Franklin County, Ohio

How a case moves here

Franklin County follows Ohio law on arrests, release, and courts. These rules are the same in every county in the state; the full set covers prosecutors, defense, and jails too.

Who decides release first: Every court must keep a bail schedule for misdemeanors so people can be released before they see a judge. When no judge, magistrate, or clerk is available, the sheriff, police, or jailer may set bail from that schedule. Only a judge or magistrate sets bail on a felony.
Ohio Rev. Code 2937.23 Ohio Rev. Code 2937.011(I)
Time to see a judge: A person arrested and still held must see a judicial officer for a bail hearing by the second court day after arrest. After a warrantless arrest, a judge or magistrate must also review probable cause within 48 hours, but that review can happen on paper. If the person had no lawyer at the first hearing and is still held, a second bail hearing with appointed counsel follows two court days later.
Ohio Rev. Code 2937.011(J)Ohio Crim. R. 4(E)(2)
Money bail: Ohio courts may set money bail. The constitution tells courts to weigh public safety, the charge, and the person's record when setting the amount. State law requires the least restrictive conditions and any money terms to be the least costly that will bring the person back to court.
Ohio Const. art. I, sec. 9 Ohio Rev. Code 2937.011(A)-(B)
Courts: Each county's court of common pleas tries felonies. Municipal and county courts hear misdemeanors and hold first appearances in felony cases. Mayor's courts in some cities and villages without a municipal court hear ordinance and traffic cases.
Ohio Rev. Code 2301.01 Ohio Rev. Code 1905.01 Ohio Rev. Code 1907.13
Judges and magistrates: Voters elect common pleas judges to six-year terms on a ballot that shows no party, and judges must have six years of law practice. Municipal and county court judges are elected the same way and must also be lawyers. A mayor, who need not be a lawyer, hears mayor's court cases or appoints a lawyer as magistrate.
Ohio Rev. Code 2301.01 Ohio Rev. Code 3505.04 Ohio Rev. Code 1901.06 Ohio Rev. Code 1901.07 Ohio Rev. Code 1905.05

Read from the statutes and court rules cited, 2026-09-30. Crim.R. 46 was repealed July 1, 2023; bail rules now sit in R.C. 2937.011. Common pleas candidates may run in party primaries even though the general ballot is nonpartisan; not confirmed from statute text here. Magistrate lawyer requirement under Crim.R. 19 not read. That city prosecutors handle misdemeanors is general practice, not read from statute.

What this county does differently

Pretrial practice: Advancing Pretrial lists it as a Public Safety Assessment site since 2024.
Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research, PSA sites list (page modified 2026-06-03)

Cities and towns

Every city, village, town, and township with any of its land in Franklin County, largest first. Population, the whole place's: Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020 to 2024.

Police agencies

Agencies: FBI NIBRS master file 2025 batch headers; names from the FBI agency list, pulled 2026-09-29. An agency that serves several counties appears on each. Population served is the FBI's figure.

Crime

The crime index

Crime index offenses reported by agencies in Franklin County, 2021 to 2025
Offense	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	Per 100k	Ohio
Violent crime	7,219	5,877	5,957	5,467	4,461	416	315
Murder	231	154	163	127	99	11	6.3
Rape	1,443	1,419	1,424	1,430	1,167	99	52
Robbery	2,299	1,544	1,504	1,297	1,121	111	54
Aggravated assault	3,246	2,760	2,866	2,613	2,074	195	203
Property crime	39,257	41,928	39,640	36,912	31,327	2,714	1,700
Burglary	5,716	5,243	4,899	4,664	3,934	351	241
Larceny	27,811	28,352	26,577	25,488	22,170	1,872	1,227
Motor vehicle theft	5,730	8,333	8,164	6,760	5,223	491	232
Arson	49	47	71	58	58	4.1	9.4

Outside the crime index

Offenses outside the crime index reported by agencies in Franklin County, 2021 to 2025
Offense	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	Per 100k	Ohio
All offenses outside the crime index	57,660	57,904	55,571	49,360	46,496	3,833	2,693
Simple assault and intimidation	21,970	21,683	19,443	19,332	20,111	1,472	1,147
Vandalism	15,080	18,108	18,040	16,458	13,537	1,166	569
Fraud	9,047	5,939	5,458	4,921	3,899	420	226
Drug abuse violations	5,436	5,965	6,421	3,638	3,414	357	467
Weapons: carrying, possessing, etc.	3,218	2,818	2,860	2,035	1,350	176	116
Stolen property: buying, receiving, possessing	668	997	986	741	574	57	43
Forgery and counterfeiting	525	659	593	344	223	34	30
Embezzlement	135	131	101	46	1,879	33	4.5
Sex offenses (except rape and prostitution)	716	748	784	860	660	54	37
Prostitution and commercialized vice	227	122	121	194	125	11	4.9
Gambling	3	1	5	3	6	Too few for a rate: the count is under 20.	0.1
Other Group A offenses	635	733	759	788	718	52	49
Manslaughter by negligence (not in the total)	2	2	2	3	2	Too few for a rate: the count is under 20.	0.2
Human trafficking (not in the total)		1		1	3	Too few for a rate: the count is under 20.	0.4

Offenses agencies in Franklin County reported to the FBI in incident detail (NIBRS), each year, the second table by the arrest class each offense falls in. Per 100k: offenses per 100,000 people the reporting agencies police, 2021 to 2025 added together, beside Ohio's rate over the same years. Agencies that reported part of a year are counted with their people, as the state's rates count them. – means too few for a rate: the count is under 20.

Source: FBI NIBRS national master files, each agency's offenses and the FBI's population for it. Ohio: the crime index: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, CrimeDB's chosen value per year (the state page's figures); outside it: FBI NIBRS, agencies that sent incident detail.