State v. J.B.

[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as State
v. J.B., Slip Opinion No. 2026-Ohio-1405.]




                                           NOTICE
      This slip opinion is subject to formal revision before it is published in an
      advance sheet of the Ohio Official Reports. Readers are requested to
      promptly notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of Ohio, 65
      South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, of any typographical or other
      formal errors in the opinion, in order that corrections may be made before
      the opinion is published.




                          SLIP OPINION NO. 2026-OHIO-1405
            THE STATE OF OHIO, APPELLANT, ET AL. v. J.B., APPELLEE.
  [Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it
        may be cited as State v. J.B., Slip Opinion No. 2026-Ohio-1405.]
Criminal law—R.C. 2953.32—Application for sealing of records of convictions—
        R.C. 2953.32 does not prohibit trial court from considering number and
        nature of an applicant’s convictions when balancing interests of
        government and applicant—State’s failure to object to application does not
        prohibit trial court from considering government’s interest in maintaining
        records pertaining to applicant’s conviction—Court of appeals improperly
        substituted its judgment for trial court’s when conducting abuse-of-
        discretion review of trial court’s judgment on application to seal record of
        conviction—Court of appeals’ judgment reversed in part.
      (No. 2024-0951—Submitted June 24, 2025—Decided April 22, 2026.)
              APPEAL from the Court of Appeals for Hamilton County,
        Nos. C-230500 and C-230502 through C-230505, 2024-Ohio-1879.
                                   __________________
                             SUPREME COURT OF OHIO




       DETERS, J., authored the opinion of the court, which KENNEDY, C.J., and
FISCHER, DEWINE, HAWKINS, and SHANAHAN, JJ., joined. BRUNNER, J., concurred
in part and dissented in part, with an opinion.


       DETERS, J.
       {¶ 1} R.C. 2953.32 provides the means by which a person who has been
convicted of misdemeanors may apply to have the records of those convictions
sealed. The statute gives the trial court that reviews the application the discretion
to grant or deny sealing. An appellate court reviews the trial court’s decision on an
application to seal for abuse of discretion.
       {¶ 2} In this case, J.B. filed applications in the Hamilton County Municipal
Court to have the records of seven misdemeanor convictions sealed. Two cases
were prosecuted by the Cincinnati city prosecutor and five were prosecuted by the
county prosecutor. Following a hearing on the applications, the trial court denied
them. The court concluded that J.B. had not demonstrated that she was rehabilitated
and that the government’s interest in keeping the records public outweighed J.B.’s
interest in sealing them. When J.B. appealed, the First District Court of Appeals
reversed the judgments of the trial court. Cincinnati did not appeal the First
District’s judgment ordering sealing of J.B.’s convictions for the two cases of
unauthorized use of property that the city had prosecuted. The State appealed its
five cases to this court, and we conclude that in reversing the trial court’s judgment,
the First District improperly substituted its judgment for that of the trial court. We
therefore reverse the judgment of the First District in part.
                                I. BACKGROUND
       {¶ 3} In December 2012, J.B. pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of
unauthorized use of property for offenses committed in July and September of that
year. Nearly two years later, in September 2014, she pleaded guilty to two more
misdemeanor counts: an April 2014 attempted theft and a May 2014 unauthorized




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use of property.        In January 2015, she pleaded guilty to having committed
disorderly conduct in August 2014. In July 2016, she pleaded guilty to having
resisted arrest in October 2015. And in August 2016, she pleaded guilty to having
obstructed official business two months earlier.
         {¶ 4} J.B. filed applications to seal the records of those convictions in June
2023. Neither Cincinnati nor the State of Ohio opposed the applications at the trial
court. At the hearing on her applications, the trial court asked J.B. why she was
seeking to have her convictions sealed, and J.B. responded, “I’m seeking just, Your
Honor, because I am (indiscernible) in social work and I will have to deal with a
background check for the State, and I just don’t feel as if I could get (indiscernible)
if every single time I move forward in my professional (indiscernible).1 It’s just
not me anymore.” J.B. added that she is a licensed parenting counselor serving an
internship with the State. She told the judge that she was not currently seeking a
new position but that she applied to have her convictions sealed after unsuccessfully
pursuing a position in the Hamilton County Justice Center. According to J.B., her
“background really mattered for the position.”
         {¶ 5} Following the hearing, the trial court denied the applications. In each
entry, the trial court noted the underlying facts of the conviction. For example,
regarding J.B.’s attempted-theft conviction, the court noted that J.B. had been
charged with theft for taking an envelope containing $700 from a person at a gas
station. She subsequently pleaded guilty to attempted theft, and the court ordered
her to pay restitution and imposed community control. When J.B. later violated the
conditions of her community control, the trial court had incarcerated her.
         {¶ 6} In its denial of J.B.’s applications, the trial court also noted the
number of convictions she had. That number included not only her convictions
eligible for sealing under R.C. 2953.32(B) but also some traffic-law convictions

