The county has paid the city of Oxford $24,000 annually to lease space for the Area I Court since 1995, according to City Manager Doug Elliott. The county owns the Historic Courthouse so there is no separate cost for that court. Elliott questioned the wisdom, “it looks like it’s going to cost the county $100,000 more, so I’m not sure it made economic sense at least from that perspective.”
County Administrator Judi Boyko told the Journal-News the move makes both fiscal and logistical sense.
“Relocating Area I and II Courts to a consolidated location, nicely equipped to function as court space, will achieve synergies of operations and efficiencies of scope and scale,” she said. “For instance, the number of employees needed to serve the two area courts coupled with services provided by the Sheriff and the Prosecutor Offices respectively can be aligned and not unnecessarily serve two locations.”
Area Courts Administrator Jeannette Bullard told the Journal-News given the new shared space, while they will maintain two separate courts they will “hopefully cut back on staff to save money.” She said 23 people, including court administration and staff from the two courts will make the move.
There are two fully outfitted municipal courtrooms in the GCS and Bullard said the two judges will likely share the larger room — they each hold one main court session a week on different days — and the small court can be used for civil hearings.
The former Hamilton Municipal Court space has been vacant for a year, since the court moved to the new $32 million Hamilton Justice Center. The Area I Court has until the end of March to vacate the Oxford location.
“We’re excited to see the Butler County Area I and II Courts make their home in the former Municipal Court space here in Hamilton,” Hamilton Director of Finance Dave Jones said. “This move brings new energy and purpose to the building while keeping important public services close and convenient for the residents of Butler County.”
Moving the area courts cropped up last year while the commissioners were in the throes of the massive space reutilization project. Bullard told the Journal-News an Ohio Supreme Court assessment found “safety concerns and inadequacies” at both the Area I and II court locations.
The high court assessment is not a public record, so the Journal-News isn’t able to identify the issues.
Commissioner Don Dixon told the Journal-News the high court didn’t give them much of a choice.
“The Supreme Court has completed their review of what it would take to make the court area secure and the things they want is impossible to do in the courthouse for Area II and it’s it’s impossible to do it for Area I,” he said. “The main reason is the security survey says it is not a safe place, it’s not secure the way it should be for judges and the people that are participating in the system. It would take hundreds of thousands of dollars if it could even be done.”
The Butler County Probate Court also lives in the Historic Courthouse, but Dixon said there aren’t the same safety concerns.
“It’s just not as contentious, it doesn’t run near the anxiety level and the heat of the moment arguments and decisions that come out of the Area Court,” he said.
Convenience for college students
The three area courts handle most of the misdemeanor and traffic cases, as well as domestic violence cases, OVI (Operating a Vehicle while Intoxicated) cases and civil actions up to $15,000 that arise in their respective geographic jurisdictions, according to the court website.
The Area I Court gets much of its “business” from Miami University students and it has the lowest case count of the three. Last year 2,841 cases were filled in Area I Court, 7,675 in Area II and 7,929 originated in the West Chester location.
Elliott says the move is bad for the city, Miami University and the townships on the west side of the county.
“The commissioners did a disservice with this centralization process of the Area I and Area II courts with respect to the residents of the city of Oxford and six townships served by the Area I Court,” Elliott said. “Obviously we’re going to need to look at a mayor’s court, but if we go with a mayor’s court we won’t be able to provide service to the other jurisdictions.”
He said if they go that route, they would likely appoint a magistrate, clerk of court and prosecutor to handle the workings of the court. He said that cost “should be offset somewhat” with the fines and fees the court would generate.
Elliott said mayor’s courts are not courts of record and have limited jurisdiction, handling only traffic violations, minor misdemeanors, first-offense OVIs and ordinance violations for city residents. More serious matters would be handled in Hamilton.
Elliott provided the Journal-News a letter penned by Milford Twp. Trustee Amy Butterfield, protesting the move.
“Moving the court farther south would disproportionately impact Oxford residents, rural residents, and Miami University students, increasing travel time, costs, and logistical challenges for those who must appear in person,” she wrote. “These barriers may ultimately discourage compliance and participation in court proceedings, undermining the fundamental goal of equal access to justice.”
Consolidating the area courts isn’t a novel idea, Prosecutor Mike Gmoser has been pushing for complete consolidation — not just locations as is the case here — for many years. The perception of impropriety when a part-time judge rules on a case one day and then represents a client on the same charge the next has caused Gmoser to seek the end of part-time judges.
In 2017, Oxford commissioned a study into creating its own municipal or mayors court when Gmoser began pushing the issue. The study showed a mayor’s court could cost roughly $346,649 and reap $359,450 in revenues.
A municipal court system would cost considerably more at an estimated $1.45 million. Revenue projections were not offered, “since that is a function of the law enforcement protocols of the Oxford and Miami University police departments.”
It noted however some other municipal courts are heavily subsidized by the local jurisdictions and it could have amounted to more than $1 million.
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