Misdemeanor Division

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After you have been arraigned at Lima Municipal Court, you will be directed to call or stop by our office to be screened for financial eligibility. This process is necessary because our office exists in order to serve clients who are unable to obtain a private attorney, and consists of filling out one page of financial information at our office or over the phone if necessary. 

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While we strongly recommend you have an attorney, and we are happy to represent you, it is not necessary that you have an attorney. In fact, you have the right to represent yourself in court if you so desire. 

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Pretrial Hearings are your first appearance at the court after arraignment. This is generally an opportunity for your attorney to speak with the Prosecutor and Judge to determine how you will proceed with your case. Generally, you will not see the Judge at this hearing.

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Lima Municipal Court requires all continuances be filed no less than 7 days before the scheduled hearing except for criminal arraignments or in cases of sudden illness, emergency or death in the family.

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If we represent you already and you missed your court date, contact us right away. If the reason you missed court is one of the reasons listed in the question "How do I get a continuance?" then we will need some written proof to support that. If you do not have one of those valid excuses, you will have to post bond or turn yourself in.

If we do not represent you and you missed your court date, you will have to contact the court directly and ask them what you will need to do to resolve your failure to appear.

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In order to file for driving privileges, please provide us with the following information:

• Proof of Insurance/Financial Responsibility
• If you are working, please provide a letter from your employer that states the days and hours you work. If your schedule varies, your employer's letter should state that and you will have to carry a copy of your schedule when driving.
• If you are the only licensed driver in your household, you are eligible for an additional driving privilege to run household errands one day per week. This will be the same day and time each week and for a 4-hour window.
• If you have any other requests, please list them as specifically as possible including days, times, and addresses. Driving privileges will include doctor appointments and please indicate if this will include appointments for children and any mandatory court appearances as well as attendance for the Driver Intervention Program (DIP) where applicable. You will have to carry verification of the appointments when you are driving.

Please send the above information to our Misdemeanor Coordinator at pdmisdemeanor@allencountyohio.com. If you do not receive an email confirmation, please call 419-996-7083 to confirm receipt. Please call after 7 days to check status of requests. 

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Then at the pretrial, we will inform the Court that your case will be going to trial. At that trial, the Prosecutor has the burden of proof to show that you violated the Ohio statute you are charged under. You have the right to confront the witnesses against you, cross-examine them through your attorney, call your own witnesses, compel those witnesses to attend even if they don’t want to by using the Court’s power to subpoena those witnesses and order them to show up.

You can testify in your own defense if you wish to, but you are not required to, and cannot be compelled or forced to do so. The Prosecutor cannot comment in any way  about your testifying or not.

You also have the choice to have the Judge decide if the State has proved you committed the offense, or have a jury of eight people make that decision. This choice will be discussed in detail with you by the attorney assigned to your case.

At the end of the day, the Judge or the jury will determine whether the State proved you committed the offense you are charged with. If so, a conviction will be entered, and then the Court will proceed to sentencing, or the consequence for violating the particular statute in your case. 

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As long as you are making this decision knowingly (you know what you are pleading to, the possible consequences); intelligently (your decision is based on good facts, not lies); and voluntarily (no one is promising you anything to plea or threatening you to plea); our office will work to get a resolution that you are satisfied with. After your plea, a conviction will be entered against you, and the Court will proceed to sentencing. 

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That is dependent on each individual case and the facts in that case. Client A and Client B may have violated the exact same statute. The individual facts of the case, how much harm was done, the amount of money involved, the number of times a person has been convicted of this offense or other offense, all these things are evaluated when the Court decides what sentence you will receive.

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Each offense has a range of options. Your specific case will be discussed with you in detail with your attorney. 

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