Youngstown judges, mayor mediate with Supreme Court over facilities

By Marc Kovac

The top court’s closed-door mediation procedure can take weeks or months.

COLUMBUS — Youngstown municipal judges and city officials began mediation here Tuesday in an ongoing legal dispute over court facilities.

In May, municipal Judges Elizabeth A. Kobly, Robert A. Douglas Jr. and Robert P. Milich filed legal action with the Ohio Supreme Court against the city council, the law director and Mayor Jay Williams.

The judges allege that municipal court facilities “have been entirely inadequate, and the court facility is not clean, adequately heated and air-conditioned or adequately maintained.”

The judges ordered Williams and city council on Jan. 26 to provide a bigger, better equipped court facility. The mayor and council didn’t comply with the order, so the judges filed the complaint with the Supreme Court. City officials agree that the municipal court’s current condition needs to be improved, but the city cannot afford the estimated $8 million for a new facility. In late June, Chief Justice Thomas Moyer referred the case for mediation.

Bret Crow, a spokesman for the Ohio Supreme Court, confirmed Tuesday that the proceedings had started. The sessions are not open to the public, and a resolution was not expected Tuesday. Mediation can stretch out over weeks or months. If an agreement is not reached, the case will be returned to the docket for further legal proceedings.

The Youngstown case is one of two pending before the Supreme Court in which judges are seeking increased resources. Another was filed by judges in Medina County against the county commissioners.

That one, too, has been referred for mediation, according to Chris Davey, Supreme Court spokesman.