CUYAHOGA COUNTY - A controversial amendment to the rules governing criminal prosecution in Cuyahoga County will require prosecutors to submit all police reports, witness statements and other evidence to defense lawyers, a process known as “open discovery.”

Cuyahoga County judges voted Tuesday to adopt the amendment. They will hear public comments on the issue for 45 days before making another formal vote.

How much evidence prosecutors are required to disclose has been a contentious issue at the Justice Center in recent months. A new trial for a death row inmate was ordered earlier this year after an appeals court ruled prosecutors hid evidence. In another murder case, a judge ordered prosecutors to turn over their entire case files because she did not believe they disclosed evidence as they were required.

Until now, prosecutors could choose what to share and were required only to turn over evidence that might help the defendant. Prosecutors argue that this helped protect witnesses and victims of crime from retaliation.

But judges say the practice bogged down the system and was unfair to defendants who should know the evidence against them.

Judge Stuart Friedman, who served on the ad hoc committee that sponsored the rule change, said exchanging evidence earlier in the process saves time otherwise spent in numerous pretrial hearings, sharing information piecemeal.

“It’s more fair, and it’s more expeditious,” Friedman said. “I’m convinced that what we’re doing is right in every respect.”

The new rule not only requires that all evidence be turned over, but also sets deadlines for prosecutors to do so. Within one week after the initial pretrial hearing, prosecutors must deliver to defense lawyers a “discovery packet,” which includes: All police reports, statements of defendants and witnesses, names and addresses of witnesses, lab and hospital reports and criminal records of defendants and witnesses.

Defense lawyers who receive the packets must reciprocate by turning over discovery as well. And the exchange must be completed no later than a week before the start of trial. Any attorney who violates the deadline will be subject to sanctions set by the judge hearing the case.

Prosecutor Bill Mason said in a written statement Wednesday that his office is reviewing the judge’s proposal. “Our priority has been and will always be the protection of victims and witnesses from intimidation and physical harm during the discovery process,” he wrote.

Under the new guidelines, prosecutors can ask the judge for permission to exclude specific information that could jeopardize the safety of a victim or witness.

About 40 other jurisdictions in the state have adopted guidelines for open discovery, said Ian Friedman, president of the Ohio Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

“Any opposition to this rule change is based on the same old stale arguments,” Friedman said. “We know that people are wrongfully convicted all the time. How many will it take before enough is enough?”