1. The original transcript of the hearing includes several “indiscernible” parentheticals that reflect
portions of J.B.’s statements that the court reporter did not hear.




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that J.B. said she had been advised were probably not eligible for sealing, including
leaving the scene of an accident, and two thefts outside Hamilton County in 2018
and 2019.
        {¶ 7} Regarding rehabilitation, the court determined that J.B. presented no
evidence beyond her statement, “It’s just not me anymore.” And the trial court
explained that J.B.’s interest in pursuing employment without having to disclose
her past convictions—which involved either dishonesty or offenses against justice
and public administration—did not outweigh the “government interest in protecting
the public’s ‘need to know.’”        The court stated, “The applicant’s profession
involves a position of trust both in terms of the clients she serves and the employer.
They have a right to know of these proceedings and address them as they see fit.
Ultimately, they are able to choose for themselves whether or not [J.B.] is worthy
of their trust.”
        {¶ 8} J.B. appealed to the First District, arguing that the trial court had
abused its discretion in denying the applications for sealing. The First District
reversed the trial court’s judgment and remanded the case to the trial court to seal
J.B.’s convictions. 2024-Ohio-1879, ¶ 31 (1st Dist.). With respect to the trial
court’s finding as to J.B.’s lack of rehabilitation, the First District explained, “J.B.’s
statement—‘that’s [sic, ‘It’s] just not me anymore’—demonstrated her
acknowledgement that she has changed since the cessation of her criminal activity,”
id. at ¶ 19. And in the court of appeals’ view, J.B. offered other evidence of her
rehabilitation: “She shared that she works as a licensed parenting counselor and is
currently pursuing her DSW [doctorate of social work].” Id. The court accorded
weight to J.B.’s having obtained a certificate of qualification for employment
(“CQE”), which it described as “a form of postconviction relief designed to assist
persons with criminal records in obtaining employment.” Id. at ¶ 20. And the First
District faulted the trial court for considering the number of convictions J.B. has.




                                            4
                                  January Term, 2026




Id. at ¶ 21. Thus, the court of appeals concluded that the trial court’s finding that
J.B. was not sufficiently rehabilitated was not supported by the record. Id. at ¶ 30.
        {¶ 9} Addressing the trial court’s conclusion that the government’s interest
in keeping the records public outweighed J.B.’s interest in having them sealed, the
court of appeals suggested that “the trial court typically should not place great
weight on a governmental interest that the government has not bothered to
identify.” Id. at ¶ 26. According to the court of appeals, the trial court’s finding
regarding the government’s interest “improperly relied on the nature of the
offenses,” id. at ¶ 27, in light of the First District’s previous holding that “the nature
of the offense cannot provide the sole basis to deny an application to seal records”
(cleaned up), id. Rejecting the trial court’s conclusion, the First District determined
that J.B. had a strong interest in having her convictions sealed: “Since her
convictions, she has applied for and been granted a CQE. She is pursuing her DSW
and the applicable state licensure to further her career in social work, and her license
is jeopardized by the required background check.” Id. at ¶ 29. Thus, it concluded,
the trial court had abused its discretion when it “failed to invoke a sufficient
government interest to support its decisions to deny J.B.’s applications to seal her
records.” Id. at ¶ 30.
        {¶ 10} We accepted the State’s appeal on two propositions of law:


                I. The extent of an applicant for criminal record sealing or
        expungement’s criminal history can provide the sole basis for
        denying their application(s), as it speaks directly to the issue of
        “rehabilitation” within the meaning of R.C. 2953.32(D)(1)(c), and
        its use as such does not constitute an abuse of discretion.
                II. R.C. 2953.32(D)(1)(F) does not preclude a trial court’s
        sua sponte consideration of a legitimate governmental interest in
        maintaining an applicant for criminal record sealing or




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        expungement’s record of conviction, nor does the fact that the state
        is not the party articulating such interest diminish the weight that the
        trial court may place upon it.


