Delaware County Common Pleas Court

Court Information

Having worked with the Delaware County Common Pleas Court for years, we’ve defended a variety of cases there, from felony theft and passing bad checks to drug possession and trafficking offenses and many others in the felony spectrum.

Court Process Information

In most cases, you will receive a summons with a copy of your indictment informing you of your arraignment date.

At your arraignment, you will plead “not guilty” and receive a bond to secure your appearance at future court dates. At your Delaware County arraignment and prior to setting your bond the judge or magistrate will expect your attorney to provide your background information. (Click here for background check questionnaire to fill out). enerally, you are likely to be given a recognizance, appearance or cash or surety bond.

A recognizance or signature bond, is one where you are not required to put up any money or collateral and are instead released on your own signature and promise to appear at all of your court dates.

An appearance bond is one where you are required to post an amount with the court to ensure your appearance at all of your court dates. Generally this amount is ten percent of the total bond. For example, if Judge Whitney states you have a $10,000 appearance bond, you or someone on your behalf would have to post $1,000 plus processing fees to the court to secure your release. If you miss a court date, the money posted with the court can be forfeited. After your case is over, a significant portion of the appearance bond will be refunded to whoever deposited it.

At arraignment, the court determines release conditions and bond under Ohio Criminal Rule 46. Depending on the circumstances, the court may release a defendant on recognizance or impose financial and nonfinancial conditions. The judge assigned to a case can change, so use the Delaware County docket or the court’s current official roster rather than relying on a named judge in an example.

Your arraignment judge or magistrate may also require additional bond conditions while your case is pending, such as a requirement to wear a GPS or monitoring device, test randomly for drugs or report to the probation department.

The next step is for the case to be set for a pre-trial or status conference. Before this date, a motion for discovery will be filed on your behalf and all of the state’s evidence will be received. You will receive a copy of all of the police reports, investigative notes, DVDs or CDs received for your review. Generally, if possible, we like our clients to email a detailed summary of the events, thoughts on the discovery as well as some positive biographical information. Typically, we will set up a telephone or office meeting to discuss the status of your case.

At the pre-trial, we discuss any and all legal issues and mitigating circumstances with the assistant prosecutor your case is assigned to. If the prosecutor agrees there are issues, then we can work on getting the charge(s) dismissed, lessening the offense(s) to one that doesn’t carry mandatory prison time, or making a joint recommendation for no jail or prison time.

If the case is not resolved after this, it would proceed to a motion hearing (a hearing where the judge issues a ruling on an evidentiary issue) or a trial to the judge or jury, depending on the circumstances.