Effective July 1, the publication of bound volumes of Ohio appeals court and trial court decisions has been discontinued. Amendments to the Rules for the Reporting of Opinions adopted by the Supreme Court of Ohio reflect these changes.

The Ohio Supreme Court announced the proposed rule amendments on April 23 and accepted public comments on the change for a month.

The declining demand for print volumes due to the availability of the opinions via electronic publication was the major reason for the decision.

Ohio Supreme Court opinions are not affected and will continue to appear in the Ohio State 3d bound volumes as well as on the Supreme Court’s website. All appeals court opinions will continue to be available on the Supreme Court’s website.

The change also affects the frequency of publication for the Ohio Official Reports Advance Sheets, which will be changed to every other week instead of the current weekly publication. A table that includes a brief description of every court of appeals decision will continue to be published in the Advance Sheets by the Ohio Supreme Court Reporter’s Office.

The public comment period resulted in the addition of Rep.Op.R. 4.3 “Availability of Posted Opinions,” which reads: “All opinions posted to the Supreme Court website prior to July 1, 2012 and all opinions posted to the Supreme Court website on or after July 1, 2012 pursuant to Rep.Op.R. 2.1 and 3.2 shall be permanently available to the public without charge.”

View the complete text of the amendments.