Ohio Code 2701.20 – Clerk’s refusal of documents materially false or fraudulent
(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of the Revised Code, if a person presents a document to the clerk of a court of record for filing or for docketing and indexing, the clerk may refuse to accept the document for filing or refuse to docket and index the document if the document is not required or authorized to be filed or to be docketed and indexed with the clerk or the clerk has reasonable cause to believe the document is materially false or fraudulent. This division does not create a duty upon the clerk to inspect, evaluate, or investigate a document that is presented for filing or for docketing and indexing.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 2701.20
- Bond: includes an undertaking. See Ohio Code 1.02
- Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
(B) If the clerk of a court of record, pursuant to division (A) of this section, refuses to accept a document for filing or refuses to docket and index a document, the person who presented the document to the clerk may commence an action in or apply for an order from the court that the clerk serves to require the clerk to accept the document for filing or to docket and index the document. If the court determines that the document is appropriate for filing or for docketing and indexing, it shall order the clerk to accept the document for that purpose.
(C) If the clerk of a court of record, acting under this section in a manner that is not described in division (A)(6)(b) of section 2744.03 of the Revised Code, improperly refuses to accept a document for filing or refuses to docket and index a document, the clerk shall not be personally liable on account of the improper refusal and the surety that issued the bond shall not have a right of subrogation against the clerk on account of a claim made on the clerk’s bond as a result of the improper refusal.