This week we鈥檝e been exploring fines and fees that can disproportionately affect poor people in the justice system in a series we鈥檙e calling Today we鈥檙e going to take a look at a quirk in the .
Ohio is just one of two states that allow towns without a municipal court of their own to hand to a mayor basic cases like traffic violations, and first offense OVIs. But why do they exist?
CARROLL: 鈥淔rom a municipal court judge I don鈥檛 know why they exist, from my perspective.鈥�
After that caveat, Lakewood Municipal Court Judge Patrick Carroll explained Mayor鈥檚 Courts to me.
CARROLL: 鈥淚t鈥檚 roughly akin to a justice of the peace. It goes back into the 50s when courts were not as accessible as they are today. Back then, it was difficult, physically difficult, to get to court. Also for traffic infractions, if somebody needs to pay a fine if you鈥檙e not going to contest it you can send in a check by mail, you can appear in court, you can waive it online. So those people that are not interested in contesting, they don鈥檛 have to actually physically come to the court anymore, so a lot of those cases have been removed from the volume that the courts deal with.鈥�
GANZER: 鈥淵ou pointed out some of the benefit of having this would be to take away some of these minor traffic violations out of the greater court system, but there are some concerns with that, too, because a mayor is not a lawyer, necessarily, and mayors also have their fingers in city budgets, so there is I guess an appearance of a conflict of interest with them.鈥�
CARROLL: 鈥淚 think you touched on it, the fundamental principle of our government is a separation of powers. And when you walk into a municipal court, common pleas court, there鈥檚 a judge. The judge is a separate branch of government, for example, I am not a Lakewood city employee. My duties, responsibilities, my salary, the jurisdiction of the court, is all set by the General Assembly of the state of Ohio. You walk into a Mayor鈥檚 Court, and there鈥檚 the mayor or the mayor might have a magistrate, and the magistrate is appointed by the mayor, and over in the corner is the prosecutor who is going to prosecute your case is appointed by the mayor, based on a ticket written by a police officer who is appointed by that mayor. So there is no checks and balances there. I mean people come into the Lakewood court and they鈥檒l say, 鈥榳ell your police did this,鈥� and I鈥檒l stop and correct them and say, 鈥業 don鈥檛 have a police department. The police department鈥檚 run by the mayor, not by the court.鈥� So that鈥檚 the one major issue, the separation of powers. And the other one is the pecuniary interest, the financial interest, in running the Mayor鈥檚 Court as opposed to a municipal court. The legislative authority is required to fund the municipal court for the necessary expenses that we need to operate the court. They鈥檙e required by law to do that. And that鈥檚 whether the Lakewood court this year has a deficit or a surplus, that鈥檚 irrelevant to the needs of the court. With Mayor鈥檚 Courts, all the money stays in that city. So there鈥檚 an incentive to make a finding of guilt, and impose a penalty, a fine, that鈥檚 going to go right back to that mayor, and pay the mayor鈥檚 salary, or the magistrate鈥檚 salary, or the prosecutor鈥檚 salary, or the police officer鈥檚 salary.鈥�
GANZER: 鈥淎 person can appeal a Mayor鈥檚 Court ruling, or take it to a 鈥榬eal court鈥� if they have the time and the resources to do that, right?鈥�
CARROLL: 鈥淩ight, and how often that happens, I don鈥檛 think it happens very often, because again it鈥檚 a minor infraction, how much time are you going to take off work to contest a ticket when they say well here鈥檚 the amount, and you just say, 鈥業鈥檒l just pay it and be done with it.鈥欌��
GANZER: 鈥淚s this ingrained in how Ohio functions now, or is there a wave to change this?鈥�
CARROLL: 鈥淲ell our late Chief Justice Thomas Moyer of the Ohio Supreme Court attempted to do it, and there was universal opposition to it from mayors across the state of Ohio, so it鈥檚 going to be a formidable task to change. I think perhaps looking at the overview of the whole court system, municipal courts, Mayor鈥檚 Courts鈥攁s I said not calling them courts because I think people get confused when they talk about a Mayor鈥檚 Court and a municipal court. There鈥檚 not the procedural safeguards for people when they come into court. When you come into our court, if it鈥檚 a possible jailable offense, you鈥檙e informed immediately that you have the right to an attorney, if you can鈥檛 afford an attorney one may be appointed for you, you have the right to a jury trial鈥攁ll these safeguards. You don鈥檛 get those safeguards in a Mayor鈥檚 Court.鈥�
