Ohio Supreme Court, 2003

State ex rel. Norris v. Giavasis

Ohio Supreme Court · Decided December 31, 2003 · Moyer, Resnick, Sweeney, Pfeifer, Stratton, O'Connor, O'Donnell

2003 Ohio 6609; 100 Ohio St. 3d 371; 800 N.E.2d 365

Cases that cite this one

16 later published cases cite this decision.

State ex rel. Tenney v. Rice (Ohio Ct. App. 2023)
State ex rel. Whitt v. Evans (Ohio Ct. App. 2020)
State v. Norman, 23106 (1-16-2009) (Ohio Ct. App. 2009)
Watson v. Foley, Unpublished Decision (5-5-2005) (Ohio Ct. App. 2005)
State ex rel. Graham v. Findlay Municipal Court (Ohio 2005)
State ex rel. Hawk v. Athens County (Ohio 2005)
State ex rel. Graham v. Niemeyer (Ohio 2005)
State ex rel. Norris v. Giavasis (Ohio 2004)
State ex rel. Qualls v. Story (Ohio 2004)
State ex rel. Whitt v. Givens (Ohio Ct. App. 2020)
State ex rel. Whitt v. Given (Ohio Ct. App. 2020)
Arega v. Coleman (Ohio Ct. App. 2015)
Billiter v. Banks (Ohio Ct. App. 2014)
State Ex Rel. Morris v. Franklin County, Unpublished Decision (11-29-2005) (Ohio Ct. App. 2005)
State ex rel. Mason v. Supervisor of Edn., Warren Corr. Inst. (Ohio 2025)
State ex rel. Feathers v. Portage Cty. Court of Common Pleas (Ohio Ct. App. 2024)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} On July 24, 2003, appellant, Robert Lee Norris, an inmate, filed a complaint in the Court of Appeals for Stark County. Norris sought a writ of mandamus to compel appellees, Stark County Common Pleas Court Clerk Phil G. Giavasis and Deputy Clerk A. Gifford, to remove from their records “the July 11, 2003 Appearance Docket and each of its entries” and to retain “the certified ‘June 25, 2002’ Appearance Docket.” The docket entries were of his criminal case stemming from a 1992 indictment.

{¶ 2} Norris filed an affidavit that he claimed listed his prior “civil actions and criminal appeals within the preceding (5) five years pursuant to [R.C.] 2969.25.” The affidavit, however, did not contain a “brief description of the nature” of each civil action or appeal and the outcome of each civil action and appeal. R.C. 2969.25(A)(1) and (4). And although Norris requested a waiver of the filing fees assessed by the court of appeals based on his claimed indigency, his affidavit of indigency did not contain the statement required by R.C. 2969.25(C)(1) setting forth the balance in his inmate account “for each of the preceding six months, as certified by the institutional cashier.”

{¶ 3} On August 1, 2003, the court of appeals sua sponte dismissed Norris’s complaint.

*372 Robert Lee Norris, pro se.

{¶ 4} We affirm the judgment of the court of appeals. “The requirements of R.C. 2969.25 are mandatory, and failure to comply with them subjects an inmate’s action to dismissal.” State ex rel. White v. Bechtel, 99 Ohio St.3d 11, 2003-Ohio-2262, 788 N.E.2d 634, ¶ 5. Norris failed to comply with R.C. 2969.25(A) and 2969.25(C)(1). State ex rel. Kimbro v. Glavas, 97 Ohio St.3d 197, 2002-Ohio-5808, 777 N.E.2d 257, ¶ 2; White, 99 Ohio St.3d 11, 2003-Ohio-2262, 788 N.E.2d 634, ¶ 2, 5.

Judgment affirmed.

Moyer, C.J., Resnick, F.E. Sweeney, Pfeifer, Lundberg Stratton, O’Connor and O’Donnell, JJ., concur.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.