Ohio App. R. 13 (2026)

(A) Filing with the clerk or a single judge

The filing in the court of appeals of any document required or permitted is accomplished by filing the document with the clerk of the court of appeals in the county where the case originated. Documents sent to the court itself, to any of the court’s offices, to the court’s administrator, or to a clerk other than the clerk of the court of appeals in the county where the case originated are not considered filed and will not be addressed by the court. If a motion requests relief that may be granted by a single judge, the judge may permit the motion to be filed with the judge, in which event the judge must note the filing date on the motion and must transmit it to the clerk.

(B) Methods of filing and timeliness

(1) Nonelectronic Filing. Filing may be accomplished by hand-delivery to the clerk, by first-class mail addressed to the clerk, or by commercial carrier for delivery to the clerk, but filing is not timely unless the clerk receives the document within the time fixed for filing. A brief, however, is deemed filed on the day when the brief is (a) mailed to the clerk by first-class mail with postage prepaid or by other class of mail that is at least as expeditious with postage prepaid; or (b) delivered to a commercial carrier for delivery to the clerk within three days.

(2) Electronic Filing. A court may provide, by local rules adopted under the Rules of Superintendence, for the filing of documents by electronic means. If the court adopts such local rules, they must include the following terms:

(a) Any signature on an electronically transmitted document is considered that of the attorney or party it purports to be. If it is established that the document was transmitted without authority, the court will strike it.

(b) The days and hours when electronically transmitted documents will be received by the court must be specified, and the court must also specify when documents received electronically will be considered to have been filed.

(c) Any document filed electronically that requires a filing fee may be rejected by the clerk unless the filer has complied with the mechanism established by the court for the payment of filing fees.

(C) Service is required of all documents

Copies of all documents filed by any party and not required by these rules to be served by the clerk must be served by a party or person acting for the party on all other parties to the appeal as provided in division (D) of this rule, except that in expedited appeals under App.R. 11.2 and in original actions involving election issues, service of all documents (except the complaint filed to institute an original action) must be in accordance with division (D)(1), (2), (5), (6), or (7). Service on a party represented by counsel must be made by serving that counsel.

(D) Manner of service

A document can be served under this rule in any of the following ways:

(1) Handing it to the person;

(2) Leaving it:

(a) At the person’s office with a clerk or other person in charge or, if no one is in charge, in a conspicuous place in the office; or

(b) If the person has no office or the office is closed, at the person’s dwelling or usual place of abode with someone of suitable age and discretion who resides there;

(3) Mailing it to the person’s last known address by first-class mail with postage prepaid or by other class of mail that is at least as expeditious with postage prepaid, in which event service is complete upon mailing;

(4) Delivering it to a commercial carrier service for delivery to the person’s last known address within three calendar days, in which event service is complete upon delivery to the carrier;

(5) Leaving it with the clerk if the person has no known address;

(6) Sending it to the most recent fax number or e-mail address listed by the intended recipient on a prior court filing (including a filing in the trial court or administrative agency) in which event service is complete upon transmission, but is not effective if the serving party learns that it did not reach the person served; or

(7) Using the electronic-filing system, if any, of the clerk, but only if the serving of documents is a function provided by that e-filing system.

(E) Time of service

Service must be made at or before the time of filing. The serving party is not responsible, however, for the timing of service of a document accepted by the clerk under App.R. 13(D)(7). If the serving party has reason to believe that a party entitled to service was not served by the clerk under division (D)(7), the serving party must promptly serve the document in accordance with division (D)(1), (2), (3), (4), or (6).

(F) Proof of service

A document presented for filing must contain either an acknowledgment of service by the person served or proof of service consisting of a statement by the person who made service certifying the date and manner of service and the names of the persons served. For each person served, the division of App.R. 13(D) through which service was made must be identified, and the mail or electronic address, fax number, or address of the place of delivery must be listed.

Documents filed with the court will not be considered until the filing has provided to the court the required proof of service.

Effective Date: July 1, 1971 Amended: July 1, 2001; July 1, 2012; July 1, 2015; July 1, 2026

Staff Note (July 1, 2001 Amendment)

Appellate Rule 13 Filing and Service Appellate Rule 13(A) Filing

The amendments to this rule were part of a group of amendments that were submitted by the Ohio Courts Digital Signatures Task Force to establish minimum standards for the use of information systems, electronic signatures, and electronic filing. The substantive amendment to this rule was the addition of the last two sentences of division (A) and the addition of divisions (A)(1) – (3). Comparable amendments were made to Civil Rule 5, Civil Rule 73 (for probate courts), Criminal Rule 12, and Juvenile Rule 8.

As part of this electronic filing and signature project, the following rules were amended effective July 1, 2001: Civil Rules 5, 11, and 73; Criminal Rule 12; Juvenile Rule 8; and Appellate Rules 13 and 18. In addition, Rule 26 of the Rules of Superintendence for Courts of Ohio was amended and Rule of Superintendence 27 was added to complement the rules of procedure. Superintendence Rule 27 establishes a process by which minimum standards for information technology are promulgated, and requires that courts submit any local rule involving the use of information technology to a technology standards committee designated by the Supreme Court for approval.

Staff Note (July 1, 2012 Amendment)

The amendment to App.R. 13(C) clarifies the various available methods of service and adds service by electronic means a permissible method. The language of the amendment largely tracks the language of the 2012 amendment to Civ.R. 5(B), so the rules are now linguistically consistent. App.R. 13(B) now also requires parties in expedited cases or original actions involving elections to use a method of service that ensures actual receipt of the filing on the day it is served.

Staff Note (July 1, 2015 Amendment)

App.R. 13(B) is amended by correcting a typographical error. The reference to App.R. 11.1 has been changed to App.R. 11.2, as the need for immediate service applies in expedited appeals, not accelerated appeals.

App.R. 13 is also amended by adding a new division (D), permitting a party to use a court's transmission facilities to serve other parties by electronic means if so authorized by local rule, and the subsequent division of the rule is re-lettered accordingly. The amendment eliminates a duplication of effort resulting from the 2012 amendments to App.R. 13(C), which permitted a party to use electronic means to fulfill the party's App.R. 13 duty to serve all other parties but did not authorize the party to use the facilities of a local court's electronic filing system to perform that duty—even though, under local rules, the court's facilities nevertheless serve by electronic means all parties participating in the electronic filing system. The new provision is the same as Civ.R. 5(B)(3), as also adopted July 1, 2015.

Staff Note (July 1, 2026 Amendment)

New language in App.R. 13(A) emphasizes the importance of filing documents with the clerk of the court of appeals in the correct county. Some filers, particularly in multi-county appellate districts, mistakenly present documents to the court itself or to a clerk in a county other than the county where the case originated. The new language is intended to reduce those filing errors.

The newly added App.R. 13(E) calls for documents to be served “at or before the time of filing.” That addition replaces language in former division (B)—now renumbered as division (C)—that called for service to be completed “on or before the day of filing.” That earlier version of the rule enabled parties to delay service until after filing was accomplished even though the certificate of service signed by the filing party indicated that service had already been completed. The new language matches the language found in Rule 25(b) of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure and Rule 29(3) of the Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Accounting for the increasing availability and use of electronic filing, division (B)—like Rule 25 of the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure—has now been divided into separate provisions addressing nonelectronic filing and electronic filing.

Division (D)—formerly designated as division (C)—includes some updated language about the ways in which service can be accomplished, while new division (F) directs the serving party to identify the manner of service used.

Other stylistic updates intended to improve the readability of the rule and to bring greater clarity to some of its existing provisions have also been made.