The Grand Jury
Ohio Crim.R. 6 — nine people, seven votes, and no defense in the room
An arrest is not a charge, and a felony charge does not come from the police. Getting a felony case into the court of common pleas takes one of two routes, and which one a case travels decides whether anybody on the defense side sees the evidence before trial.
Who handles this in Ohio: Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
The requirement itself is in the Ohio Constitution, with a carve out written into the same sentence. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime except on presentment or indictment of a grand jury, and offenses whose penalty is less than imprisonment in the penitentiary sit outside that requirement. How many people sit on such a jury and how many have to concur is left to be determined by law, which is where the rule comes in.
| Route | What happens | Where it is |
|---|---|---|
| RoutePreliminary hearing | What happensA judge or magistrate decides whether there is probable cause, and if so binds the case over to common pleas | Where it isOhio Crim.R. 5 |
| RouteWaiver | What happensThe hearing is waived in writing and the case is bound over forthwith, with no hearing at all | Where it isOhio Crim.R. 5 |
| RouteDirect indictment | What happensThe prosecutor takes it straight to a grand jury without any hearing first | Where it isOhio Crim.R. 6 |
Nine people, and seven of them. An Ohio grand jury is nine members, and seven have to vote in favor before an indictment issues. That is the whole arithmetic of it, and it is a long way from the twelve unanimous jurors people picture when they hear the word jury.
There is no defense in the room. The prosecutor presents. The person under investigation has no right to be present, no right to have counsel present the way a trial provides, nobody to cross examine, and no case to put on. The question is probable cause rather than guilt. That is why the phrase about indicting a ham sandwich exists, and why an indictment is a decision to proceed rather than a finding about anybody.
It also works in secret, and the rule spells out which parts. Deliberations and the vote of any grand juror are not disclosed. Nobody may disclose that an indictment has been found before it is filed and the case docketed, and the court may direct that one be kept sealed until the person is in custody or has been released. A warrant landing on somebody with no warning is often that provision doing its work rather than anything having gone wrong.
A no bill is not an acquittal. When a grand jury declines to indict, that is a no bill, and it ends that presentation rather than the matter. Jeopardy has not attached because there was no trial, so a case can be presented again, to a different grand jury, on the same facts. People treat a no bill as the end and it is better understood as a door that did not open this time.
That is also the thing that makes the preliminary hearing worth understanding. A defendant in a felony case is entitled to one unless it is waived in writing, and it is frequently waived. It is a probable cause hearing rather than a trial, but it is often the only occasion before trial on which the State's witnesses answer questions on a record, which is a different value from winning it.
“Has this been presented to a grand jury yet.”
Misdemeanor cases do not go this route and are charged by complaint. A grand jury's other functions, including its investigative powers and the reports it can return, are their own subject. Whether a target may testify, and what happens when one asks to, is a matter of practice that differs between counties and is never a decision made without counsel. Speedy trial time runs on its own statute alongside all of this. Whether to waive a preliminary hearing is a tactical decision with real consequences either way and belongs to a licensed Ohio attorney and the person whose case it is.
Sources for this section (5)
- Ohio Crim.R. 6 — The grand jury, its size, the votes needed to indict, and the secrecy it works under
- Ohio Crim.R. 5 — Initial appearance, where the court states the charge and the right to counsel
- Ohio Const. art. I, § 10 — Rights of the accused
- Ohio Crim.R. 16 — Discovery and inspection, what each side owes the other, and when
- ORC 2945.71 — Time within which an accused must be brought to trial
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.