The NCSC said Warren County leaders could eliminate the county court and transfer cases to the municipal courts and create full-time judicial positions, or just send some of the county court cases to the municipal courts. These options were not recommended.
The two options that got the nod were to eliminate the Lebanon court and merge it into the county court, or eliminate both municipal courts and create one county municipal court, but perhaps keep a presence, under county control, in Franklin. The rub, officials say, is that the seated judges’ terms aren’t up for years and they can’t be removed before then.
Lebanon Municipal Court Judge Mark Bogen’s current term expires in 2015 and he is eligible to serve, if re-elected until 2021. Newly named Warren County Court Judge Gary Loxley’s term expires in 2016 and Franklin Municipal Court Judge Rupert Ruppert is in office until 2017 when he will be forced to retire.
Before the study was released the county GOP was holding off on sending names to Gov. John Kasich for a replacement for Judge Joe Kirby, who moved from the county court to the juvenile bench. GOP Chairman David Nichols said he will reconvene the judicial vetting committee he set up to find a replacement for Judge Don Oda who replaced retired Judge Neal Bronson.
Ruppert said a court presence in Franklin is essential both from a monetary and public access standpoint. He said a study done several years ago estimated it would cost the city of Franklin about $220,000 more to send police to the court in Lebanon, and Carlisle’s small police force would be hard pressed to maintain police coverage if officers have to travel south as well.
“I would never support eliminating the court in Franklin,” he said. “And I don’t think the people in the community would. They spoke up loudly the last time it was considered, because it is just too great a hardship for many of our people here.”
If the third option were chosen, the city of Lebanon could save $308,000 a year — the difference between revenues and expenditures of the court — and it would still retain about $80,000 it garners in ordinance fines it collects each year. Bogen, City Manager Pat Clements and Mayor Amy Brewer said they would not comment on the court study.
The county would need to fill Kirby’s slot and the two part-time judges would need to go full-time. Extra staff would also be required and the court would have to move from the sheriff’s office to the common pleas courthouse. The study says it will cost the county almost $500,000 in personnel costs plus construction in the common pleas building.
The county is building a $6 million office building next to the courthouse that will house the county prosecutor, court services, the emergency 911 dispatch center and the board of elections. The county court could fit into space being vacated by the other offices.
Commissioner Pat South said they have begun setting up a meeting with all of the stakeholders involved in a possible consolidation.
“The bottom line is to find out what all of the interested parties feelings are on this report and its recommendations and which recommendation they prefer,” she said. “We need to know if the city councils on board with this.”
Loxley said he thinks the $26,000 was money well spent.
“Any time a study like this is done, I think it gives a court the perspective and also the political representatives, whether it be the board of county commissioners, Lebanon, Franklin, whoever it is, an opportunity to see how their respective courts function,” he said. “It’s good for them to take a look at it, it’s good for the judges to take a look at it and see how you compare with the other jurisdictions and see if there is a way to improve on it.
“Whether it means keeping the status quo or changing the structure, I’m open for the debate to continue. It’s a starting point,” he said.
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