Ohio counts time under Civil Rule 6(A), and the counting statute, R.C. 1.14, fills in which days are legal holidays. The first day is excluded and the last included; a last day that is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday runs to the next day that is none of those. Two things set Ohio apart from the federal rule it was modelled on: a short-period rule the federal courts gave up in 2009, and a sentence that moves a deadline whenever the clerk’s office is closed on the last day.
Periods under seven days are business days
When the period is less than seven days, Rule 6(A) excludes intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays from the count. A three-day period that starts on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving does not end on Saturday; it ends the following Tuesday, after Thanksgiving, the weekend and, if the clerk was closed, the Friday as well. Periods of seven days or more count every day and look only at the last one. The Supreme Court of Ohio’s practice rules go the other way: intermediate days are included there even in a short period (S.Ct.Prac.R. 3.03(A)(2)), so the same five-day count ends sooner in Columbus than in a common pleas court.
Date of service: · 3 days · The period does not run from service (entry, filing, notice or another event)
- Count 3 court days after , skipping 2 weekend days, Thanksgiving Day (): . (Periods of 6 days or less exclude weekends and legal holidays.)
- The period does not run from service (entry, filing, notice or another event) adds no extra days.
Deadline:
Other reading: (Friday observances and the day after Thanksgiving also move the deadline (clerk's office closed))
Mail and carrier add three days; nothing else does
Civil Rule 6(D) adds three days to a period that runs from service when the paper was served by mail or by commercial carrier. The 2012 amendment removed every other method: e-mail, the court’s e-filing system and hand delivery add nothing. The summons and complaint are served under Rule 4, so the 28-day answer period is never extended, and periods that run from entry of judgment, such as post-trial motions and the notice of appeal, get nothing however the judgment entry reached you. The three days are added to the period, and the result is then moved off a weekend or holiday.
Date of service: · 28 days · U.S. mail (3 days added)
- Count 28 calendar days after (that day is not counted): .
- U.S. mail (3 days added) adds time. Count 3 calendar days after (that day is not counted): .
- is not a court day (Thanksgiving Day), so the deadline moves forward to .
Deadline:
Other reading: (Friday observances and the day after Thanksgiving also move the deadline (clerk's office closed))
Legal holidays and closed clerk’s offices
R.C. 1.14 names eleven legal holidays, including Columbus Day and Juneteenth, plus any day the Governor or the President appoints, and moves a Sunday holiday to Monday. It has no Saturday rule. When Christmas or Juneteenth falls on a Saturday, state offices close on the Friday before, but that Friday is not a legal holiday under the statute; nor is the day after Thanksgiving, on which the Supreme Court of Ohio and most county clerks close. Rule 6(A) covers the gap with its closed-office sentence: a deadline whose last day falls on a day the clerk’s office is closed, or closes early, runs to the next open day. Because the calculator cannot know which clerk closed, it shows the strict date under the statute first and the later date in a second reading.
Date of service: · 28 days · The period does not run from service (entry, filing, notice or another event)
- Count 28 calendar days after (that day is not counted): .
- The period does not run from service (entry, filing, notice or another event) adds no extra days.
Deadline:
Other reading: (Friday observances and the day after Thanksgiving also move the deadline (clerk's office closed))
Deadlines measured before a hearing in Ohio
A written motion must be served at least 14 days before a hearing and 28 days before trial (Civ.R. 6(C)(2)), and notice of a default-judgment application at least seven days before the hearing on it (Civ.R. 55(A)). The Court of Appeals has read the seven days as seven full days, excluding both the day of service and the hearing day. No Ohio decision found says which way a weekend or holiday moves a date counted backward; the calculator moves it earlier, which can never be late, and applies the short-period rule when the notice period is under seven days.
Hearing date: · 5 days
- Count 5 court days before , skipping 4 weekend days, Day after Thanksgiving (), Thanksgiving Day (): . (Periods of 6 days or less exclude weekends and legal holidays.)
