Mayors' Courts

An article in last evening’s Cincinnati Post addresses a call on the part of some to eliminate “mayors’ courts” from the structure of Ohio’s jurisprudence. Chief Justice Thomas Moyer back on May 12th. called for the elimination of mayors’ courts in his annual address to the State Bar Association.

Mayor’s courts, established around 1815, have survived numerous changes in the overall court system statutorially, but according to the Post’s article “handle fewer cases than their municipal counterparts and are less efficient in handling cases within recommended time limits, according to the first statewide review of courts.” They have original jurisdiction over ordinance violations and traffic situations in their respective confines.

A July 13th. release by the Ohio Supreme Court says “mayors’ courts have small case volumes & are concentrated in Ohio’s largest counties.” Hamilton, Franklin, and Cuyahoga Counties all have 20 or more mayors’ courts; Butler County has three, Clermont nine, and Warren seven according to the Supreme Court’s “mayor’s court registration & reporting” page which contains case loads and statistics for each of these courts.

Copies of the “2004 Mayor’s Court Summary” are posted on the Supreme Court’s website.