Guide to Representing Yourself on Appeal

What judgments may be appealed?

The Court of appeals has jurisdiction to review a final appealable order entered by a trial court or by certain administrative agencies. An order that decides the whole case, such as a judgment of conviction in a criminal case, is generally final and appealable. Some orders that decide only part of a case may be appealable, but that grant of jurisdiction involves substantive legal questions beyond the scope of this guide.

What is a stay?

Filing a notice of appeal does not stop the judgment appealed from going into effect. A stay is an order that puts the judgment appealed on hold until the Court of Appeals decides the appeal. These requests are governed by App.R. 7 and Loc.R 4.1 for civil cases and App.R. 8 and Loc.R. 4.2 for criminal cases.

A motion for a stay must ordinarily be filed first in the trial court. If the trial court denies the motion, then the motion may be filed in the Court of Appeals. App.R. 7 and 8; Loc.R. 4.1 and 4.2. Funds in the form of cash, property, bonds, or other appropriate security may be required to secure a stay.

See Form 7 for more information.

How is an appeal filed?

Within 30 days after a final appealable order is entered, the appellant must:

• file a notice of appeal and docket statement and pay the filing fee, unless waived
• order the record, including transcript of proceedings

After 30 days, an appellant may file a motion for leave to file a delayed appeal from a judgment in a criminal, delinquency, or serious-youthful-offender proceeding.

What if the appellant is indigent?

Waiver of Filing Fee

The filing fee must be paid for the clerk to accept the notice of appeal. The filing fee may be waived for an indigent appellant who is unable pay the fee and can prove that fact. The fee may be waived by completing and filing with the notice of appeal the appropriate form:

• Form 20 Civil Fee Waiver Affidavit and Order form – When an indigent appellant files this form in an appeal from a judgment entered in a civil division of the municipal or common pleas court, the Clerk will accept the notice of appeal without the fee. The Court will then review the application. If the 10 Court finds that the appellant is indigent, the Court will order the Clerk to waive prepayment of the court costs related to the appeal. If the Court finds that the appellant is not indigent, the appellant must pay the fee, or the appeal will be dismissed. R.C. 2323.311.
• Form 3.1NCR Indigent.1 Affidavit of Indigency – Filing this form may waive the fee for an indigent appellant in an appeal from a conviction entered in a criminal case or a judgment entered in juvenile court in a dependency, abuse, or neglect case, or in a child-support contempt case when the party may be jailed. There is no fee for filing an appeal from a judgment entered in juvenile court in a delinquency case.

Appointment of Counsel and Transcript of Proceedings at State Expense

In an appeal from a criminal conviction, certain probate-court judgments, or most juvenile-court judgments (excluding a private child-custody case), the following forms, along with an entry for a judge to sign, may be filed by an indigent appellant:

• Form 3.4 Motion to Appoint Counsel, requesting the appointment of counsel for the appeal and indicating that appellant cannot afford appellate counsel.
• Form 9 Motion to Prepare Transcript of Proceedings at State Expense, stating that the appellant is indigent and unable to pay for a transcript of the proceedings leading to the judgment appealed.

Notice of Appeal

Filing the notice of appeal initiates the case with the Court of Appeals.

When multiple parties to a case have a right to appeal, the parties may file a joint notice of appeal or the parties may file their own separate notices of appeal. App.R. 3(B). A notice of cross-appeal may be filed by a party to the action whose interests are not the same as the first appellant’s interests, but who still wishes to reverse or modify the trial court’s judgment.
See App.R. 3(C) for further guidance when a notice of cross-appeal may be appropriate

Where is the notice of appeal filed?

A notice of appeal must generally be filed with the clerk of the trial court. See Chart 1, for more details.

24-Hour Filing

A notice of appeal from a judgment entered in a municipal, common pleas (general division), and domestic-relations-court case may be filed at any time at 1000 Sycamore Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 or by e-filing. See Chart 1 for details.

What must be included in the notice of appeal?

A notice of appeal must contain:

• Heading indicating the court in which the appeal is filed;
• Name of each party to the appeal;
• Statement that the appeal is to the Court of Appeals, First Appellate District of Ohio;
• Description of the judgment appealed;
• Court that entered that judgement;
• Date that judgment was entered;
• Contact information required by Loc.R. 3.2 for the appellant’s lawyer or the appellant, if not represented by a lawyer;
• Contact information required by Loc.R. 3.2 for any party served with the notice of appeal or that party’s lawyer;
• Certificate of service, certifying that the notice of appeal was served and the method of service on the Prosecuting Attorney in a criminal appeal or on each appellee or each appellee’s lawyer in a civil appeal.
• A copy of the order or judgment appealed from must be attached.

App.R. 3(A) and (D); Loc.R. 3.1.

Form 3.1NCR Notice of Appeal-Criminal
Form 3.1NCV Notice of Appeal-Civil

When must the notice of appeal be filed?

The notice of appeal must be filed within 30 days from the date that the judgment appealed is entered by the clerk of the trial court. App.R. 4(A).

