Under temporary rule changes announced today by the Ohio Supreme Court, a group of pilot courts around the state will begin to mediate a subset of civil stalking protection order cases.

The pilot program will determine if these cases are better suited for mediation rather than being processed through traditional means. Common pleas courts report that many of the menacing disputes occur between coworkers or neighbors. Cases involving domestic violence or sexually oriented offenses are not eligible for mediation.

The temporary rules define the number of participating courts or judges (12), require participating courts to go through training, call for an evaluation, and set a Dec. 31, 2018 end date for the program. The temporary rules, which take effect June 1, also outline the privileged communications between the mediator and parties, the confidential nature of the communications, and limited public access to the evaluation information.

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