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Gerberry, Hagan seek action to abolish judge by next month
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Two lawmakers introduced legislation at the Statehouse on Wednesday to abolish one of Youngstown’s three municipal judge posts.
House Bill 606 was offered by Reps. Bob Hagan of Youngstown, D-60th, and Ron Gerberry of Austintown, D-59th, who hope it will move before the end of the legislative session next month. The legislation would eliminate the seat that was vacated when Judge Robert A. Douglas Jr. retired earlier this year.
According to the two lawmakers, the three-judge system has been in place for nearly 60 years and was established when the city had about 150,000 residents.
A decreasing population and caseload were cited as reasons for eliminating one judgeship.
The Mahoning County Bar Association and other groups support the move, though the issue has prompted much local debate.
“After multiple meetings, study groups and forums, the time to act is now,” Hagan said in a released statement.
Gerberry added, “I think there’s pretty broad consensus by all interested parties that this is the right thing to do. It’s right for the court system, and more importantly, it’s right for the taxpayers.”