See 2024-Ohio-4501.
                                       II. ANALYSIS
        {¶ 11} R.C. 2953.32 provides the procedure by which an offender may
apply to have her convictions sealed.2 The trial court is to hold a hearing before
deciding whether to grant the application. R.C. 2953.32(C). At the hearing, the
trial court determines whether the applicant is seeking to have eligible convictions
sealed and whether the applicant has waited the appropriate period before applying.
R.C. 2953.32(D)(1)(a).         The court also determines whether the applicant has
criminal charges pending. R.C. 2953.32(D)(1)(b). And the statute instructs the
court to consider any objection by the State or a victim and any statement submitted
by a victim. R.C. 2953.32(D)(1)(d), (e), and (g). The applicant must show her
rehabilitation “to the satisfaction of the court,” R.C. 2953.32(D)(1)(c), and that her
interests in having her convictions sealed outweigh any governmental interest to
maintain the records, R.C. 2953.32(D)(1)(f).
        {¶ 12} As the statute’s language makes clear, the decision whether to grant
an application to seal is within the discretion of the trial court. “No court is ever
required to seal conviction records.” State v. Aguirre, 2014-Ohio-4603, ¶ 27.
Consequently, an appellate court reviews a trial court’s grant or denial of an
application to seal for an abuse of discretion. See State v. Hamilton, 1996-Ohio-
440, ¶ 15 (a hearing under R.C. 2953.32(B) “provides the court with the opportunity



2. This court has explained the difference between expungement and sealing: “Expungement results
in deletion, making all case records ‘permanently irretrievable,’ while sealing simply provides a
shield from the public’s gaze.” (Citations omitted.) State v. Aguirre, 2014-Ohio-4603, ¶ 5, fn. 2.
Here, J.B. sought to have her records sealed.




                                                6
                                January Term, 2026




to review matters of record and to make largely subjective determinations regarding
whether the applicant is rehabilitated”).
       {¶ 13} “We have defined an abuse of discretion as conduct that is
unreasonable, arbitrary or unconscionable. And an ‘arbitrary’ decision is one made
without ‘consideration of or regard for facts or circumstances.’” State v. Beasley,
2018-Ohio-16, ¶ 12, quoting Black’s Law Dictionary (10th Ed. 2014). When
conducting an abuse-of-discretion review, “an appellate court is not free to
substitute its judgment for that of the trial judge.” Berk v. Matthews, 53 Ohio St.3d
161, 169 (1990). Here, the First District did substitute its judgment for that of the
trial court. And in doing so, it applied criteria not found in R.C. 2953.32.
   A. Nothing in the statute proscribes considering an applicant’s number of
                                     convictions
       {¶ 14} The court of appeals held that when evaluating whether J.B. had
been rehabilitated, the trial court improperly considered the number of J.B.’s
convictions. The court cited its own precedent, in which it held, “‘[A] court cannot
deny an application to seal based solely on the nature or number of offenses, if the
records of those offenses are eligible for sealing under the law.’” 2024-Ohio-1879
at ¶ 22 (1st Dist.), quoting State v. G.H., 2023-Ohio-3269, ¶ 22 (1st Dist.). The
court pointed to the General Assembly’s amendment to R.C. 2953.32 in 2022
Am.Sub.S.B. No. 288, which expanded eligibility for sealing by removing the limit
on the number of misdemeanor convictions eligible. Id. at ¶ 22. In the court of
appeals’ view, the legislature’s action “seemingly indicated its agreement with [the
First District’s own] conclusion in G.H.” Id.
       {¶ 15} Whether the First District’s judicially created rule even applies here
is debatable. The trial court did not base its decision regarding J.B.’s rehabilitation
solely on the number of her convictions. But in any event, nothing in the statute
proscribes consideration of the number of an applicant’s convictions when
balancing the interests of the parties in sealing records. The trial court reasonably




