Court reorganization plan falls short of the mark

There’s a phrase that grew out of the sinking of the world’s greatest passenger ocean liner of its time that aptly describes the court consolidation plan for Mahoning County: Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Governments in Mahoning County are facing economic dislocations as never before, and with the overall population not only declining, but getting older, the future is not bright.

Yet, the public officials who control the purse-strings demonstrate no sense of urgency when it comes to making government leaner and more cost-effective.

For more than two decades, this newspaper has urged the adoption of an aggressive plan to reorganize the court system below the Common Pleas level. It would take the current 13 judgeships and reduce them to seven. It would also get rid of duplicative court staffs.

There are now three municipal judges in Youngstown, one each in Campbell and Struthers, four part-time judges in the Mahoning County Court and mayor’s court judges in Poland, New Middletown, Lowellville and Canfield. As has been said in this space and by long-time practitioners of the law and observers of the court system, what Mahoning County now has is archaic and a waste of money.

Seven full-time metropolitan court judges under one roof would result in savings. Yet, for more than two decades, the special interests — read that judges and the staffs of the various courts — have successfully fought any true consolidation attempt.

The keyword is true — which does not describe the plan that was made public recently. The plan was developed by the independent, non-profit National Center for State Courts. The Williamsburg-based company was hired by the Mahoning County Bar Association in response to the growing demand by taxpayers to make the criminal justice system more cost-effective.

At the beginning of the assignment we had high hopes that the National Center would recognize the need for Mahoning County to take an aggressive stance. However, as word filtered out about the plan being developed, it became evident that the focus would be on location rather than actual positions.

Details of the plan were published on the front page of The Vindicator. There was no mention of eliminating actual positions. But even rearranging the deck chairs, in a manner of speaking, won’t occur immediately. The National Center has recommended a six-year time-frame, while Atty. Scott Cochran, who was president of the bar association when the study was launched in 2009, said a 10-year implementation period is more realistic.

Public pensions

Pardon our skepticism, but just as those public employees with the most to lose 20 years ago fought the creation of a metropolitan court system, employees today whose goal is to protect their jobs until they can retire on full pensions will block major changes to the system.

We predict a lot lip service being given, but when it’s time to implement the recommendations, excuses will be made for non-action.

Indeed, the creation of a county-wide municipal court system will require moving the three Youngstown municipal judges to a new location, which will take money that isn’t available. The judgeships in Campbell and Struthers would be located in the Campbell Court. That isn’t consolidation, it’s relocation.

Placing three of the four part-time county court judgeships in one location — Sebring would remain on its own — would necessitate the construction of a new courthouse at an estimated cost of $8 million.

The plan that has been made public leaves a lot to be desired.