Ohio Supreme Court Issues Decision in Judge Lohn Funding Case

On Christmas Eve the Ohio Supreme Court issued a per curiam opinion granting in part, and denying in part, Medina County Probate Judge John Lohn's request for a writ of mandamus against the Medina County Board of Commissioners. The following paragraph of the decision sets forth the Court's finding:

This is an original action by a judge for a writ of mandamus to compel a county board of commissioners and its individual commissioners to appropriate reasonable and necessary funding for the probate and juvenile courts as reflected in the courts’ funding order for 2009. Because the board and county commissioners established that the judge abused his discretion by ordering unreasonable and unnecessary funding in part, we grant a writ of mandamus for only $12,800 of the additional funding ordered. We deny the writ for the remaining additional $64,429.91 of the funding order.

The decision goes on to explain the Supreme Court's reasoning. One of the interesting points in the decision is found in the following language:

Nevertheless, both the county administrator and the county finance director admitted that the projected surplus was about $4,000,000 in the general fund at the end of the year, and that the board could have made the appropriation ordered by Judge Lohn.

The whole decision can be read by clicking here.