Former Wood County Common Pleas Court Judge Charles Kurfess, who also served as Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, accepts the 2017 Thomas J. Moyer Award for Judicial Excellence from Randall Comer, president of the Ohio State Bar Association.

Former Wood County Common Pleas Court Judge Charles Kurfess, who also served as Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, accepts the 2017 Thomas J. Moyer Award for Judicial Excellence from Randall Comer, president of the Ohio State Bar Association.

Former Wood County Judge Charles Kurfess received the 2017 Thomas J. Moyer Award for Judicial Excellence last week during the two-day meeting of the Ohio Judicial Conference in Columbus.

Judge Kurfess is the former speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, where he championed judicial reform, criminal justice reform, civil rights, and access to justice issues. He also served 12 years on the Wood County Court of Common Pleas.

Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) President Randall Comer presented the Moyer award to Judge Kurfess. The OSBA established the Moyer award in 2010 in honor of the late chief justice to recognize a current or former Ohio state or federal judge who displays outstanding ​qualities of judicial excellence.

“Through a lifelong career committed to the advancement of the rule of law and the administration of justice, Judge Kurfess has demonstrated these qualities in spades,” Comer said.

Also at last week’s judicial meeting, the OSBA recognized the Franklin County Municipal Court’s online dispute resolution program with its 2017 Judicial Administration and Legal Reform Committee Court Practices Award.

According to the OSBA, the Franklin County Municipal Court Small Claims Division is the first small-claims court in the country to implement online dispute resolution. The program provides parties to a civil case the option to resolve it outside of court at no cost. The online tool, available for about a year, allows parties to communicate information and settlement proposals either directly to the other party in the case, or to a court mediator.

“This program increases court efficiency, and from the perspective of the involved parties, it helps them resolve their issues more quickly and with better outcomes—saving everyone time and resources and alleviating frustration,” Comer said when presenting the award.

The OSBA states that the Innovative Court Practices Award is meant to bring greater visibility to exemplary programs in Ohio’s courts and facilitate the transfer of those programs to other courts in the state.