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questioned whether a person whose convictions spanned seven years had
demonstrated rehabilitation.
     B. Trial courts may consider the nature of the applicant’s convictions
       {¶ 16} The First District again relied on G.H. when reviewing the trial
court’s determination whether J.B.’s interest in sealing her records outweighed the
government’s interest in their remaining public. Id. at ¶ 28. Recall that the trial
court noted that J.B.’s convictions involved either dishonesty or offenses against
justice and public administration. The trial court concluded that because J.B.’s
profession involved a position of trust, the governmental interest in the public’s
need to know outweighed J.B.’s interest in sealing the records. In the First
District’s view, this consideration was improper under G.H. because the General
Assembly had already weighed those interests in delineating which offenses are
eligible for sealing. Id. But as discussed above, nothing in the statute prohibits a
trial court from considering the nature of the convictions when weighing the
government’s interest. It was not unreasonable to consider what type of convictions
J.B. was seeking to seal in light of her professed interest in social work.
      C. The State’s failure to object does not prohibit the trial court from
                      considering the government’s interest
       {¶ 17} Related to its dismissal of the trial court’s finding regarding the
weighing of J.B.’s interest against that of the government, the First District created
another rule—“the trial court typically should not place great weight on a
governmental interest that the government has not bothered to identify.” 2024-
Ohio-1879 at ¶ 26 (1st Dist.). Again, this rule is not found in R.C. 2953.32. Indeed,
the statute provides otherwise. The statute contains separate provisions that require
the consideration of the government’s interest, R.C. 2953.32(D)(1)(f), and any
objections of the prosecutor, R.C. 2953.32(D)(1)(d).         As we have said, the
procedures for sealing convictions are not adversarial in nature. Hamilton, 1996-
Ohio-440, at ¶ 16. The statute places no burden on the State to submit evidence




                                          8
                                January Term, 2026




concerning the application. And the lack of objection on the part of the prosecutor
does not relieve the trial court of its duty to weigh the governmental interest against
the applicant’s interest.     Here, the trial court’s determinations were not
unreasonable, given the government’s interest in keeping information available to
employers and clients about a potential employee’s criminal convictions involving
dishonesty, particularly when that potential employee might be in a position of trust
if hired.
D. The court of appeals improperly substituted its judgment for that of the trial
                                        court
        {¶ 18} In addition to applying its own rules rather than those set out in R.C.
2953.32 to analyze the wisdom of sealing J.B.’s records, the First District
impermissibly substituted its judgment for that of the trial court. For instance, the
court of appeals dismissed the trial court’s determination that besides saying, “It’s
just not me anymore,” J.B. offered no evidence of her rehabilitation, 2024-Ohio-
1879 at ¶ 26 (1st Dist.). Instead, the court of appeals reinterpreted the evidence.
The court pointed to J.B.’s response to the trial court describing her current job as
a licensed parenting counselor and her ongoing pursuit of a DSW as further
evidence of her rehabilitation. Id. But J.B. never suggested that she was offering
these statements to show her rehabilitation. That the First District substituted its
own judgment for that of the trial court is illustrated by its explanation about why
it believed J.B.’s statements reflect her effort to show rehabilitation: “J.B. is going
into a field with a strong demonstrated public need. And through her career, she
will help people navigate challenging times.” Id. J.B. raised neither point in her
hearing before the trial court. In fact, when asked if she wanted to elaborate on her
application for sealing, J.B. replied, “Nope.” Even so, the trial court did consider
what J.B. stated on the record about her current employment and the profession she
was pursuing. And it was for the trial court to determine whether her employment
demonstrated rehabilitation to its satisfaction. See Hamilton at ¶ 15.




