Supreme Court of Ohio issues Tolling Order in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
March 30, 2020 • < 1 min read
On March 27, 2020, the Governor DeWine signed into law Am.Sub.H.B. No. 197, which immediately tolled, retroactive to March 9, 2020, all statutes of limitation, time limitations, and court deadlines until the expiration of Executive Order (declaring a state of emergency in Ohio) or July 30, 2020, whichever is sooner.
As a result of this legislation, certain limitation periods and deadlines have been frozen in pending or anticipated litigation set to expire between March 9, 2020, and July 30, 2020. This includes the following:
- Statutes of limitation arising under any section in Chapter 2305, for civil causes of action accruing against a person.
- Periods of limitation for any administrative action or proceeding provided in the Revised Code or the Administrative Code.
- The time within which discovery or any aspect of discovery must be completed.
- The time by which a party must be served.
- Any other criminal, civil or administrative time limitation or deadline under the Revised Code.
An initial list of Frequently Asked Questions published by the Supreme Court in response to the Order can be found here. The list of FAQs will be updated as the Court’s staff continues to field questions regarding the practical implementation of this legislation. Some key takeaways include:
- Tolling serves to effectively freeze time from March 9, 2020, until the expiration of the order. For example, if a deadline were set to expire on March 19, 2020, the deadline will now expire 10 days after this tolling order is lifted.
- Any scheduling orders issued on or after March 9, 2020, shall remain in effect. Any scheduling orders issued before March 9, 2020, should be reconsidered by the local court.
Please contact your attorney directly for more information on how this order impacts your pending litigation.
