State Ex Rel. Bridge v. Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, 2012 Ohio 3327

Bridge sought a writ of prohibition against the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas and Judge Sheward regarding Speeds Elec. Serv., Inc. v. Nations Constr., Franklin C.P. No. 07 CVH-07-9820.
The underlying matter was transferred from the Franklin County Municipal Court to the common pleas court after small-claims actions.
The municipality’s small-claims division has jurisdiction only for civil actions not exceeding $3,000, exclusive of interest and costs.
Bridge argued the aggregate of separate small-claims exceeded monetary jurisdiction, implying lack of jurisdiction over the transferred case.
The court of appeals denied Bridge’s request for prohibition; Bridge sought discretionary relief from the Ohio Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court affirmed, holding no patent and unambiguous lack of jurisdiction existed and that res judicata barred a successive prohibition action.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the common pleas had jurisdiction over the transferred case	Bridge	Franklin County	No patent lack of jurisdiction; jurisdiction exists
Whether aggregation of small-claims can defeat jurisdiction	Bridge	Franklin County	Aggregation does not defeat jurisdiction; RC 1925.02(A)(1) controls
Whether res judicata bars a successive prohibition action	Bridge	Franklin County	Yes; res judicata applies to prohibit a successive action

State ex rel. Bell v. Pfeiffer, 131 Ohio St.3d 114 (2012-Ohio-54) (controls when a party may challenge jurisdiction by prohibition)
State ex rel. Natl. Emp. Benefit Servs., Inc. v. Cuyahoga Cty. Court of Common Pleas, 49 Ohio St.3d 49 (1990-Ohio-?) (single-case lack of jurisdiction precludes prohibition)
Lance Langan Water Jetting, Inc. v. Tiger Gen., Inc., 2005-Ohio-4541 (9th Dist. 2005) (jurisdictional questions in prohibition contexts)
Hughes v. Calabrese, 95 Ohio St.3d 334 (2002-Ohio-2217) (res judicata bars successive prohibition actions)