The Fourth District Court of Appeals will convene Thursday in the Lawrence County Common Pleas Courtroom in Ironton.

Five cases will be argued in front of presiding Judge Peter B. Abele of Athens, Administrative Judge David T. Evans of Gallipolis, and Judge Roger L. Kline of Circleville.

The Court of Appeals reviews all cases from lower courts in which the decision is being appealed. The cases were originally tried in common pleas, probate, juvenile, municipal or county courts. The docket can include both civil and criminal cases.

Hearings should last about 15 minutes per case, and the entire docket should be completed within an hour and half, said Susan Eyerman, staff attorney magistrate for the Fourth Appellate District Court of Appeals.

Three cases from Lawrence County, one from Scioto County and one from Gallia County are scheduled to be heard. Although the court tries to hear the cases in the county they originated, they are placed on the docket at the earliest date that the attorneys are prepared to argue them, she said.

The Fourth District serves 14 counties in southern Ohio including Adams, Athens, Gallia, Highland, Hocking, Jackson, Lawrence Meigs, Pickaway, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Vinton and Washington.

The Fourth District Court of Appeals is the only district without a central office. It will hear cases in Gallia County Sept. 26. Two cases from Lawrence County are currently on that docket, Eyerman said. Michael Caldwell/The Ironton Tribune