Polivka’s charge change explained

Staff report

WARREN

The domestic-violence charge against Dan Polivka, Trumbull County commissioner, was reduced to disorderly conduct Friday because Polivka completed an anger- management class.

Also, he had complied with all other orders of the court, the prosecutor handling the case said.

This is also the first time Polivka, 46, of Country Club Drive, had been charged with domestic violence, said Traci Timko, a Warren prosecutor.

Polivka was charged with domestic violence by Howland police in August after an altercation with his estranged wife, JoAnn, at Old Avalon Golf Course.

JoAnn had filed for divorce from the commissioner the previous May.

Polivka pleaded no contest Friday to disorderly conduct, was found guilty by a visiting judge and was fined $250.

Timko said a reduction to disorderly conduct, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, is a typical outcome for anyone with Polivka’s lack of criminal history and compliance with the court’s orders.