Thursday, December 21, 2006
Give us proper jail access and court security, the chief judge of county court said.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County has the busiest county court system in Ohio and among the most productive systems in the state, Judge Joseph Houser, administrative and presiding judge, told county commissioners Wednesday.
Together, the county courts in Boardman, Canfield, Austintown and Sebring handled 31,000 new cases in 2005, which amounted to an average of about 7,500 cases a year for each of the four part-time judges. That puts the local judges' productivity 70 percent higher per judge than the state average, he said.
In presenting budget requests for 2007, Judge Houser said that the courts need a county jail that takes and keeps prisoners.
"We need to have as much access to the jail as possible," for the courts to function in the best possible manner, Judge Houser said, noting that crowded county jail conditions have been forcing the sheriff to furlough prisoners.
Austintown remained the state's busiest county court with about 12,000 new cases, with Boardman in fourth place with 9,100 cases, he said. The statewide average is 4,500 per court location.
"Fifteen percent of all new county court cases filed in the state of Ohio are filed in Mahoning County. However, Mahoning County has 81/2 percent of the county court judges, so, effectively, we're doing much more than the average judge," Judge Houser said.
The county courts here led the state by handling 1,100 new felony cases (serious criminal offenses), which is a full 20 percent of the 5,500 statewide. Boardman was the busiest county court in the state for new felony filings at 500, and Austintown was third with 330.
The county courts here also led the state by handling 1,100 new drunken-driving cases out of the statewide total of 7,800. Austintown court was third in the state with 439 new drunken- driving cases, and Boardman was fifth with 329.
In the account that pays salaries of judges and their staffs, jury and witness fees and other court operating expenses out of the county's general fund, Judge Houser asked commissioners for 581,204 for 2007, compared to the 545,000 he expects to spend in 2006.
Other accounts
In the account that pays probation officers' salaries out of the county's general fund, the judge asked for 199,745 for 2007, compared to 190,000 he expects to spend in 2006. The increases in those accounts are due in part to 3 percent salary increases proposed for all employees except judges and to increases in health-care costs, he explained.
In the account that pays other probation office expenses out of probation fees, he asked for 42,850 for 2007, compared to the 50,988 he expects to spend in 2006. The decline is due to carryover of unspent funds from 2006 in that account, he said.
Judge Houser also told commissioners the county courts rely on the sheriff's department to provide court security and that four deputies are generally needed for each criminal court session.
The county courts dispose of traffic and misdemeanor (minor criminal) cases and minor civil cases and conduct initial appearances and preliminary hearings in felony cases. The four judges are Houser in Boardman, Scott Hunter in Canfield, David D'Apolito in Austintown and Diane Vettori in Sebring. The county courts have four bailiffs, a court administrator, a magistrate and four probation department employees.