Medina County Commissioners Back Off Jury Fee Reduction

The Medina County Board of County Commissioners released a memorandum on February 5, 2010, announcing that juror fees will not be reduced for at least the first half of 2010. In January, the Board sent a memorandum to courthouse officials telling them that they would decrease juror fees from $20.00 per day to $10.00 per day. This change was scheduled to take place on March 1, 2010.

After receiving the memorandum, Judge Kimbler, as Administrative Judge of the General Division of the Common Pleas Court, asked to appear in front of the Board at its February 5, 2010, meeting. At that meeting, Judge Kimbler asked the Board to reconsider its decision.

He distributed a memorandum to the Board. outlining the reasons why he and Judge Collier thought that the fee reduction was a bad idea. Those reasons included a concern that reducing the fee would lead to people less willing to serve; a belief that reducing the fee sent the message that Medina County doesn't appreciate the sacrifice people make serving on juries; and a fear that juries could become less diverse.

At that meeting, Medina County Clerk of Courts Kathy Fortney also spoke. Ms. Fortney passed out a memorandum showing that over 2400 people served on juries in 2009 and that many thousands more appeared for jury selection, but were not chosen.

The Board does plan to review this issue at the mid-year budget review in June.