Legal Question in Criminal Law in Ohio

What that means is that your friend was charged with a felony, the most serious class of cases (the other, less serious class are misdemeanors). Felony cases are handled in the common pleas court. The municipal court can't handle felony cases, so if someone is arrested on a felony charge, the municipal court has to dismiss the charges. That is the "dismissal" part.

For the "direct indictment" part, normally felony charges are brought in common pleas court through the issuance of an indictment. To get an indictment, the prosecutor takes the evidence they have against the person and presents it, along with any witnesses they have, to a grand jury. If the grand jury, which is essentially just a group of jurors selected for this rather than to hear an actual trial, decides that the prosecutor has presented sufficient evidence that the person in question committed the crime he or she is being accused of, then an indictment is issued. The person does not get to present his or her own evidence to the grand jury, and in fact most grand jury proceedings are secret. In the most simple terms, an indictment is a complaint alleging the person committed a felony offense.

So by the case saying it was dismissed for future indictment, that means the municipal court has dismissed it but the prosecutor intends to present evidence to a grand jury to get an indictment in common pleas court. Unfortunately for this person you know that means that the prosecutor intends to charge her with a felony. It is possible that the grand jury will not find enough evidence to indict her, but this doesn't happen often. If she has not already done so, I suggest she meet with an attorney to discuss the case and to make sure she is ready if/when she gets notice of the felony charges being brought against her.

If you or this other person have any further questions or if she would like to discuss her case in more detail, feel free to contact me.