Recent News

March 30, 2012

Court Funding Task Force Meets

A 29-member group tasked with examining long-term solutions to strengthen the financial picture of Ohio’s courts received its official charge today from Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor at its first meeting.

Chief Justice O’Connor spoke in her 2011 inaugural address of the need to pursue systemic change and further cost savings through a collaborative process involving Ohio’s judges, bar associations and all stakeholders in the legal community.

The challenge for the task force will be to determine the collective dollar amount dedicated to the judicial system given the complicated, interwoven funding sources that varies depending on locality. The task force is chaired by Judge Christopher Boyko of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Task force members are representatives of the Ohio Judicial Conference, all the judges associations, the OSBA, associations representing other major constituencies of the judicial branch, and members of the General Assembly.

The panel will issue a report by the end of next year with specific recommendations for costs savings and efficiencies.