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State law fixes court in Kent

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Mike Sever
July 29, 2009

 

By Mike Sever

Record-Courier staff writer

Where a new municipal courthouse will be built depends more on the law and less on local desire.

Streetsboro resident and city Planning Commission member Brett McClafferty touched off a storm when he suggested the court now located in Kent would be better in Streetsboro.

Acting Mayor Art Scott has said he is “livid” with McClafferty because McClafferty did not discuss the idea with anyone before sending a letter to commissioners, several Portage County judges and The Gateway News.

The court location is actually set by the Ohio Revised Code, and, unless the law changes, it is tied to Kent.

Section 1901.021 (C) of the ORC says “Two of the judges of the Portage county municipal court shall sit within the municipal corporation of Ravenna, and one of the judges shall sit within the municipal corporation of Kent. The judges may sit in other incorporated areas of Portage county.”

That last sentence allows judges to hold court sessions in other municipalities, but the courts “shall” remain based in Ravenna and Kent.

So far, county commissioners and judges have given no indication they have thought about moving the court. For more than two years they have been discussing building a new facility in Kent.

Not only did McClafferty fail to discuss his idea with fellow commission members and city officials, he failed to get his e-mailed message through to county commissioners.

The item was not on commissioners’s agenda Tuesday. When asked why, commissioners and their clerk, Deborah Mazanec, said they had not gotten the message.

“It may have ended up in our junk mail filter,” Commissioner Maureen Frederick said.

—

E-mail: 

msever@recordpub.com

Phone: 330 298-1125

 




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 8 Total Comments
8.
    Posted by MyGirl42187 July 30, 2009
I wonder why the ORC dictates the location of municipal courts in Portage county? Are all other Ohio counties pre-determined in the ORC like this?

7.
    Posted by starttyrant July 30, 2009
I like the idea of having the court downtown but the TOpps idea has some merit. Old stores are converted to other uses all the time. Check out the JOBS center on Tallmadge Ave in Akron. It used to be a Gold Circle store, now it's a pretty nice facility. If KPD can't use it the MRDD might be able to make it a habilitation center at low cost. The problem is that Stow just built that Court-Mahal on Steels Corners Rd. and Kent needs to keep up with the Joneses by building something 'impressive'...

6.
    Posted by BrimfieldCouple July 29, 2009
The old Tops building would make a perfect location for it. It has a large parking lot and the building is plenty big enough. Good idea kent62.

5.
    Posted by dp July 29, 2009
Do you suppose it happened in a month in Summit County because of their charter form of government or the Stow people pursued it?

4.
    Posted by The Anti Satan July 29, 2009
you guys crack me up with your half cocked comments. I'm sure Brett knew about this law and just assumed they would ammend it to locate a municipal court in streetsboro if the county wanted to move forward. This was done in like a month in summit county lol

3.
    Posted by Sunflower July 29, 2009
hmmm. Mr. McClafferty is going to law school, so why didn't he check the Ohio revised code before he sent his letters to the paper and local judges? I will tell you why, because he spouts off before he thinks. He needs to grow up. I would hate to have this infant as my lawyer, he doesn't check the facts.

2.
    Posted by marjieland July 29, 2009
THAT'S A GREAT IDEA!! WHY NOT USE THE TOPS BUILDING??!! LARGE PARKING LOT, EMPTY BUILDING, INSIDE CITY LIMITS .... MAKES PERFECT SENSE!!

1.
    Posted by kent62 July 29, 2009
Why not just move the Court and Police Station to the Tops building on South Water Street and get all this bickering over with. It is the only solution that makes sense.

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