Judge: Council can't change this court

By D.a. Wilkinson

The judge said council has no authority over her court.

EAST LIVERPOOL — The elimination of East Liverpool Municipal Court and making it part of the Columbiana County court system, a plan proposed by city council, isn’t going to happen.

City Councilman Ryan Stovall proposed the issue Monday night, and council passed it.

The move was apparently an attempt to save the city money.

But Judge Melissa Byers-Emmerling, who has been running the East Liverpool court for 20 years, said Tuesday that council’s action is “really a non-issue.”

The judge said the issue of eliminating the municipal court “raises its head every couple of years” and then dies down.

The city council, she said, has “no authority” to change the court system.

Judge Byers-Emmerling said the court districts are created by state legislators through a long and detailed process.

The city’s municipal court is about 100 years old.

The rest of the county is served by the two Columbiana County Municipal Courts in Lisbon. The county courts replaced an “area court” system that had jurisdictional problems with some minor civil cases.

The East Liverpool court jurisdiction includes the city and St. Clair and Liverpool townships. The two townships pay a portion of the city’s municipal court cost. The city pays the court about $360,000 a year.

The court, however, raises about $681,000 per year in fees from defendants that Judge Byers-Emmerling puts into programing. She said she sends an annual report to council and other city officials that details the court’s activities.

One activity is the Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor program in which an ankle monitor is placed on people convicted of multiple drunken-driving charges. The device detects alcohol in a defendant’s sweat and alerts probation officers.

The fees also fund intensive supervised probation plans, litter pickup as part of community service and wages of staff.

If council’s plan is to become a county court and use the municipal court building in Lisbon, the judge said it would be a huge logistical effort to constantly transport prisoners back and forth to the county seat.

Stovall and East Liverpool Mayor James P. Swoger could not be reached for additional comment.

Penny Traina, president of the county commissioners, said the city’s vote “came as a complete surprise.”

She said the commissioners would have to get a legal opinion on any change to the court system. “It needs to be looked into,” she added.

wilkinson@vindy.com