[Cite as State v. Parks, 2016-Ohio-234.]

 

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF OHIO 

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT 

 CLARK COUNTY 

STATE OF OHIO 

Plaintiff-Appellee 

v. 

NORMAN L. PARKS 

Defendant-Appellant 

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Appellate Case No. 2015-CA-32 

Trial Court Case No. 95-CR-38 

(Criminal Appeal from 

 Common Pleas Court) 

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O P I N I O N 

Rendered on the 22nd day of January, 2016. 

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RYAN A. SAUNDERS, Atty. Reg. No. 0091678, Clark County Prosecutor’s Office, 50 East 

Columbia Street, Suite 449, Springfield, Ohio 45502 

 Attorney for Plaintiff-Appellee 

 

NORMAN L. PARKS, #A646-202, Madison Correctional Institution, Post Office Box 740, 

London, Ohio 43140-0740 

 Defendant-Appellant, pro se

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HALL, J. 

{¶ 1} Norman Parks appeals pro se arguing that the trial court should order the 

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction (DRC) to correct the aggregate of his 

consecutive indefinite felony sentences resulting from multiple cases. Finding no error, 
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we affirm. 

I. Background 

{¶ 2} In 1980, Parks was convicted of breaking and entering in Clark County and 

given an indefinite sentence of 2-5 years in prison. He was released on parole the 

following year. In 1983, while on parole, Parks was convicted of aggravated burglary in 

Franklin County and given an indefinite sentence of 7-25 years in prison. He was released 

on parole six years later. In 1995, while on parole, Parks was convicted of burglary in 

Clark County and given an indefinite 12-15 year sentence. Eight years later he was again 

released on parole. In 2010, while on parole, he was again convicted of breaking and 

entering in Clark County and was given a definite 7 month prison sentence. Although 

Parks’s definite 7 month sentence expired in August 2011, he remained in prison to serve 

the rest of his indefinite sentences because he had violated his parole. According to the 

DRC, the aggregate of Parks’s pre-1996 indefinite sentences is 21-45 years. 

{¶ 3} In October 2014, Parks filed, in the 1995 case, a pro se motion for conditional 

release asking the trial court for release from the 1980 and 1995 sentences imposed in 

Clark County. He argued that he had finished serving those sentences but that the DRC 

had not changed the minimum or maximum terms of his aggregate sentence. The trial 

court responded in November 2014 with a one-paragraph entry that states: “This 

defendant is being held on a Franklin County Case. The defendant has completed his 

sentences out of Clark County, Ohio. Accordingly, this Court no longer has jurisdiction 

over the defendant.” Entry (Nov. 10, 2014). Based on this entry, Parks filed, in December 

2014, a pro se motion asking the trial court for an order correcting his sentence. Citing 

the second sentence of the entry, Parks asked the court to order the DRC, and the Ohio 
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Bureau of Sentence Computation, to remove the 1980 and 1995 sentences from the 

aggregate. The trial court responded in March 2015 by vacating its November 2014 entry 

as being erroneous and overruled Parks’s motion. The court explained that because 

Parks had completed the 7-month sentence in the 2010 case, the court thought that he 

had completed all of his Clark County sentences. But it appears, said the court, that he 

violated his parole and is currently serving the remainder of his three pre-1996 sentences. 

{¶ 4} Parks appealed. 

II. Analysis 

{¶ 5} There are no assignments of error in Parks’s pro se appellate brief. It 

appears, however, that Parks is alleging that the trial court erred by refusing to order the 

DRC to remove the 1980 and 1995 sentences from the indefinite-sentence aggregate. 

Parks asks us to reverse the trial court’s March 2015 entry and to order the DRC to 

remove the sentences. 

{¶ 6} Parks’s argument focuses on the DRC. In his reply brief, he says that “[t]he 

gist of Defendant-Appellant’s argument is that neither the DRC nor the Parole Board has 

the authority to merge sentences.” Defendant-Appellant’s Response to PlaintiffAppellee’s Reply Brief, 2. He contends that through the DRC and Parole Board’s actions, 

the state “usurped judicial authority when it merged three sentences to come up with the 

21-to-45 year[] sentence.” Id. Parks says that the only issues before us are “1) does the 

DRC and/or Parole Board have the power or authority to overrule or change a judge’s 

sentence passed down in a court of law; and 2) can the DRC and/or Parole Board do 

away with the expiration date of a sentence given to a defendant?” Id. at 3. 

{¶ 7} The trial court does not have the authority to make the indefinite-sentence 
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determinations that Parks challenges here. When multiple sentences have been imposed 

for pre-1996 offenses (those committed before S.B. 2 went into effect), it is the DRC that 

determines the minimum, maximum, and definite sentences. See Davis v. Dept. Of 

Rehab. and Corr., 10th Dist. Franklin No. 14AP-337, 2014-Ohio-4589, ¶ 16, fn. 4 (saying 

that Ohio Adm.Code 5120-2-03 sets forth the rules that the DRC uses to make these 

determinations for such sentences). Moreover, the trial court lacks jurisdiction to enter a 

judgment against the DRC in this case, because the DRC is not a party. See Rite Rug 

Co. v. Wilson, 106 Ohio App.3d 59, 62, 665 N.E.2d 260 (10th Dist.1995) (“A court lacks 

jurisdiction to enter judgment against a defendant where effective service of process has 

not been made upon the defendant and the defendant has not appeared in the case or 

otherwise waived service.”), citing Maryhew v. Yova, 11 Ohio St.3d 154, 156, 464 N.E.2d 

538 (1984). 

{¶ 8} If Parks believes the DRC is improperly detaining him, he must pursue such 

a claim—in the proper court—against the DRC. We express no opinion whether he may 

be entitled to such relief, but he must seek that relief in a separate action. 

{¶ 9} The trial court did not err as Parks alleges, so the court’s judgment is 

affirmed. 

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FROELICH, J., and WELBAUM, J., concur. 

Copies mailed to: 

Ryan A. Saunders 

Norman L. Parks 

Hon. Douglas M. Rastatter 
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