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Oberlin Municipal Court is a
single Judge Court. Thomas A. Januzzi is the Judge of the Court.
Judge Januzzi was elected in November 2007 and is presently serving a six
year term beginning January 1, 2008.
You can reach the Judge’s
office directly by calling 440-775-1402. This is the telephone
of the Judicial Assistant. You cannot contact the Judge
directly. Your call must be screened. The Judge is not trying to
be impersonal or unfriendly or unhelpful by having the calls
screened. Just like all of us the Judge has certain rules that
he must follow. The rules that a Judge must follow are set forth
in the Code of Judicial Conduct which is a set of rules adopted
by the Supreme Court of Ohio. One of the rules discusses when a
Judge may speak to parties or their attorneys in a pending case.
The rule is set forth
in Rule 2.9 of the Code of Judicial Conduct:
RULE
2.9 Ex Parte
Contacts and Communications with Others
(A) A judge shall
not initiate, receive, permit, or consider ex parte
communications, except as follows:
(1) When circumstances require it, an ex parte
communication for scheduling, administrative, or emergency
purposes, that does not address substantive matters or issues on
the merits, is permitted, provided the judge reasonably believes
that no party will gain a procedural, substantive, or tactical
advantage as a result of the ex parte communication;
(2) A judge may obtain the advice of a disinterested expert on
the law applicable to a proceeding before the judge, if
the judge gives notice to the parties of the person consulted
and the subject-matter of the advice solicited, and affords the
parties a reasonable opportunity to object or respond to the
advice received;
(3) A judge may consult with court staff and court officials
whose functions are to aid the judge in carrying out the judge’s
adjudicative responsibilities, or with other judges, provided
the judge makes reasonable efforts to avoid receiving factual
information that is not part of the record and does not abrogate
the responsibility personally to decide the matter;
(4) A judge, with the consent of the parties, may confer
separately with the parties and their lawyers in an effort to
settle matters pending before the judge;
(5) A judge may initiate, receive, permit, or consider an ex
parte communication when expressly authorized by law
to do so;
(6) A judge may initiate, receive, permit, or consider an ex
parte communication when administering a specialized
docket, provided the judge reasonably believes that no party
will gain a procedural, substantive, or tactical advantage while
in the specialized docket program as a result of the ex parte
communication.
(B) If a judge
receives an unauthorized ex parte communication bearing
upon the substance of a matter, the judge shall make provision
promptly to notify the parties of the substance of the
communication and provide the parties with an opportunity to
respond.
(C) A judge shall
not investigate facts in a matter independently, and shall
consider only the evidence presented and any facts that may
properly be judicially noticed.
The Judicial Assistant, one of the bailiffs or a
member of the staff of the Clerk of Court can usually assist you
in determining how and under what circumstances you are
permitted to communicate with the Judge.
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