Ohio judge must catch up on signing 700 cases

DELAWARE, Ohio (AP) — A judge in central Ohio must put his signature on paperwork for as many as 700 divorce cases where he had delegated the signing to magistrates.

That didn’t fly with a state appeals court, which ruled late last month in a case from Judge Everett Krueger’s court that a judge must sign the entries.

The Delaware County Common Pleas judge told The Columbus Dispatch on Wednesday that no divorces are invalid. But he says to be safe he’s going through all the cases and signing off on the ones that magistrates had taken care of.

The newspaper says court employees are reviewing divorce files going back five years.

Judge Krueger says he had magistrates sign final agreements on property settlements and child custody and support in the interest of speed.