Hillman v. O'Shaughnessy, 2017 Ohio 489

On July 8, 2016, inmate Robert L. Hillman filed an affidavit under R.C. 2935.09/2935.10 alleging Franklin County Clerk Maryellen O'Shaughnessy committed multiple felonies by "misfiling" a prior affidavit accusing a Columbus police officer of perjury.
Hillman claimed the misfiling was part of a conspiracy to protect the officer and resulted in improper court fees; he alleged crimes including intimidation, tampering with evidence, obstruction of justice, and obstructing official business.
The trial judge reviewed Hillman’s affidavit and concluded it lacked a meritorious claim; the judge did not issue an arrest warrant and instead referred the matter to the county prosecutor for investigation.
Hillman appealed, arguing the court improperly decided lack of probable cause without submitting the affidavit to the prosecutor and that his constitutional due process and equal protection rights were violated.
The appellate court reviewed the judge’s refusal to issue a warrant for abuse of discretion and analyzed the clerk’s duties (ministerial, not discretionary) and the statutory scheme governing accusatory affidavits.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the trial court complied with R.C. 2935.09/2935.10 in denying a warrant and referring the affidavit to the prosecutor	Hillman: affidavit established probable cause; court should have issued a warrant or held a probable-cause hearing before referral	Clerk/State: R.C. 2935.10 permits a judge to issue a warrant or, if affidavit lacks merit or good-faith, refer to prosecutor; no hearing required	Court: No abuse of discretion; judge properly concluded affidavit lacked merit and referred matter to prosecutor
Whether Hillman was denied due process / equal protection by the court’s disposition and not holding a hearing	Hillman: denial of hearing and court’s disposition violated 1st, 5th, 14th Amendment rights and was contrary to the court’s findings	Clerk/State: Statutory procedure does not require a probable-cause hearing; judge’s actions consistent with R.C. 2935.10	Court: No due process violation; statutory scheme limits judge to warrant or referral and no hearing was required

State ex rel. Dominguez v. State, 129 Ohio St.3d 203 (2011) (R.C. 2935.09 must be read in pari materia with R.C. 2935.10)
Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio St.3d 217 (1983) (defines abuse of discretion standard)
Lingo v. State, 138 Ohio St.3d 427 (2014) (clarifies that clerks of court perform ministerial duties and lack judicial discretion)
State v. Wilson, 102 Ohio App.3d 467 (2d Dist. 1995) (describes clerk of courts as ministerial officer)
State ex rel. McKean v. Graves, 91 Ohio St. 23 (1914) (historical statement on clerk’s role as court officer)