From the Archives of the Medina County Clerk of Courts

Medina County Clerk of Courts Kathy Fortney was kind enough to share with me some of the files she has in her archives. One thing that I didn't know was that the Clerk's office used to file documents relating to the naturalization of immigrants. A person living in Medina County wishing to become an American citizen would file a Declaration of Intent in the Clerk's office.

An image of one such Declaration of Intent appears below. It involves a Mr. Walter Vellenoweth who, in 1930, lived on Gordon Avenue in Wadsworth, Ohio. He was married and had come to the United States from England. At the time he immigrated to America, he was 24 years old, if I have done correctly done the math. His wife was named Ruth and, at the time of his Declaration, they did not have any children. The application appears below:

In The Spotlight with: Kathy Fortney, Medina County Clerk of Courts

By Kate Feeks
Cross-posted at www.czclep.org.

“Every day you wake up - wake up with a purpose” says Kathy Fortney, the Medina County Clerk of Courts. Her purpose on Law Talk was to express her thoughts on the astounding rise of foreclosures in our county. The rate of foreclosures has increased 71% since the year 2000. In 2000, 337 cases were filed at the court and today for 2009 they have escalated to 1,160.

“1,160, count that many homes … as you drive down the street! They belong to the men, women and children in our community losing them. Are you feeling it now?” Fortney says as she explains the importance of the huge responsibility of her office and others that work each day to make a difference in the lives of these people.

A Medina resident all her life, Kathy Fortney started working with Medina County Clerk of Courts in 1968. She is a member of the Medina County Professional Women’s Club and President of the Clerk of Courts Association.

Kathy is an officer of the Medina County Courts and is responsible for maintaining all court records. These court records include civil, criminal, and domestic relation cases. The Clerk of Courts also issues subpoenas, jury summons, warrants for arrest, passports, automobile and watercraft titles, collecting revenue related to court costs, bonds, fines and foreclosure transactions. The Clerk's office also handles and records notary commissions issued to Medina County residents by the State of Ohio.

Along with the Medina courthouse office, Kathy is in charge of offices in Wadsworth, Brunswick, and Medina. The Clerk's office in the courthouse is in charge of court documents, while the others are responsible for issuing motor vehicle titles.

The responsibility of the Clerk involves a great deal of work. “It is a big operation” explains Fortney. And it’s not just foreclosures in our county that have spiked in recent years. For example, civil cases, builder disputes, insurance claims and malpractice issues, have all escalated. The sizeable workload has become a real challenge not only for the Clerk’s office, but for the sheriff’s, prosecutor’s and judges’ offices as well.

The future of Medina Ohio depends on recovering the job losses of our residents. As Fortney put it, “Getting people back to work … is something we need to concentrate on, so that our residents can be self sufficient again. We want to keep people in their homes …”.

To learn more about the functions of the Medina County Clerk of Courts as well as more information on foreclosures watch for an interview with Kathy Fortney by Attorney John Celebrezze on Law Talk throughout the month of April.

LawTalk Interview with Medina County Clerk of Courts Kathy Fortney

Recently LawTalk host John Celebrezze interviewed Kathy Fortney, Medina County Clerk of Courts. You can view John's interview with Kathy by clicking on the links below.

Part I



Part II



Part III

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.