The Ohio Bailiffs and Court Officers Association held its annual conference October 11 and 12 at the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center, elected officers for 2013-2014 and handed out awards.

The Ohio Bailiffs and Court Officers Association held its annual conference October 11 and 12 at the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center, elected officers for 2013-2014 and handed out awards.

The Ohio Bailiffs and Court Officers Association concluded its two-day annual conference today at the Thomas J. Moyer Ohio Judicial Center by electing officers for 2013-2014.

The officers include: Victoria Thurman, deputy bailiff with Cleveland Municipal Court, as president; Ron Mellotte, bailiff with Greene County Common Pleas Court, as first vice president; Jose Lozada, bailiff with Cleveland Municipal Court, as second vice president; William Reddy, bailiff with Cleveland Municipal Court, as third vice president; Brett Robertson, bailiff with Medina County Municipal Court, as website officer; and Thomas Mulgrew, bailiff supervisor with Cleveland Municipal Court, as secretary/treasurer.

At an awards banquet Thursday evening, Dorianne Denard, a bailiff with Summit County Common Pleas Court, received the Court Officer of the Year award. Roger Landis, a bailiff with Fairfield County Municipal Court, received the Larry Lute Award as outstanding court officer. Thomas Chidester, chief court constable with Wood County Common Pleas Court, received the Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton Award. The group also honored retiring Justice Stratton for her support of the group over the years.

Earlier Thursday, the group’s educational sessions centered on sovereign citizens, outlaw motorcycle gangs, drug recognition, and TASER certification.

The FBI’s Kenneth Smith and the Ohio State High Patrol Academy’s Tracey Gum led the sovereign citizen movement presentation. They noted the danger the sovereign citizen movement can present to courts through threats to judges, by clogging up the court system with frivolous lawsuits, and by holding illegal courts that issue warrants for judges. They also discussed how sovereign citizens believe that once a clerk file stamps a document, it makes it official. They may file liens on the judge or other court officials they see as interfering with their actions.