Holidays and weekends count toward the 30 days. But if the final day falls on a holiday or weekend, then the notice of appeal may be filed on the next business day. App.R. 14(A).

The time for filing a notice of appeal may not be extended by the trial court or court of appeals. App.R. 14(B).

Exceptions to the 30-day rule are provided under App.R. 4(B) and include

• A notice of cross-appeal may be filed either within 30 days after the judgment was entered or within 10 days after the first notice of appeal was filed, whichever is later. App.R. 4(B)(1).
• The notice of appeal may be filed within 30 days after the trial court enters an order deciding certain timely filed and appropriate post-judgment motions, objections, or requests. App.R. 4(B)(2) and (B)(3).

NOTE: If the notice of appeal is not filed within 30 days after the judgment is filed, and no exception applies, the court of appeals will dismiss the appeal for lack of
jurisdiction.

When the appellant has failed to timely appeal a judgment of conviction in a criminal case or a judgment in a delinquency or serious-youthful-offender proceeding, a motion for delayed appeal may be filed. The Motion for Leave to File a Delayed Appeal, along with a copy of the notice of appeal, must be filed with the clerk of the court of appeals. If leave is granted, the appeal will proceed as a timely filed appeal. App.R. 5(A). A notice of appeal must also be filed in the trial court case at the same time the motion for leave is filed with the court of appeals. Form 5.

Docket Statement

Along with the notice of appeal, the appellant must file two copies of the appropriate docket-statement form. Appellant must also serve a copy of the docket statement on appellee’s counsel or on the appellee if unrepresented. Loc.R. 3.1(B) and (C).

Form 3.1DCR Criminal Docket Statement must be filed in an appeal from a judgment of conviction in a criminal case, a juvenile-delinquency adjudication, or the denial of postconviction relief. App.R. 3(G); Loc.R. 3.2(A)(2)(a).
Form 3.1DCV Civil Docket Statement must be filed in an appeal from a judgment in a civil case. App.R. 3(G); Loc.R. 3.2(A)(2)(b).

If a transcript of proceedings will be included as part of the record on appeal, a court reporter’s certification must be included in the docket statement. App.R. 9(B); Loc.R. 3.1DCR; Loc.R. 3.1DCV. The court reporter must indicate if the transcript will be ready for filing within 40 days (or in some instances 20 days) of the filing of the notice of appeal. If the transcripts will not be completed and filed in this timeframe, the court reporter must explain why and provide the date the transcript will be ready for filing. See Form 3.1DCR/3.1DCV. For details on where to go to get the court reporter’s certification for the docket statement, see Chart 2.

A show-cause order will be issued by the Court of Appeals if an appellant has not timely filed a complete docket statement. If the appellant does not comply with the order, the appeal may be dismissed. App.R. 3(G); Loc.R. 3.2(C)

Record on Appeal

The record on appeal consists of

• Original papers and exhibits to those papers filed in the trial court;
• Transcript of the proceedings, including exhibits;
• Certified copy of the docket and journal entries;

App.R. 9(A).

In some limited circumstances, the parties may agree that a transcript is not necessary and the parties can agree to the facts and conclusions of law below:
An agreed statement of the case may be filed by the parties with the trial court in place of the transcript of proceedings on appeal. App.R. 9(D); Loc.R. 3.1DCR; Loc.R. 3.1DCV.

What if the existing record on appeal is incomplete?

Depending on why the record is incomplete, the appellate rules provide some options to ensure the Court of Appeals has a complete record to decide the case.

A motion to supplement the record on appeal may be filed with the trial court or the court of appeals to correct an omission or misstatement concerning whether the record truly discloses what occurred before the trial court. App.R. 9(E).

If a transcript of the proceeding was not created, unavailable, or was lost:
A statement of the evidence or proceedings may be filed with the trial court and served on the appellee, if a recording of the proceedings before the trial court is not available. 
App.R. 9(C).

What is the transcript of the docket and journal entries?

The transcript of the docket and journal entries consists of the original papers and entries filed in the trial court, assembled in the order filed, numbered, and certified to the Court of Appeals by the clerk of courts. This numbered sheet is filed with the Court of Appeals and is what should be cited in a party’s brief. Loc.R. 16.1(D).

What is the transcript of proceedings?

A transcript of proceedings provides the written record of what happened at trial or at a hearing during the proceedings leading to the judgment appealed. A transcript of proceedings that complies with App.R. 9(B)(6) must be provided to the court of appeals, when the appellant claims that an error occurred during those proceedings, and that claim of error depends for its resolution on that transcript. App.R. 9(B)(1).

How is a transcript of proceedings ordered?

The appellant is responsible for making sure that the parts of the proceedings that the appellant considers necessary to the appeal are transcribed, and that the transcript of proceedings is included in the record on appeal. App.R. 9(B)(1), 9(B)(3), 9(B)(5)(b) and 10(A); Loc.R. 9.1. Appellant is required to file copy of the transcript order with the clerk of the trial court. Loc.R. 9(B). See Chart 2 for details on where to go to order a transcript of proceedings.

The Appellant is required to complete the record section of the docket statements to inform the court of the contents of the record.