, dispositional, and other information that the supreme court prescribes by rule. The mayor shall make the report under division (B)(1) of this section on a form prescribed by the supreme court and not later than the fifteenth day of January, April, July, and October of each year. The report shall cover all cases filed, pending, or terminated in the mayor's court for the calendar quarter preceding the appropriate filing date.

(2) A report to the bureau of criminal identification and investigation of every conviction in the mayor's court for an offense that is a misdemeanor on a first offense and a felony on any subsequent offense. The mayor shall make the report under division (B)(2) of this section upon entry of the judgment of conviction for the offense.

(C) A mayor of a municipal corporation who fails to comply with the general law on registering and reporting under this section shall not conduct a mayor's court.

Section 1905.04 | Clerk, deputy and mayor's court magistrate must be disinterested.
 

Neither the clerk of a mayor's court, nor his deputy, nor a mayor's court magistrate, shall be concerned as counsel or agent in the prosecution or defense of any case before the mayor's court.

Section 1905.05 | Mayor's court magistrate.
 

(A) A mayor of a municipal corporation that has a mayor's court may appoint a person as mayor's court magistrate to hear and determine prosecutions and criminal causes in the mayor's court that are within the jurisdiction of the mayor's court, as set forth in section 1905.01 of the Revised Code. No person shall be appointed as a mayor's court magistrate unless the person has been admitted to the practice of law in this state and, for a total of at least three years preceding the person's appointment or the commencement of the person's service as magistrate, has been engaged in the practice of law in this state or served as a judge of a court of record in any jurisdiction in the United States, or both.

A person appointed as a mayor's court magistrate under this division is entitled to hear and determine prosecutions and criminal causes in the mayor's court that are within the jurisdiction of the mayor's court, as set forth in section 1905.01 of the Revised Code. If a mayor is prohibited from hearing or determining a prosecution or cause that charges a person with a violation of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code or with a violation of a municipal OVI ordinance as defined in section 4511.181 of the Revised Code due to the operation of division (C) of section 1905.03 of the Revised Code, or is prohibited from hearing or determining any other prosecution or cause due to the operation of division (C) of section 1905.031 of the Revised Code, the prohibition against the mayor hearing or determining the prosecution or cause does not affect and shall not be construed as affecting the jurisdiction or authority of a person appointed as a mayor's court magistrate under this division to hear and determine the prosecution or cause in accordance with this section. In hearing and determining such prosecutions and causes, the magistrate has the same powers, duties, and authority as does a mayor who conducts a mayor's court to hear and determine prosecutions and causes in general, including, but not limited to, the power and authority to decide the prosecution or cause, enter judgment, and impose sentence; the powers, duties, and authority granted to mayors of mayor's courts by this chapter, in relation to the hearing and determination of prosecutions and causes in mayor's courts; and the powers, duties, and authority granted to mayors of mayor's courts by any other provision of the Revised Code, in relation to the hearing and determination of prosecutions and causes in mayor's courts. A judgment entered and a sentence imposed by a mayor's court magistrate do not have to be reviewed or approved by the mayor who appointed the magistrate, and have the same force and effect as if they had been entered or imposed by the mayor.

A person appointed as a mayor's court magistrate under this division is not entitled to hear or determine any prosecution or criminal cause other than prosecutions and causes that are within the jurisdiction of the mayor's court, as set forth in section 1905.01 of the Revised Code.

A municipal corporation that a mayor's court magistrate serves shall pay the compensation for the services of the magistrate, which shall be either a fixed annual salary set by the legislative authority of the municipal corporation or a fixed annual amount or fees for services rendered set under a contract the magistrate and the municipal corporation enter into.

(B) The appointment of a person as a mayor's court magistrate under division (A) of this section does not preclude the mayor that appointed the magistrate, subject to the limitation contained in section 1905.03 and the limitation contained in section 1905.031 of the Revised Code, from also hearing and determining prosecutions and criminal causes in the mayor's court that are within the jurisdiction of the mayor's court, as set forth in section 1905.01 of the Revised Code.

