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.
Showing posts with label Medina County Board of Commissioners. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medina County Board of Commissioners. Show all posts
Friday, February 05, 2010
Monday, February 01, 2010
Judges Oppose Cutting Medina County Juror Fees
I appeared before the Medina County Board of Commissioners on Monday, February 1, 2010, on behalf of myself and Judge Christopher Collier to ask the County Commissioners to reconsider their decision to cut fees for jury duty. Medina County Clerk of Courts Kathy Fortney also appeared.
Presently the juror fees are set at $20.00 per day. Juror fees have not been increased since 2000. The County Commissioners plans on cutting them to $10.00 per day starting on March 1, 2010. Judge Collier and myself oppose this reduction for the following reasons:
1. Jurors perform an invaluable service to our county.
Jurors are governmental officials. They are selected to make some of the most important decisions that governmental officials can make. They decide whether someone is guilty or not guilty of a crime or whether a person or business can recover in a civil lawsuit. By reducing the amount of compensation that jurors receive, you are sending the message that Medina County doesn’t value their service. At a time when people are already cynical about government, this is exactly the wrong message to be sending.
2. Jury duty can be a financial hardship.
While some employers compensate their employees for jury service, many more do not. Those jurors who are already losing pay for jury service should not have their compensation from the county reduced by $10.00 per day. What may seem like a small amount to the Board can be a much larger amount to a single mother struggling to raise her children.
3. It will make it harder to get people to serve as jurors.
While many Medina County residents want to serve as jurors and look forward to the experience, many more do not. We are afraid that once potential jurors learn of this planned reduction, more of them will attempt to get out of jury duty. It will make our mission of doing justice harder to fulfill.
4. It will be costly.
Each of our courtrooms ordered juror summons for 2010. The summonses for jury duty have already been run off and are being sent out on a weekly basis. The jury duty summonses state that jurors will be compensated at the rate of $20.00 per day. Frankly, it would impose a burden on our staffs to redo these summonses. If we don’t redo them, then we will have to explain to our potential jurors that the juror fees listed on the summonses have been reduced. Neither of these alternatives are good ones.
Medina County Clerk of Courts Kathy Fortney pointed out that last year 2495 jurors served as jurors in Judge Collier's court and my court. The cost for their service was $80,600. Judge Collier and myself don't think that a savings of between $40,000and $50,000.00 is worth the cost to the Medina County justice system.
I also pointed out to the Commissioners that like judges and county commissioners, jurors are during the time that the serve governmental officials. Like ourselves they make very important decisions. Like ourselves they take an oath of office to support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Ohio. Unlike ourselves, however, they are being asked to have their compensation for their service cut 50%.
For those reasons, we asked the County Commissioners to reconsider their decision.
Presently the juror fees are set at $20.00 per day. Juror fees have not been increased since 2000. The County Commissioners plans on cutting them to $10.00 per day starting on March 1, 2010. Judge Collier and myself oppose this reduction for the following reasons:
1. Jurors perform an invaluable service to our county.
Jurors are governmental officials. They are selected to make some of the most important decisions that governmental officials can make. They decide whether someone is guilty or not guilty of a crime or whether a person or business can recover in a civil lawsuit. By reducing the amount of compensation that jurors receive, you are sending the message that Medina County doesn’t value their service. At a time when people are already cynical about government, this is exactly the wrong message to be sending.
2. Jury duty can be a financial hardship.
While some employers compensate their employees for jury service, many more do not. Those jurors who are already losing pay for jury service should not have their compensation from the county reduced by $10.00 per day. What may seem like a small amount to the Board can be a much larger amount to a single mother struggling to raise her children.
3. It will make it harder to get people to serve as jurors.
While many Medina County residents want to serve as jurors and look forward to the experience, many more do not. We are afraid that once potential jurors learn of this planned reduction, more of them will attempt to get out of jury duty. It will make our mission of doing justice harder to fulfill.
4. It will be costly.
Each of our courtrooms ordered juror summons for 2010. The summonses for jury duty have already been run off and are being sent out on a weekly basis. The jury duty summonses state that jurors will be compensated at the rate of $20.00 per day. Frankly, it would impose a burden on our staffs to redo these summonses. If we don’t redo them, then we will have to explain to our potential jurors that the juror fees listed on the summonses have been reduced. Neither of these alternatives are good ones.
Medina County Clerk of Courts Kathy Fortney pointed out that last year 2495 jurors served as jurors in Judge Collier's court and my court. The cost for their service was $80,600. Judge Collier and myself don't think that a savings of between $40,000and $50,000.00 is worth the cost to the Medina County justice system.
I also pointed out to the Commissioners that like judges and county commissioners, jurors are during the time that the serve governmental officials. Like ourselves they make very important decisions. Like ourselves they take an oath of office to support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Ohio. Unlike ourselves, however, they are being asked to have their compensation for their service cut 50%.
For those reasons, we asked the County Commissioners to reconsider their decision.
Friday, December 25, 2009
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.
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.
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