Municipal court’s dilemma

Municipal court’s dilemma

Youngstown Municipal Court judges went through the motions of asking City Council to appropriate $25,000 so that the court could hire a lawyer to sue the city (and by extension city council) to provide millions of dollars to build new court facilities.

Not surprisingly, city council declined. In the present economic climate, the court’s request was something akin to a sheriff asking a condemned man to buy a piece of rope so that the sheriff might hang the fellow.

The city does not have $25,000 to spare for a lawyer for the court. It does not have the money to spare to defend itself against a suit from the judges. And it certainly doesn’t have a spare $8 million or more to build a new courthouse or renovate a building to meet the court’s needs.

It’s a mess

There is no doubt that Youngstown Municipal Court facilities are woefully substandard. A courtroom should project a certain level of dignity. It shouldn’t be shabby or in disrepair. Court support staff should have suitable workspace in which to do their jobs. And certainly the courts should be secure places in which to do business.

These deficiencies should have been addressed years ago. In anticipation of doing so, the court instituted certain fees that are earmarked for a facilities account. Unfortunately, that account has grown to only $1.4 million.

And, unfortunately, the timing for a demand that the city supplement that account from its general fund could hardly be worse.

Youngstown, like every subdivision in this area and virtually every one in the nation, is going to be hard pressed to meet its primary obligations to the citizenry of providing police and fire protection and maintaining roads and bridges.

It’s possible that the court will be able to prevail upon the Ohio Supreme Court to issue an order that the city provide the judges whatever it is that they say they need. But the judges would then place themselves in the unenviable position of having to explain to the voters why the city should lay off police officers and firefighters to finance the construction of a courthouse.