Youngstown judge questions court consolidation proposal

YOUNGSTOWN

A municipal judge raised a legal question and a county court judge and a state senator raised financial questions about the Mahoning County Bar Association’s recently announced proposal to consolidate the county’s lower courts and eliminate part-time judgeships.

Judge Elizabeth Kobly of Youngstown Municipal Court wondered how cities, such as Campbell and Struthers, could be forced to abolish their municipal courts.

“How can you force a municipality to give up their court?” she asked. “The cities are entitled to have their courts,” she said, adding that she wasn’t sure if state legislation could change that.

However, she observed: “There’s a lot of wasted

resources into all these different courts in the different places, and consolidation just makes sense.”

Judge Kobly said court consolidation is “long overdue” and that she favors elimination of part-time judgeships.

The bar association said having part-time judges creates a perception of conflict between their judicial roles and their private law practices. Full-time judges don’t have private law practices.

Read more on the issue in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.