BILL TO ABOLISH MAYOR’S COURTS; ESTABLISH ALTERNATIVES FOR COMMUNITIES

 ABOVE 1,600 PEOPLE COMING SOON.

A bill is currently brewing in the Ohio House that would abolish all of Ohio’s Mayor’s courts on January 1, 2008. The bill would then allow all mayors’ courts to continue to operate in municipalities with 1,600 or more people as “community courts,” under the jurisdiction of the Ohio Supreme Court. However, under the new construct, Mayors would no longer be allowed to preside over these community courts. Under the new structure, a magistrate would preside over the community courts. Currently, there are 138 Mayor’s Courts operating in communities with populations under 1,600. Overall, there are 335 Mayor’s Courts operating in 69 Ohio counties.

A magistrate is defined as someone who has practiced law for three years or who has served as a judge. For each court, the job of appointing the magistrate would fall to the judge of the municipal court which has jurisdiction over the municipality in question. Should there be a municipal court with jurisdiction, with more than one judge, the appointment would be made by the administrative judge of the municipal court.

Each municipality with such a magistrate would have to provide the magistrate with an office in the municipality. Council would set the salary for the magistrate. Council would also appoint the clerk of the community court, if there is one.

In order to retain this new form of mayor’s court, council would have to pass an ordinance, effective by January 1, 2008, electing to keep its court. Should that not occur, all cases in the former mayor’s court would automatically be transferred to the relevant municipal court. All cases in mayor’s courts in communities with less than 1,600 people would have to be transferred to Municipal Court. In the case of all remitted cases to Municipal Court, the share of fines going back to the municipality responsible for the arrest would remain as it is in current law, minus Municipal Court deductions.

Should a community over the 1,600 mark not make an election, by ordinance, to retain its mayor’s (community) court, the municipality could later petition by the Supreme Court to establish such a court. Communities, which lose population and dip below 1,600 population, would lose their court.

The Ohio Attorney General, under provisions of the bill, is vested with the power to go to the appropriate common pleas court to shut down illegal mayor’s courts that operate after January 1, 2008.

The jurisdiction of the new courts would remain virtually the same. Cases could be referred to Municipal Court at the discretion of the magistrate. There would be no jury trials in community courts. The restrictions on domestic violence and DUI cases would remain in place.

However, appeals from community courts, which now go to Municipal Courts for new trials from mayor’s courts, would now go to the Appeals Courts, with transcripts, for hearings on points of law.

We are led to believe that this bill has the active support of Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer and will be sponsored by State Representative Larry Wolpert. We expect introduction soon, though it is possible that some of the minor provisions of the bill may change between now and introduction. We will keep you informed on this issue as new information becomes available. Of course, it is never too early to start talking to your legislators about the effects this bill would have upon your community.