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       {¶ 19} The First District also gave significant weight to J.B.’s obtaining a
CQE. See 2024-Ohio-1879 at ¶ 22 (1st Dist.). R.C. 2953.25 delineates the
procedure for an applicant to obtain a certificate that “constitutes a rebuttable
presumption that the person’s criminal convictions are insufficient evidence that
the person is unfit for the license, employment opportunity, or certification in
question.” R.C. 2953.25(D)(2). Unlike applications for sealing, for which granting
or denying is subject to the trial court’s discretion, a person seeking a CQE “is
rebuttably presumed to be eligible for a certificate of qualification for
employment,” R.C. 2953.25(C), if the court finds she has met certain waiting
periods and no clear and convincing contrary evidence is provided, R.C.
2953.25(C)(5) and (6). A finding regarding rehabilitation is not required, so the
trial court’s decision not to cite J.B.’s CQE as evidence of her rehabilitation was
not unreasonable.
       {¶ 20} The First District also took issue with how the trial court weighed
the government’s interest in keeping the records public against J.B.’s interest in
sealing them. Notably, the court did not conclude that the trial court had failed to
weigh the respective interests. Instead, the court of appeals performed its own
weighing and determined that J.B.’s interest was greater because “[s]he is pursuing
her DSW and the applicable state licensure to further her career in social work, and
her license is jeopardized by the required background check.” 2024-Ohio-1879 at
¶ 29 (1st Dist.). Outside of improperly substituting its own judgment for that of the
trial court, the court of appeals’ determination is dubious. J.B. stated that she was
already licensed as a parenting counselor, and she offered no evidence that her
license was in jeopardy. And J.B. said that she was not currently seeking new
employment. Part of the discussion at her hearing about her reason for seeking
sealing was marked on the transcript as “indiscernible.” But according to the trial
court, J.B. said she did not want to “‘explain every single time’ her criminal record
as she moves forward in her career.” The trial court’s determination that this




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                                 January Term, 2026




interest was entitled to less weight than the government’s interest was not
“unreasonable, arbitrary or unconscionable,” Beasley, 2018-Ohio-16, at ¶ 12.
                                III. CONCLUSION
        {¶ 21} While nominally applying the abuse-of-discretion standard of
review to the trial court’s judgment, the First District improperly substituted its
judgment for that of the trial court. As discussed above, it was not unreasonable
for the trial court to conclude that J.B. had not been rehabilitated to its satisfaction
or that the governmental interest in allowing the records of her convictions to
remain public outweighed her interest in having the records sealed. And given the
trial court’s explanation of its decision with reference to the record before it, we
conclude that the decision was not arbitrary. Certainly, it was not unconscionable.
Therefore, we hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied
J.B.’s applications to seal her convictions. The portion of the judgment of the First
District Court of Appeals addressing the five cases appealed by the Hamilton
County prosecuting attorney is reversed, and the judgments of the trial court with
respect to those cases are reinstated.
                                                           Judgment reversed in part.
                                __________________
        BRUNNER, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part.
        {¶ 22} I agree with the majority opinion that the court of appeals erred in a
number of respects. I disagree, however, with the majority opinion’s conclusion
that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied appellee J.B.’s
applications to seal her convictions in five cases. The better disposition would be
to remand this matter to the trial court for it to reconsider J.B.’s applications in
accordance with the applicable law. I therefore concur in part and dissent in part.
        {¶ 23} The term “abuse of discretion” refers to a decision that is
“‘unreasonable, arbitrary or unconscionable.’” Blakemore v. Blakemore, 5 Ohio
St.3d 217, 219 (1983), quoting State v. Adams, 62 Ohio St.2d 151, 157 (1980). The




