As amended through June 11, 2024
Rule 51 - Issues; Trial by Jury or by the Court(A) Issues. Issues arise upon the pleadings when a fact or conclusion of law is maintained by one party and controverted by the other.(B) Issues of law; how tried. An issue of law shall be tried by the court.(C) Issues of fact; how tried. The trial of all issues of fact shall be by jury unless: (1) The parties or their attorneys of record, by written stipulation filed with the court or by an oral stipulation made in open court and entered in the record, consent to trial without a jury; or(2) The court, upon motion of a party or on its own initiative, finds that a right of trial by jury of some or all of those issues does not exist under the Constitution or statutes of this state.(D) Advisory jury and jury trial by consent. In all actions not triable by right to a jury, the court, upon motion of a party or on its own initiative, may try an issue with an advisory jury or it may, with the consent of all parties, order a trial to a jury whose verdict shall have the same effect as if trial to a jury had been a matter of right.