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Judges propose additional court in county
The Columbiana County Bar Association has recommended creation of the new court.
LISBON — The Columbiana County commissioners said they will study a proposal to create a new Domestic Relations Court in the county.
Common Pleas Court Judges David Tobin and C. Ashley Pike proposed the idea Wednesday.
They cited the rising number and complexity of family law cases as the reasons for the addition. The judges also cited the rising number of criminal cases.
Now, the two domestic relations court magistrates, Coleen Hall Dailey and Kathleen Bartlett, hear the cases and make rulings that the judges have to review and approve.
If the county moves forward with the plan, an election contest for the new post would occur in 2010, and the new judge would take the position starting in 2011.
The proposal would save money, according to the judges.
The salary for a common pleas court judge in the county is $116,000 a year. The state would pay $102,000 a year along with life insurance and retirement, disability and survivor benefits.
The combined annual salaries of the magistrates total $142,574. One of those positions would be eliminated if the new post is approved.
The county has a combination juvenile and probate court position, which is held by Judge Thomas M. Baronzzi.
The proposed domestic relations court would be on the same legal level as the two common pleas courts and the probate and juvenile courts. That means the judges could fill in for one another in a crunch, which has happened a few times in the past.
Judge Tobin said the proposal would go to the Ohio Supreme Court for review, and, if approved, then go to the Legislature for approval.
The Columbiana County Bar Association has already approved the idea.
Judge Baronzzi supports the creation of a domestic relations court. But in a letter to the state Supreme Court, he said he opposed the possible creation of a family court. A family court, under state law, would combine domestic relations with the juvenile court.
The present juvenile and probate combination is “reasonable and manageable for the population and demographic complexion of our county,” he wrote.
The juvenile court duties now take up two-thirds to three-fourths of his time, and a family court creation would overwhelm one judge, he added.
Judge Tobin presented the commissioners with information that there have been more domestic relations cases than criminal and civil cases combined in the past 20 years.
“The time is now,” Judge Pike told commissioners.
Judge Tobin said he was not sure if the judges could present the proposal to the state Supreme Court if the commissioners do not favor it.
The courthouse has two small courtrooms that can continue to be used to hear domestic relations, the judges said.
wilkinson@vindy.com