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standard “is deferential and does not permit an appellate court to simply substitute
its judgment for that of the trial court.” State v. Darmond, 2013-Ohio-966, ¶ 34.
An appellate court may not find an abuse of discretion based on the fact that
viewing the record de novo, it would have found a particular argument more
persuasive. See AAAA Ents., Inc. v. River Place Community Urban Redevelopment
Corp., 50 Ohio St.3d 157, 161 (1990) (“It is not enough that the reviewing court,
were it deciding the issue de novo, would not have found that reasoning process to
be persuasive, perhaps in view of countervailing reasoning processes that would
support a contrary result.”).
       {¶ 24} On the other hand, the standard does not require an appellate court
to provide complete deference to a trial court. “‘“The term discretion itself involves
the idea of choice, of an exercise of the will, of a determination made between
competing considerations.”’” Nakoff v. Fairview Gen. Hosp., 1996-Ohio-159,
¶ 13, quoting State v. Jenkins, 15 Ohio St.3d 164, 222 (1984), quoting Spalding v.
Spalding, 355 Mich. 382, 384 (1959). We have therefore recognized that a trial
court abuses its discretion when its decision is “so palpably and grossly violative
of fact or logic that it evidences not the exercise of will but the perversity of will,
not the exercise of judgment but the defiance of judgment, not the exercise of reason
but instead passion or bias.” Id., citing Jenkins at 222.
       {¶ 25} Ultimately, the abuse-of-discretion standard focuses on the
fundamental soundness of a trial court’s decision. We frequently speak of matters
being committed not simply to the discretion of the trial court but, rather, to the
sound discretion of the trial court. See, e.g., State v. Sage, 31 Ohio St.3d 173
(1987), paragraph two of the syllabus (“The admission or exclusion of relevant
evidence rests within the sound discretion of the trial court.” [Emphasis added.]);
State v. Xie, 62 Ohio St.3d 521 (1992), paragraph two of the syllabus (“The decision
to grant or deny a presentence motion to withdraw a guilty plea is within the sound
discretion of the trial court.” [Emphasis added.]). An abuse of discretion therefore




                                          12
                                 January Term, 2026




“includes a situation in which a trial court did not engage in a ‘sound reasoning
process.’” (Emphasis added.) State v. Hickman, 2024-Ohio-5747, ¶ 32, quoting
AAAA Ents. at 161.
         {¶ 26} To avoid reversal, then, a trial court is not obligated to determine
which arguments would be most persuasive to the appellate court. See AAAA Ents.,
50 Ohio St.3d at 161. It is, however, obligated to ensure that its decision does not
indicate that it may have ignored facts or judged them against an indeterminable
standard. Such a decision is “arbitrary” and an abuse of discretion. See State v.
Beasley, 2018-Ohio-16, ¶ 12 (explaining that a decision is “arbitrary” if it is made
without consideration of or regard for facts or circumstances, without an adequate
determining principle, or not governed by any fixed rules or standard).
         {¶ 27} And finally:


         “No court—not a trial court, not an appellate court, nor even a
         supreme court—has the authority, within its discretion, to commit
         an error of law.” . . . This should be axiomatic: a court does not have
         discretion to misapply the law. A court has discretion to settle
         factual disputes or to manage its docket, for example, but it does not
         have discretion to apply the law incorrectly. That is why courts
         apply a de novo standard when reviewing issues of law.


Johnson v. Abdullah, 2021-Ohio-3304, ¶ 38, quoting State v. Boles, 2010-Ohio-
278, ¶ 26 (2d. Dist.).
         {¶ 28} In the case of motions to seal criminal records, if the movant meets
the criteria for sealing criminal records, the court must do so.             See R.C.
2953.32(D)(2)(a) (“The court . . . shall [subject to several exceptions] order all
official records of the case that pertain to the conviction or bail forfeiture
sealed . . . .”).




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       {¶ 29} The trial court in this case abused its discretion. After holding a
hearing on J.B.’s applications to seal her convictions, it concluded that “[n]o
evidence of rehabilitation was offered aside from [J.B.’s] general statement,
‘[T]hat’s just not me anymore.’” That conclusion is plainly contradicted by the
record. At the hearing, J.B. explained that she was working as a licensed parenting
counselor and pursuing advanced credentialing in the field of social work.
Specifically, she was completing an internship as part of a program to obtain a
doctorate of social work. Additional licensing would require a background check,
however, so she sought to have her records sealed to move forward in her
profession. Finally, J.B. noted that she had previously obtained a certificate of
qualification for employment (“CQE”) from the court.             See R.C. 2953.25
(“Certificate of qualification for employment of persons subject to collateral
sanctions”).
       {¶ 30} This evidence is indicative of rehabilitation. The fact that J.B.
obtained work as a licensed parenting counselor and the fact that she was pursuing
an advanced degree to further her career both support the conclusion that she has
moved forward in her life. Her efforts to obtain a CQE further support that
conclusion. As the court of appeals explained, “CQEs are a form of postconviction
relief designed to assist persons with criminal records in obtaining employment by
‘remov[ing] the automatic disqualification from employment or occupational
licensure in certain fields.’” (Bracketed text in original.) 2024-Ohio-1879, ¶ 20
(1st Dist.), quoting In re Sanders, 2024-Ohio-717, ¶ 8 (1st Dist.).              R.C.
2953.25(C)(3) establishes that a CQE may be issued only if the trial court finds by
a preponderance of the evidence that the individual has established the following:


