In 1983, interested groups came together to explore how Ohio could better inform students about their constitutional rights and responsibilities and fill a void in law-related education.  A coalition of the Ohio State Bar Association, Ohio Attorney General Anthony Celebrezze, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation strongly believed that partnerships between the educational and legal communities could effectively achieve this goal and together founded Ohio Mock Trial, a statewide high school mock trial program. The Supreme Court of Ohio, which is also a strong proponent of law and citizenship education, became a program sponsor in June 1988.

Today, OCLRE con­tin­ues to pro­vide pro­grams fo­cused on: 

1. imparting practical law-related information to students and teachers,
2. developing problem-solving and critical thinking skills for students, and
3. providing positive engagement between students and the community.