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Chief justice addresses municipal-court issue
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Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Brown
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
YOUNGSTOWN
Youngstown Municipal Court is “unsafe,” and its “deplorable conditions make providing justice there a challenge,” said Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Brown.
The chief justice addressed the municipal-court issue and consolidation of courts below the common-pleas level here during a one-hour conversation Thursday with The Vindicator editorial board.
Gov. Ted Strickland selected him to replace Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer, who died in office April 2.
“Anyone who has seen how Youngstown Municipal Court is set up knows it is inviting trouble,” said Chief Justice Brown, who toured the court’s facilities earlier this year.
A melee in the municipal court’s hallway July 14 provided additional proof the current court facilities are unsafe and that major improvements — or a new courthouse — are needed, according to the municipal-court judges.
The disturbance came more than a year after the city judges filed a complaint with the Ohio Supreme Court demanding that the city’s administration and council provide the court with “suitable accommodations.”
Additionally, Elizabeth A. Kobly, the court’s administrative and presiding judge, sent a letter to the mayor and council saying there had been other security breaches, and that the problems would have been avoided if the city had a “properly trained, properly staffed security force.”
At the time, Mayor Jay Williams and Police Chief Jimmy Hughes responded by saying the quick response by officers to diffuse the brawl before it got out of control shows that the current system works, and only a few minor tweaks are needed.
The municipal-court judges have asked the state’s top court to compel the city administration and council to spend about $8 million to turn the city-hall-annex building at the corner of Front and Market streets into the municipal courthouse. The administration and council countered with a $6 million plan to improve the annex, which the judges rejected.
“Reasonable people have to sit down and come up with a solution,” Williams said, discussing the cash-strapped city’s plight.
That is pretty much Chief Justice Brown’s take on the situation. He said he could not comment on the municipal-court judges’ motion because it may come before the high court. But, he said he wants to facilitate conversation between the parties.
“We have to balance our paramount responsibility of keeping the courts open and making sure people have access to justice with awareness of the reality of the budget situations at the state and local levels and being respectful of the taxpayer,” he said.
Chief Justice Brown also sees consolidation of courts below the common-pleas level as a way to improve facilities and keep costs down.
The community should be looking at providing better facilities, but the courts should be looking at sharing facilities. The issue will get only worse here if nothing is done, he added.
He noted other areas in the state are moving toward consolidation.
For instance, Montgomery County has developed a courts-consolidation plan that will be phased in over 11 years, the chief justice said.
“Even if its takes a long period of attrition, it is important to get started on the path of consolidation,” he said.
He is running for election to the chief-justice position in November against Justice Maureen O’Connor. He is the only Democrat on the court.