               (a) Granting the petition will materially assist the individual
       in obtaining employment or occupational licensing.




                                         14
                                January Term, 2026




               (b) The individual has a substantial need for the relief
       requested in order to live a law-abiding life.
               (c) Granting the petition would not pose an unreasonable risk
       to the safety of the public or any individual.


       {¶ 31} To be clear, I am not stating that the trial court had an obligation to
assign this evidence any particular amount of weight. It was free to view the
evidence as significant or not—or something in between. The weight to be given
to evidence such as that before the trial court here is a matter squarely within the
trial court’s discretion. See AAAA Ents., 50 Ohio St.3d at 161 (stating that an abuse
of discretion may not be found simply because the appellate court does not find the
trial court’s “reasoning process to be persuasive, perhaps in view of countervailing
reasoning processes that would support a contrary result”). Here, however, the trial
court’s decision does not even acknowledge this evidence of rehabilitation. Instead,
the trial court found that “[n]o evidence of rehabilitation was offered aside from
[J.B.’s] general statement, ‘[T]hat’s just not me anymore.’” That conclusion belies
the record and indicates that the trial court either ignored the evidence discussed
above, relied on a novel and unusual definition of “rehabilitation,” or judged the
evidence against an indeterminable standard. Whatever the cause, the trial court’s
statement indicates that its decision was “arbitrary” and an abuse of discretion. See
Beasley, 2018-Ohio-16, at ¶ 12.
       {¶ 32} Nonetheless, the court of appeals was not authorized to directly order
the relief J.B. sought, even though it found error in the trial court’s judgment, see
2024-Ohio-1879 at ¶ 31 (1st Dist.). The court of appeals indicated that the trial
court erred by “point[ing] to the number of [J.B.’s] convictions as evidence of her
lack of rehabilitation.” Id. at ¶ 21. A closer reading of the trial court’s decision,
however, shows that it focused not simply on the number of J.B.’s convictions but
on the fact that she continued to be convicted of crimes after committing the




                                         15
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offenses she sought to have sealed. For instance, the trial court observed that since
her 2016 conviction for obstructing official business, J.B. had been convicted of
leaving the scene of an accident in 2017 and later convicted of theft offenses in
2018 and 2019.         That temporal focus could be appropriate.               See R.C.
2953.32(D)(1)(h)(iii) (providing that a trial court considering whether an applicant
is rehabilitated may consider the “cessation or continuation of criminal behavior”).
However, it appears that no further offenses occurred thereafter—a matter left
unconsidered by the trial court.
        {¶ 33} I also note that although the State did not object to J.B.’s
applications, that fact is not determinative of the trial court’s decision. In addition,
I agree with the majority that the court of appeals could not substitute its judgment
for that of the trial court in reviewing the competing interests at stake. See majority
opinion, ¶ 18-20.
        {¶ 34} In light of these conclusions, I would reverse the judgment of the
First District Court of Appeals and vacate the judgments of the trial court. I would
remand the five cases at issue to the trial court for it to reconsider J.B.’s applications
to seal her convictions in accordance with the principles of law set forth above. I
therefore concur in part and dissent in part.
                                __________________
        Connie M. Pillich, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney, and John D.
Hill, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, for appellant.
        Raymond T. Faller, Hamilton County Public Defender, and Sarah E.
Nelson, Assistant Public Defender, for appellee.
        Verjine V. Adanalian, urging affirmance for amicus curiae Ohio Justice &
Policy Center.
        Kessler Defense, L.L.C., and Stephanie Kessler, urging affirmance for
amicus curiae Addiction Response Coalition of Hamilton County.
                                __________________




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