Court Consolidation Recommendation Process

As many of you know, your Bar Association has taken the lead in promoting consideration of, and implementation of a plan, regarding the future of our municipal and county courts. Although the topic has been discussed for many years, our latest effort began in 2009 when we were contacted by Chief Justice Moyer and asked to join in a meeting regarding these issues. Scott Cochran was then President, and the decision whether to participate was discussed at length at Trustee Meetings. It was agreed that the Membership should be polled regarding their thoughts on consolidation and whether the Bar Association should become involved. Those responding were in favor of consolidation and supportive of the Association becoming involved. The Trustees agreed.

Our constitutions lists, as part of our purpose: “promoting reforms in law and facilitating the administration of justice” so we felt we were not acting outside of the scope of our charge. We struggled with whether this was a political issue that should be avoided or whether we had an obligation to take the lead since we were in the best position to do so. We concluded: “if not us, then who?” This decision to move forward was reinforced last spring when Chief Justice O’Connor met with local judges and officials and made it clear that decisions of this nature would not be made by the Supreme Court and should be left to local control.

A grant was obtained for an independent study by the State Justice Institute. Their report was released in 2010 and made many recommendations regarding County Court Consolidation. We then formed a committee to involve as many interested parties as possible to continue a dialogue regarding the plan and make suggestions for implementation to the Trustees. This is an ongoing process. Meetings are scheduled for the discussion of a number of topics and agendas are circulated to those who expressed an interest and others. It is our intention to hear all sides of the issues before making recommendations. The recent announcement regarding the number of judges needed for efficient operation of Youngstown Municipal Court was the first of our recommendations.

If you have thoughts, concerns, or issues you would like to share please come to the scheduled meetings and participate. If you can’t make the meetings please provide your comments to the committee, which consists of our three immediate past presidents, Rob Ruse, Michael Harlan, and Scott Cochran. The meeting schedules and topics will be posted on our website and in the Daily Legal News on Thursdays.