Section 1907.29. Jury trial procedure

(A) A jury trial shall be demanded in the manner prescribed in the Rules of Civil Procedure or the Rules of Criminal Procedure. The number of persons composing a jury and the verdicts of jurors shall be governed by those rules.

(B) The right of a person to a jury trial is waived under the circumstances prescribed in the Rules of Civil Procedure or the Rules of Criminal Procedure.

(C) If, as a result of challenges or other causes, a jury panel is not full, the deputy sheriff or constable who is in attendance at a trial before a county court may fill the panel in the same manner as the sheriff fills a panel in the court of common pleas.

(D) The judge of the county court involved in a case shall administer an oath to the jury to try the matters in difference between the parties that are to be determined by the jury, and to give a verdict in accordance with the evidence.

(E) After the jurors are sworn in a case before a county court, they shall sit together and hear the proofs and allegations of the parties. After the hearing, the jury shall be kept together in a convenient place until they have agreed upon their verdict or have been discharged by the county court judge involved in the case.

(F) If an action being tried to a jury in a county court is continued, the jurors shall attend at the time and place appointed for trial without further notice.

(G) The judge of a county court involved in a case may punish as for contempt any juror who neglects or refuses to attend when properly summoned or who, although in attendance, refuses to serve.

(H) If, in a civil action before a county court, the judge is satisfied that the number of jurors required by Civil Rule 48 for concurrence purposes cannot concur in a verdict, and the jury has deliberated upon the verdict for a reasonable time, the judge may discharge the jury and continue the action. If either party requests a new jury, the judge shall cause the selection of another jury. If the action is continued, it shall be continued to a time that the judge considers reasonable unless the parties or their attorneys agree on a longer or shorter time.

Effective Date: 03-17-1987