Appellate court official retires

YOUNGSTOWN — In his 37 years with the 7th District Court of Appeals, Robert Budinsky saw the court go from typewriters and carbon paper to the computer age.

As court administrator since 1987, he guided the court through its 2006 move from cramped quarters in the Mahoning County Courthouse to its own new $3.4 million freestanding building at 131 W. Federal St. downtown.

A retirement reception will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday at the court for Budinsky, whose last day on the job was Dec. 24.

“I think the crowning achievement is where we are right now,” Budinsky said in an interview in the courtroom of the 10-year-old colonnaded building.

“We needed a quieter work space because of the nature of the work that we do” in researching and writing legal opinions, he added.

As administrator, Budinsky supervised the court’s 15-member support staff, oversaw its $2.2 million annual budget, handled its public outreach and communications, set case schedules, answered lawyers’ questions, served as court bailiff and even mowed its lawn and erected the 12-foot holiday tree in its rotunda.

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