Visiting judge requested in case against Polivka

STAFF REPORT

WARREN — Judge Terry Ivanchak of Warren Municipal Court has asked the Ohio Supreme Court to assign a visiting judge to the case involving a domestic violence charge filed against Dan Polivka, a Trumbull County commissioner.

Officials have said a visiting judge would be needed because Polivka’s position as commissioner creates a potential conflict of interest among any of the municipal court judges in the county system.

Polivka pleaded innocent to the misdemeanor charge last week and was released on bond. He is set to return to court at 10:15 a.m. Sept. 17 before Judge Ivanchak for a pretrial hearing.

His wife, JoAnn Polivka, alleged that the commissioner rammed his golf cart into hers Friday afternoon at Avalon South golf course on East Market Street in Howland, threw her male companion’s golf clubs onto the golf course, grabbed his wife by the neck with both hands and struck her on the cheek.

If convicted on the charge, Polivka could get up to six months in jail.