MAHONING COUNTY Probate court goes online with Web site

The court's Web address is www.mahoningcountyprobate.org.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County Probate Court is accessible via the Internet.
The court's Web site is online, after more than 18 months in the planning, said Judge Timothy P. Maloney. The address is www.mahoningcountyprobate.org.
The site includes general information about the court and detailed information about its services, including adoptions, decedent's estates, wills, guardianships, marriage licenses, trusts and wrongful death actions.
It also includes information about filing fees and a comprehensive listing of court rules, which Judge Maloney said should be helpful to lawyers. Court forms also can be downloaded from the site.
Judge Maloney said the site will be constantly updated to keep pace with changes in Ohio probate law.
Looking ahead
The judge said he plans eventually to expand the site to make all nonconfidential probate court records available online. That should be done by the end of the year.
"This would mean the public could access probate court records on any given case, check its progress, understand what issues may be pending before the court, the parties involved and the decisions made," he said.
The court's budgetary and administrative records also will be posted so the public can understand how the court conducts its business and devises and implements its budget, Judge Maloney said.
The site was developed as a cooperative effort between probate court staff and the county's data processing department.
It's the second court to go online in Mahoning County this year. The domestic relations court introduced its Web site in March.
bjackson@vindy.com