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Rule 10 – Arraignment

May 14, 2021 | Criminal Procedure, Ohio

(A) Arraignment procedure. Arraignment shall be conducted in open court, and shall consist of reading the indictment, information or complaint to the defendant, or stating to the defendant the substance of the charge, and calling on the defendant to plead thereto. The defendant may in open court waive the reading of the indictment, information, or complaint. The defendant shall be given a copy of the indictment, information, or complaint, or shall acknowledge receipt thereof, before being called upon to plead.
(B) Presence of defendant.

(1) The defendant must be present, except that the court, with the written consent of the defendant and the approval of the prosecuting attorney, may permit arraignment without the presence of the defendant, if a plea of not guilty is entered.
(2) In a felony or misdemeanor arraignment or a felony initial appearance, a court may permit the presence and participation of a defendant by remote contemporaneous video provided the use of video complies with the requirements set out in Rule 43(A)(2) of these rules. This division shall not apply to any other felony proceeding.
(C) Explanation of rights. When a defendant not represented by counsel is brought before a court and called upon to plead, the judge or magistrate shall cause the defendant to be informed and shall determine that the defendant understands all of the following:

(1) The defendant has a right to retain counsel even if the defendant intends to plead guilty, and has a right to a reasonable continuance in the proceedings to secure counsel.
(2) The defendant has a right to counsel, and the right to a reasonable continuance in the proceeding to secure counsel, and, pursuant to Crim. R. 44, the right to have counsel assigned without cost if the defendant is unable to employ counsel.
(3) The defendant has a right to bail, if the offense is bailable.
(4) The defendant need make no statement at any point in the proceeding, but any statement made can and may be used against the defendant.
(D) Joint arraignment. If there are multiple defendants to be arraigned, the judge or magistrate may by general announcement advise them of their rights as prescribed in this rule.

Ohio. Crim. R. 10

Effective:July 1, 1973; amended effective July 1, 1990; amended effective July 1, 2008.

Staff Note (July 1, 2008 amendments)

In 1995 the Ohio Supreme Court authorized video teleconferencing for arraignments as long as it was “functionally equivalent to live, in-person arraignment” (State v. Phillips, 1995 Ohio 171). This amendment will codify Philips by explicitly giving a court the option of using video teleconferencing at arraignments, and will clarify that if video teleconferencing is used, the procedure must conform to the requirements of Rule 43.