Section 1905.08 | Duties of police chief or village marshal.
 

The chief of police of the city or village or a police officer of the city or village designated by him, or the marshal of a village shall attend the sittings of the mayor's court to execute the orders and process of the court, and to preserve order in it. The chief of police, other police officer, or marshal shall execute and return all writs and process directed to him by the mayor. The jurisdiction of the chief of police, other police officer, or marshal in the execution of such writs and process is coextensive with the county in criminal cases and in cases of violations of ordinances of the municipal corporation. In serving such writs and process and taxing costs on them, the chief of police, other police officer, or marshal shall be governed by the laws pertaining to constables. The fees of the mayor are the same as those allowed in the municipal or county court within whose jurisdiction the municipal corporation is located. There shall be allowed and taxed for services of the chief of police, other police officer, or marshal, the same fees and expense as those allowed constables.

Section 1905.17 | Boundary line between villages adjoining each other.
 

When two villages adjoin each other on opposite sides of the line of any railroad, the boundary line between such villages, except where otherwise established by law is along the middle of the right of way of such railroad.

Section 1905.20 | Powers of mayors and magistrates in criminal matters.
 

(A) The mayor of a municipal corporation has, within the corporate limits, all the powers conferred upon sheriffs to suppress disorder and keep the peace.

(B) The mayor of a municipal corporation shall award and issue all writs and process that are necessary to enforce the administration of justice throughout the municipal corporation. The mayor shall subscribe his name and affix his official seal to all writs, process, transcripts, and other official papers. A mayor's court magistrate, in hearing and determining prosecutions and criminal causes that are within the scope of his authority under section 1905.05 of the Revised Code, has the same powers and duties as are granted to or imposed upon a mayor under this division.

(C) The mayor of a municipal corporation shall be disqualified in any criminal case in which he was the arresting officer, assisted in the arrest, or was present at the time of arrest, and shall not hear the case.

Section 1905.201 | License suspension in OVI cases.
 

The mayor of a municipal corporation that has a mayor's court, and a mayor's court magistrate, are entitled to suspend, and shall suspend, in accordance with sections 4510.02, 4510.07, and 4511.19 of the Revised Code, the driver's or commercial driver's license or permit or nonresident operating privilege of any person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of division (A) of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code, of a municipal ordinance relating to operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse, or a combination of them, or of a municipal ordinance relating to operating a vehicle with a prohibited concentration of alcohol, a controlled substance, or a metabolite of a controlled substance in the whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine that is substantially equivalent to division (A) of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code. The mayor of a municipal corporation that has a mayor's court, and a mayor's court magistrate, are entitled to suspend, and shall suspend, in accordance with sections 4510.02, 4510.07, and 4511.19 of the Revised Code, the driver's, or commercial driver's license or permit or nonresident operating privilege of any person who is convicted of or pleads guilty to a violation of division (B) of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code or of a municipal ordinance relating to operating a vehicle with a prohibited concentration of alcohol in the whole blood, blood serum or plasma, breath, or urine that is substantially equivalent to division (B) of section 4511.19 of the Revised Code.

Suspension of a commercial driver's license under this section shall be concurrent with any period of disqualification or suspension under section 3123.58 or 4506.16 of the Revised Code. No person who is disqualified for life from holding a commercial driver's license under section 4506.16 of the Revised Code shall be issued a driver's license under Chapter 4507. of the Revised Code during the period for which the commercial driver's license was suspended under this section, and no person whose commercial driver's license is suspended under this section shall be issued a driver's license under Chapter 4507. of the Revised Code during the period of the suspension.

Section 1905.202 | Alternative methods for collecting court costs; notice of balance due.
 

(A)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Revised Code, if at the time of sentencing or at any time after sentencing a mayor's court finds that a person who is found guilty of an offense is unable to pay costs, the court may order the offender to perform community service in lieu of costs.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Revised Code, if at the time of sentencing or at any time after sentencing a mayor's court finds that a person who is found guilty of an offense will not be able to pay costs in full when they are due, the court may order the offender to pay the costs in installments according to a schedule set by the court.

