Sunday, January 23, 2011
While the final version of the Mahoning County Court Consolidation Study won’t be ready for at least four months, one thing is certain: It will not contain a recommendation to maintain the status quo for the courts below the Common Pleas level.
Unfortunately, the study also may not call for the immediate creation of a metropolitan court system to replace the municipal courts in Youngstown, Campbell and Struthers, the area courts in Austintown, Boardman, Canfield and Sebring, and the mayor’s courts in Poland, New Middletown, Lowellville and Canfield.
A preliminary report by the National Center for State Courts in Williamsburg, Va., confirms what advocates for consolidation have long argued: That when it comes to the part-time judges in the communities other than Youngstown, which has three full-timers, a change is necessary.
“NCSC’s view is that the professionalization of the judiciary in Mahoning County dictates full-time judges who work full-time, if not today, then tomorrow,” the preliminary report states.
As we have argued time and again in pushing for the creation of a metropolitan court system, having municipal, county and mayor’s courts is not only a waste of money, but is archaic. In these troubled economic times, local governments are being forced to find cheaper ways of serving the public. The criminal justice system in Mahoning County, which has been called dysfunctional in an independent analysis, accounts for the largest share of the general fund budget. Given that the county is facing a decrease in state funding, cuts will have to made.
Likewise, the city of Youngstown, with its declining population, must find ways to do more with less. Can city government justify three full-time judges and all the other court personnel? That’s a question we hope the study will answer. If not, we would urge Mayor Jay Williams to ask the Ohio Supreme Court to conduct a review of the municipal court.
While we are encouraged by the findings in the preliminary report, we are disappointed that the formation of the metropolitan court system may not be implemented quickly.
“Complete structural, administrative and budgetary consolidation, if it can be achieved at all, will take many years and should be planned as [a] long-term process,” the report states.
Why the uncertainty about achieving what many taxpayers in the county have been awaiting for more than two decades?
Fast track
We urge the National Center for State Courts to determine what it would take to put the metropolitan system on a fast track. The county’s stakeholders — the taxpayers — have had many years to think about the issue.
Indeed, county Bar Association President Atty. Scott Cochran has focused on consolidation since he took office, and is the reason the study is being conducted. The bar association received a $50,000 grant from the State Justice Institute and secured $5,000 in local funding. In addition, the NCSC is contributing $15,000 in staff time.
We can talk the issue to death, or we can act to change the dysfunctional court system in Mahoning County. The time has come to act.
The study should provide a road map for quickly achieving the goal of a new system below the Common Pleas level.