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About The Court
Most people in Morrow County have very little direct contact with the court systems. Morrow County has two courts of record which serve the citizens of the County. The Common Pleas Court has jurisdiction over matters relating to nearly every aspect of an individual's life. The Common Pleas Court has Juvenile, Probate, Domestic Relations, and General Divisions. Morrow County is unique in that it is the largest populated of the remaining five (5) counties in Ohio which have only one Judge handling all of those divisions. The County also has a Municipal Court which was created as of January 1, 2003, having been converted from a County Court. The result of the conversion is that Morrow County now has, by necessity, a full time Municipal Court Judge, being Judge Lee McClelland. The Municipal Court has county-wide jurisdiction over adult traffic, misdemeanors, small claims and other civil actions under $15,000. Some of the Villages in Morrow County have Mayor's Courts, but they are not considered courts of record. A lot of citizens are aware of the current budgetary problems that most governmental agencies, including the Courts, are experiencing. Morrow County has been no exception to this problem situation which has been dealt with by all counties in the State of Ohio due to dwindling revenues in a poor economic climate. We all hope that the recent upturns in the economy will continue and that the result will be additional revenues for county government and the Courts. As all citizens of Morrow County should realize, Morrow County has now become one of the fastest growing counties in the State of Ohio. With the growth in population comes increased case loads in the court systems. As indicated above, the changes from the County Court to a Municipal Court with a full time Judge were necessary to keep up with the case increases. The Common Pleas Court also faces the necessity of having an additional judge so that cases can progress through the system in a more effective and timely manner. It has recognized that a new Judge coming into the Morrow County Common Pleas Court system has been needed for years, but the facilities available have been inadequate. Judge Hall along with Judge McClelland from the Municipal Court, have met regularly and periodically with the Morrow County Commissioners for over 4 � years in a effort to develop plans for Courthouse renovations designed to have the maximum efficient use of facilities by all Judges in the county with needed additional space for a new Judge at the Common Pleas Court level. There simply is no other reasonable alternative or cost effective alternative to meet the needs of the citizens of Morrow County regarding the Court systems in Morrow County. The Morrow County Commissioners obtained plans for Courthouse renovations from an architect in the summer of 2002. Funding must be obtained to move forward with renovations of Walnut Place and the Courthouse so that adequate facilities will become available for the court systems as well as other county offices, including the Clerk of Courts, Auditor, Recorder, and Treasurer. With special project fund monies through the Common Pleas Court and the Municipal Court being made available for debt repayment possibly until the county jail debt is paid off, there will be little or no hardship or additional burden to the taxpaying citizens of Morrow County in moving forward with this much needed project. By comparison with facilities in other counties, Morrow County has some of the most inadequate court facilities in the State of Ohio. When the new Judgeship is approved as recommended to the Commissioners and also ultimately approved by the Supreme Court and State Legislature, the proposal would be the most cost effective way of moving forward in Morrow County since the Common Pleas Judges are paid almost totally by State funds. Under the proposal, the Divisions of the Common Pleas Court would not be split. Such splits normally result in the need for additional support staff and increased overall costs. An additional Judge covering all jurisdictions together with the sitting Judge would allow for the current staff to continue serving both Judges without requiring duplication in instances where otherwise it would be unavoidable. For example, the Court could continue on with one Court Administrator verses the likelihood of a Court Administrator for a Family Court (Juvenile and Domestic Divisions) and a Court Administrator for the General and Probate Court Divisions. The proposal has its pros and its cons. The down side of this proposal is that both Judges would need knowledge and skill in all Divisions. However, the Morrow County situation for prospective judicial candidates nearly always has been general practitioners with a wealth of experience in nearly every aspect of the law. Further, the trend in Ohio has been to create a Family Court and the current system in Morrow County and the other five (5) single Judge counties is the original Family Court system. The primary source of funding for the Courts and for all county offices, with some exceptions locally, is the general fund. The County general fund derives revenue from numerous sources primarily including the county's share of state sales tax, real estate tax from within the 10 mill limitation, housing of prisoner from other counties, conveyance fees, local government funds from the State, recorders fees, interest income received from the investment of special fund revenue (that is not needed to be spent at that given time when accumulated), Court fines and some Court costs paid in from primarily the Municipal Court, some permit fees, plus many other fees and income from sources too numerous to mention. The amount received from real estate taxes is from a base amount that is within what is called the 10-mill limitation as established by state law. All other general fund revenues from real estate taxes must be voted on by the citizens before they can be collected. Currently, Morrow County does not have any additional general fund revenues from real estate taxes beyond that which is collected within the 10-mill limitation. In calendar year 2003, the Common Pleas Court received $254,000 in appropriations from the County General fund made by the Morrow County Commissioners. That was a reduction of 13% from the appropriations due to the cut-backs which were necessitated by the lessening revenues. In order to provide necessary services, the Court has sought and obtained various grants and has entered into a contract for Child Support Enforcement purposes under a federal program administered locally. The Common Pleas Court's share of the General fund monies available to appropriate for this current year was just over 3% of the $7.7 million which the Budget Commission certified to be appropriated. The grant funds and contract funds received by the Court total $452,756.97. There is no other county in Central Ohio which receives less money per capita from the general fund than Morrow County to run the Common Pleas Court system. In fact only one county in the whole State of Ohio, Noble County, receives less than Morrow County on a per capita basis. Most counties in Central Ohio receive more than twice what Morrow County receives on a per capita basis to run the Common Pleas Court system in that county. In 2004, the Court of Common Pleas received $244,000 from the General Fund, another reduction of 8.23 percent in funding from the previous year. The following shows the level of funding for the Common Pleas Court for the past six years.
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