The magistrates of the court are empowered to hear and decide the following types of matters:

1. actions in forcible entry and detainer
2. preseizure hearing actions in replevin other than motions for immediate seizure
3. post judgment motions and collection proceedings
4. small claims cases
5. license suspension hearings and requests for occupational driving privileges
6. judgment debtor hearings and third party claims
7. designated enforcements of sentence
8. traffic proceedings in which a plea of guilty or no contest is entered or in which the defendant executes a written waiver of the right to trial by judge
9. default hearings
10. bond forfeiture hearings
11. income tax arraignments
12. parking violation appeals
13. any other cause properly referred under the Ohio Civil, Criminal, or Traffic Rules of Procedure and/or the Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio

Any party desiring a record of proceedings in a civil case before a magistrate may arrange for the attendance of a private court reporter at said party’s cost pursuant to Local Rule 12.01.

Any party objecting to the decision of the magistrate shall file such objections in accordance with Rule 53 of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure and pay the necessary costs.

1. All objections to the magistrate’s decision shall be filed within fourteen (14) days from the date the decision is journalized by the Clerk of Court.  A copy of the objections shall be served upon all parties and proof of such service shall be contained in the objections.  Failure of service shall be grounds for dismissal of the objections.
2. Any party may file a response to the objections within ten (10) days from the date the objections are filed with the Clerk of Court.  A copy of the response to the objections shall be served upon all parties and proof of such service shall be contained in the response to the objections.
3. All objections to the magistrate’s findings of fact must be in conformity with Rule 53 of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure which requires an accompanying transcript or affidavit of evidence submitted.  The court may disregard any new evidence which was not submitted to the magistrate unless the objecting party demonstrates within the objections that with reasonable diligence he or she could not have discovered and produced the evidence for the magistrate’s consideration at the time of the original hearing.
4. The Clerk of Court’s office shall forward to the chief magistrate all properly filed objections and responses to objections for an initial review.  The chief magistrate shall then forward his or her recommendations to the session judge for decision.
5. If the court finds merit in an objection to a magistrate’s decision, the court shall do one of the following:
   
   1. order a trial de novo before a magistrate
   2. order a trial de novo before a judge
   3. modify or amend the decision as justice may require
   4. enter such other order as justice may require
6. If the court finds no merit in an objection, the court shall timely overrule the objection, lift the stay of execution, and declare the original judgment to be in full force and effect.

Magistrates shall make monthly reports as to case termination to the deputy chief magistrate on forms approved by the administrative judge.  The deputy chief magistrate shall maintain the monthly reports for the administrative judge’s review, upon his or her request.

Pursuant to Rule 53 of the Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure, notice or copies of the magistrate’s decision shall be sent to the parties or their attorneys by the Clerk of Court and such service shall be entered on the docket unless otherwise ordered by the court.