MAHONING COUNTY Payment of lawyers' fees will end judges' 2003 fight for more court funding

Commissioners will meet with elected officials to discuss the 2004 budget.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Nearly a year after it started, Mahoning County commissioners are expected to close the book this week on their budget fight with two county judges.
Commissioners will vote Thursday on payment of more than $46,000 in legal fees for attorneys John B. Juhasz and Mary Jane Stephens, who were hired to represent judges Timothy P. Maloney and Theresa Dellick in a lawsuit against commissioners.
The judges filed lawsuits in the Ohio Supreme Court in January because commissioners did not provide them with all the funding they had requested for the courts for this year.
Judge Maloney sought $922,000 and was allocated $750,000 for probate court. Judge Dellick asked for $6.9 million but was budgeted $4.6 million for juvenile court.
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in the judges' favor in September, and commissioners allocated Judge Maloney's additional funding in October. Later the same month, they allocated an additional $925,000 to the juvenile court, which Judge Dellick agreed to accept as a compromise.
Lawyers' fees
The county prosecutor usually represents county officials in civil lawsuits, but Prosecutor Paul Gains could not represent the judges because he opted to side with commissioners in the budget fight. The judges hired Juhasz and Stephens to represent them, and by law, the county has to pay their fees.
Juhasz submitted bills of $11,971 for the juvenile court case and $11,587 for his work on the probate court case. Stephens submitted bills of $14,588 for juvenile court and $8,518 for probate court. Gains said the bills are reasonable, so the county isn't contesting them.
County Administrator Gary Kubic said commissioners will transfer money to each court's account Thursday, so the judges can pay the bills.
"They hired them; they should be able to pay them," Kubic said. "We're just going to set the money aside and we're done."
Funding cuts
Commissioner Ed Reese said commissioners will close the book on that fight just in time to brace for another round of funding cuts next year.
Commissioner Vicki Allen Sherlock said the fact that taxpayers have to pay for the judges' legal fees "just leaves a bad taste in my mouth." Like Reese, she fears commissioners could end up in a similar situation next year.
Budget Director Elizabeth Sublette said 2004 budget requests from general fund departments are some $13 million more than the $48 million she expects to have available.
"There is nothing to dispute that those departments need what they're requesting," Sublette said. "We just don't have the money."
Commissioners have invited all general-fund department heads to a meeting Thursday morning to discuss the budget situation. They're hoping officials will help come up with ways to make the necessary cuts.
"We need to work together to get this thing worked out," Commissioner David Ludt said. "How do we make up that $13 million difference? We're open to suggestions."
Commissioners will have separate budget hearings Tuesday for the juvenile and probate courts.