On Monday, June 8, 2026, Sarah Carpenter filed a complaint for writs of procedendo and mandamus in the Supreme Court of Ohio, alleging that administrative officials in Seneca County have deliberately delayed processing an emergency protection order.

Carpenter, acting as the Relator, claims that Administrative Judge Damon Alt and the Clerk of the Seneca County Court of Common Pleas have failed to perform their statutory duties by not immediately docketing, processing, and executing a hearing for an ex parte emergency protection order.

The complaint stems from an incident on June 2, 2026, where Carpenter alleges that Tiffin-Fostoria Municipal Court Judge Rhonda L. Best used her personal vehicle to tail, shadow, and block Carpenter’s car in a parking lot. Carpenter stated that this action occurred shortly after she received confirmation of an Office of Disciplinary Counsel grievance and filed a Writ of Prohibition. She asserts that this alleged intimidation by Judge Best, a local judicial colleague, has left her unprotected due to the local administrative infrastructure’s alleged abandonment of neutrality.

Carpenter further claims that after filing her petition for a Civil Stalking Protection Order (CSPO) and an Emergency Motion for Assignment of an Out-of-County Visiting Judge on June 4, 2026, the respondents actively delayed its processing. She states it required multiple phone calls and faxes to obtain a case number, and that she was subsequently informed that the respondents refused to docket an ex parte hearing, assign a judge, or contact the Supreme Court for a visiting judge.

Carpenter contends that the respondents cited a local court classification sheet as a pretext for freezing the filing, and that she only learned of this administrative blockade by calling the court herself.

As of June 8, 2026, Carpenter alleges that the respondents continue to suppress the file, leaving an active judicial officer free to move without an ex parte safety order in place. She argues that under Ohio Revised Code § 2903.214, the court is mandated to commit to an immediate, same-day ex parte hearing for protection order petitions, and that holding such an order in administrative limbo constitutes an abdication of judicial duty.

Carpenter is requesting that the Supreme Court issue an Emergency Writ of Procedendo to compel the respondents to move the protection case forward, assign a case track, and schedule the ex parte hearing. Additionally, she seeks a Writ of Mandamus to compel the respondents to transmit the file to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court for the formal appointment of an out-of-county Visiting Judge. She also requests any further immediate, protective relief deemed necessary to ensure her personal safety from local official overreach.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.