Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor and former president of the American Bar Association Bill Robinson say courts in Ohio and across the nation face a funding crisis. Speaking at the Columbus Metropolitan Club, O'Connor and Robinson pointed to Morrow County which had to stop accepting filings because of a lack of money for paper and the commonwealth of Kentucky which had to briefly shut down its court system A task force appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court to study how to reform the stateâs court system is about halfway through its work. Maureen OâConnor says she hopes the study will lead to a better funded and more efficient court system. OâConnor said the task force is first trying to figure out how much state and local governments spend on their courts. Given the large number and variety of Ohio courts, thatâ s not an easy task.  Once that is complete, the task force will study whether Ohio needs the volume of courts and number of judges it has. OâConnor said the study will determine if we are driving a Cadillac when a motorcycle will do. âThe model we had in place in the 1950âs 60âs and 70âs is still in place, and is that the correct model? We have to look for ways to share services, look for economies of scale, â OâConnor said. OâConnor hopes the study will be complete by early 2014. Because Ohio is a home rule state, OâConnor said whatever the task force recommends, it will be up to county and municipal courts to embrace the change.
Mike Thompson spends much of his time correcting people who mispronounce the name of his hometown – Worcester, Massachusetts. Mike studied broadcast journalism at Syracuse University when he was not running in circles – as a distance runner on the SU track team.