(B) If a person is charged with an offense in mayor's court and either fails to appear in court at the required time and place to answer the charge or pleads guilty to or is found guilty of the offense and fails within the time allowed by the court to pay any fine or costs imposed by the court, the court may enter information relative to the person's failure to pay any outstanding amount of the fine or costs on a form prescribed or approved by the registrar of motor vehicles pursuant to division (C) of this section and send the form to the registrar. Upon receipt of the form, the registrar shall take any measures necessary to ensure that neither the registrar nor any deputy registrar accepts any application for the registration or transfer of registration of any motor vehicle owned or leased by the person. However, for a motor vehicle leased by the person, the registrar shall not implement this requirement until the registrar adopts procedures for that implementation under section 4503.39 of the Revised Code.

The period of denial relating to the issuance or transfer of a certificate of registration for a motor vehicle imposed under this section remains in effect until the person pays any fine or costs imposed by the court relative to the offense. When the fine or costs have been paid in full, the court shall inform the registrar of the payment by entering information relative to the payment on a notice of payment form prescribed or approved by the registrar pursuant to division (C) of this section and sending the form to the registrar.

(C) The registrar shall prescribe and make available to mayor's courts forms to be used for a notice to the registrar of failure to pay fines or costs and a notice to the registrar of payment of fines or costs under division (B) of this section. The registrar may approve the use of other forms for these purposes.

The registrar may require that any of the forms prescribed or approved pursuant to this section be transmitted to the registrar electronically. If the registrar requires electronic transmission, the registrar shall not be required to give effect to any form that is not transmitted electronically.

Section 1905.21 | Docket - compensation - office - seal.
 

The mayor of a municipal corporation and a mayor's court magistrate shall keep a docket. Neither the mayor of a municipal corporation nor a mayor's court magistrate shall retain or receive for his own use any of the fines, forfeitures, fees, or costs he collects. A mayor's court magistrate shall account for all such fines, forfeitures, fees, and costs he collects and transfer them to the mayor. The mayor shall account for and dispose of all such fines, forfeitures, fees, and costs he collects, including all such fines, forfeitures, fees, and costs that are transferred to him by a mayor's court magistrate, as provided in section 733.40 of the Revised Code.

The mayor of a municipal corporation shall be paid such fixed annual salary as the legislative authority of the municipal corporation provides under sections 731.08 and 731.13 of the Revised Code, and a mayor's court magistrate shall receive compensation as provided in section 1905.05 of the Revised Code.

The mayor of a municipal corporation shall keep an office, provided by the legislative authority of the municipal corporation, at a convenient place in the municipal corporation, and shall be furnished by the legislative authority with the corporate seal of the municipal corporation. In the center of such seal shall be the words, "Mayor of the city of_____," or "Mayor of the village of___________________"

Section 1905.22 | Appeals.
 

Appeals from a mayor's court may be taken to the municipal court or county court having jurisdiction within the municipal corporation.

Section 1905.23 | Notice of appeal.
 

Within ten days from the time a mayor renders judgment, the appellant shall file with the mayor's court a written notice of appeal designating the order or judgment appealed from and the court to which the appeal is taken.

All further proceedings in the mayor's court shall be stayed from the time of filing the notice of appeal with the mayor's court.

Section 1905.24 | Certified transcript of proceedings.
 

Upon the filing of the notice of appeal, the clerk of the mayor's court shall make a certified transcript of the proceedings and deliver such transcript together with the original papers used on the trial, to the court to which the appeal is taken, within fifteen days from the rendition of the judgment appealed from.

Upon receipt of the transcript and the papers mentioned in this section, the clerk of the court to which the appeal is taken shall file them and docket the appeal.

Section 1905.25 | Appeal is trial de novo.
 

An appeal from the mayor's court to the municipal court or county court shall proceed as a trial de novo.

