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Judges demand funds
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Mahoning County Commissioner John McNally IV
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Judge John Durkin listens to testimony - Terrance Tate, whose confession was suppressed by the 7th District Court of Appeals, 8:30 a.m. The prosecution is appealing the suppression to the Ohio Supreme Court. Tate faces the death penalty.
The $2.4 million request is a $300,000 increase over what the commissioners allocated for 2009.
YOUNGSTOWN — The five general-division Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judges have said they know best how much money they need to run their court, and they’ve demanded that their request be filled accordingly.
On Wednesday the judges signed a judgment entry ordering that their court get about $2.4 million from the county’s general fund this year — $2,399,269, to be exact.
“That is the amount of money that is required for us to do our jobs and to further the administration of justice. ...That includes no surplus,” said Judge Lou A. D’Apolito, presiding judge.
“There’s nothing to negotiate. We’re not asking for any amounts of money in excess of what our actual costs are,” Judge D’Apolito added.
“We’ve never requested more than we’ve needed. That is exactly what is needed to operate this court based upon past practice and this year’s projections,” said Judge John M. Durkin, administrative judge.
The amount the judges demanded exceeds the $2,352,520 the court spent in 2008 and far exceeds the $2.1 million the commissioners allocated for 2009.
“The court is in the best position to determine what amount of money is necessary to effectively discharge our duty under the Constitution,” the order says. “This court finds that the submitted budget is reasonable and necessary for the proper and effective administration of its duties,” the judges added.
“I’m somewhat disappointed at this point in time just because of the budget crunch that we’re under, but, to be realistic, I don’t think it’s unexpected,” county Commissioner John A. McNally IV said of the judges’ order.
The general-division budget includes the expenses for paying the court reporters, bailiffs and secretaries and operating the jury office and the office that assigns and schedules cases. The general division tries major civil and criminal cases. The five judges average 744 cases each on their dockets.
“The county commissioners just arbitrarily, without discussion of actual costs, arbitrarily and without much thought, reduced our budget by 10 percent,” Judge D’Apolito said.
“I believe that the budgets as a whole for Mahoning County were fair and reasonable,” McNally said of departmental budgets the commissioners enacted last week.
“Even though this court has demonstrated and exercised fiscal responsibility, the primary responsibility of judges is to our oath of office, and to insist that the proper administration of justice does not falter,” the judges said.
“The administration of justice by the judicial branch of the government cannot be impeded by the other branches of the government in the exercise of their respective powers,” the judges wrote.
If the commissioners don’t comply with the order, the judges could file a complaint with the 7th District Court of Appeals, but Judge Durkin said he’d have to meet with his colleagues before the judges would collectively decide what action to take.
Judge D’Apolito said he believes the county commissioners will comply with the order.
“I expect, like we’ve had to do in the past, that we’ll work with the courts and try to come up with a reasonable solution to their needs like we’ll attempt to do with Judge Belinky,” McNally said.
The order from the general division judges followed by one month an order from Judge Mark Belinky of Mahoning County Probate Court demanding a $915,715 budget, which was far above the $690,000 the commissioners allocated to the probate court last week. After the commissioners declined to fulfill his order, Judge Belinky said he plans to file a complaint in the 7th District Court of Appeals.
Recognizing the difficult economic climate when it submitted its 2009 budget, the court’s general-division judges unanimously agreed their employees would receive no pay raises or cost-of-living adjustments, and they decided not to hire an additional mediator and bailiff, the judges said.
The court declined to hire the additional mediator even though state officials recommended the hiring of extra mediators to handle the surge in foreclosure cases, the judges said.
The funding order was signed by Judges D’Apolito and Durkin, R. Scott Krichbaum, James C. Evans and Maureen A. Sweeney.
Paul J. Gains, county prosecutor, declined to comment on the general division judges’ order because he said the matter might “end up in litigation.”