Mahoning County Juvenile Court requests same budget amount for 2012

YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County’s juvenile court has seen encouraging progress toward breaking the cycle of juvenile delinquency that leads to adult crime, but that doesn’t mean the court needs less money next year, the court administrator told the county commissioners.

Because the court has been using federal and state money to compensate for lost county general-fund revenue in recent years, the court is seeking for 2012 the same $5.7 million allocation it got this year, said Judge Theresa Dellick.

“The worst thing you could do as a board is to look at the numbers and equate that to mean that we do not need the funding we have received in the past because delinquency is down,” Anthony D’Apolito, magistrate and court administrator, told the commissioners during a budget hearing today.

County department heads have been meeting with commissioners as part of the process toward preparing a final 2012 general-fund budget by Dec. 15. The final 2011 budget totaled $53.9 million; requests so far for next year total $64.9 million. The general fund is the county’s main operating fund.

For the complete story, read Wednesday's Vindicator and Vindy.com