Section 1905.26 | Fees of witnesses.
 

In cases for the violation of ordinances, the fees of witnesses shall be paid, on the certificate of the officer presiding at the trial, from the treasury of the municipal corporation. Witnesses shall be paid the fees and mileage provided for under section 1901.26 of the Revised Code.

Section 1905.28 | Contempts - rules.
 

The mayor or mayor's court magistrate presiding at any trial under this chapter may punish contempts, compel the attendance of jurors and witnesses, and establish rules for the examination and trial of all cases brought before him, in the same manner as judges of county courts.

Section 1905.29 | Temporary use of municipal corporation prison.
 

The mayor of a municipal corporation, and in his absence, the president of the legislative authority of the municipal corporation, may grant to officials of adjoining or contiguous townships the temporary use of the municipal corporation prison, station house, or watchhouse to confine criminals or other persons dangerous to the peace of the community, until they can be safety removed to the county jail, or other place of security.

Section 1905.30 | Offender may be confined until fine paid.
 

When a fine is the whole or part of a sentence, the mayor's court may order the person sentenced to remain confined in the county jail, workhouse, or prison of the municipal corporation, until the fine is paid or secured to be paid, or the offender is legally discharged.

Section 1905.31 | Jurisdiction over railroad forming part of boundary line.
 

When the line of a railroad adjoins or forms a part of the boundary line of a municipal corporation, such municipal corporation has jurisdiction over the entire width of the right of way of the line of such railroad for the punishment of the violation of the ordinances of such municipal corporation.

Section 1905.32 | Fines and forfeitures recovered.
 

Fines, penalties, and forfeitures may, in all cases, and in addition to any other mode provided, be recovered by action before any judge of a county court, or other court of competent jurisdiction, in the name of the proper municipal corporation, and for its use. In any action in which a pleading is necessary, it is sufficient if the petition sets forth generally the amount claimed to be due in respect to the violation of the ordinance of the municipal corporation. Such petition shall refer to the title of such ordinance, state the date of its adoption or passage, and show, as near as is practicable, the true time of the alleged violation.

Section 1905.34 | Party committed in default of payment.
 

When a fine imposed for the violation of an ordinance of a municipal corporation is not paid, the party convicted may, by order of the mayor of the municipal corporation, or other proper authority, or on process issued for the purpose, be committed until such fine and the costs of prosecution are paid, or until the party convicted is legally discharged.

Section 1905.35 | Imprisonment.
 

Imprisonment under the ordinances of a municipal corporation shall be in the workhouse or other jail of the municipal corporation. Any municipal corporation not provided with a workhouse, or other jail, may, for the purpose of imprisonment, use the county jail, at the expense of the municipal corporation, until the municipal corporation is provided with a prison, house of correction, or workhouse. Persons so imprisoned in the county jail are under the charge of the sheriff. Such sheriff shall receive and hold such persons in the manner prescribed by the ordinances of the municipal corporation, until such persons are legally discharged.

Section 1905.36 | Use of county jail prohibited.
 

The board of county commissioners, at such board's discretion, on giving ninety days' written notice to the legislative authority of any municipal corporation, may prohibit the use of the county jail for the purpose authorized in section 1905.35 of the Revised Code.

Section 1905.37 | Limit of prohibition.
 

If, within ninety days after the notice mentioned in section 1905.36 of the Revised Code is given, the legislative authority of the municipal corporation provides by ordinance and the necessary contracts for the immediate erection of a prison, workhouse, or house of correction, the municipal corporation, notwithstanding the notice and prohibition provided for in such section, shall continue to have the use of the county jail for the purpose of imprisonment, until such prison, workhouse, or house of correction is erected and ready for use.

Section 1905.38 | Cancellation of uncollectible debts.
 

If at any time the court finds that an amount owing to the court is due and uncollectible, in whole or in part, the court may direct the clerk of the court to cancel all or part of the claim. The clerk shall then effect the cancellation.