Deadline:
Other reading: (Legal holidays under R.C. 1.14, moving to the previous business day)
Post-trial motions start from the clerk’s service
Motions for a new trial and for judgment notwithstanding the verdict are due 28 days after entry of the judgment, and neither can be extended (Civ.R. 50(B), 59(B), 6(B)). The clerk must serve notice of the judgment within three days of entry under Civ.R. 58(B); when the clerk is later than that, the 28 days run from the day of actual service. The 30-day notice of appeal works the same way under App.R. 4(A)(3). Enter the later of the two dates when the clerk was slow.
Hearing date: · 28 days
- Count 28 calendar days before (that day is not counted): .
- is not a court day (Christmas Day), so the deadline moves back to .
Deadline:
Appeals in two courts with two counting rules
A notice of appeal to a court of appeals is due 30 days after entry, a cross-appeal 10 days after the first notice, and an application for reconsideration 15 days after the clerk files the court’s judgment, a period the amendment to App.R. 26 lengthened from ten days measured from the clerk’s mailing (App.R. 4, 26). Those periods follow App.R. 14, which mirrors Civil Rule 6 including the short-period rule. A jurisdictional appeal to the Supreme Court of Ohio is due 45 days after the court of appeals’ entry of judgment, counted under the Supreme Court’s own rule with every day included and a cutoff of 11:59:59 p.m. Columbus time; the Clerk refuses a late notice. The calculator offers the Supreme Court periods as a separate counting rule so the right method is applied.
Date the judgment or order was entered: · 10 days
- Count 10 calendar days after (that day is not counted): .
Deadline: — E-filings are due by 11:59:59 p.m. Columbus time; the Clerk refuses late jurisdictional filings.
What the Ohio calculator does not cover
Every rule on this page was checked against the official text on codes.ohio.gov and the Supreme Court of Ohio’s rule publications on , including the Civil and Appellate Rules as amended and the Rules of Practice edition effective , and the counting rules and named deadlines were reviewed by an attorney; the three statutory periods under R.C. 1923.04, 1923.06 and 2711.09 were read on codes.ohio.gov the next day. The calculator does not know a county’s local rule on e-filing hours (Civ.R. 5(E) leaves that to local rule), a court’s own closures, or the statutory periods that R.C. 1.14 counts without a Saturday rule.
Questions about Ohio deadlines
How many days do you have to answer a complaint in Ohio?
Twenty-eight days after service of the summons and complaint, with no days added for the manner of service. A Civil Rule 12 motion filed in that time suspends the answer, which then falls due 14 days after notice of the court’s ruling (Ohio Civ.R. 12(A)).
Does Ohio count weekends in short deadlines?
Not in periods of fewer than seven days: Civil Rule 6(A) excludes intermediate Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays from them, so a three-day period is three business days. Periods of seven days or more count every day. The Supreme Court of Ohio’s own practice rule counts every day even in short periods (S.Ct.Prac.R. 3.03).
Does e-filing or e-mail service add three days in Ohio?
No. Civil Rule 6(D) adds three days only when the paper was served by mail or commercial carrier under Rule 5(B)(2)(c) or (d); service by e-mail, through the court’s e-filing system or by hand adds nothing, and nothing is ever added to the answer period or to a period that runs from entry of judgment.
Is the day after Thanksgiving a legal holiday in Ohio?
No. R.C. 1.14 lists eleven holidays and the day after Thanksgiving is not among them, but the Supreme Court of Ohio and most county clerks close that day. Because Civil Rule 6(A) also moves a deadline when the clerk’s office is closed on the last day, this calculator shows both dates and treats the earlier one as safe.
What is the deadline to appeal a judgment in Ohio?
Thirty days after entry of the judgment, by filing a notice of appeal in the trial court. If the clerk served notice of the judgment more than three days after entry, the 30 days run from that later service (App.R. 4(A)). An appeal to the Supreme Court of Ohio is due 45 days after the court of appeals’ judgment, and that court refuses late filings (S.Ct.Prac.R. 7.01).
When is a motion for new trial due in Ohio?
Within 28 days after entry of the judgment, and the court cannot extend that time (Civ.R. 59(B), 6(B)). A motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict has the same 28 days (Civ.R. 50(B)); both restart from the clerk’s actual service of the judgment when it came more than three days after entry.