Football Saturday in Columbus usually means tens of thousands of Buckeye fans descending on the Ohio State University campus. Law enforcement makes its presence known among the scarlet and grey faithful.

“Every game day we are out here ensuring that there is compliance with the Ohio Revised Code related to underage drinking, underage consumption,” Major James Gilbert of Franklin County Sheriff’s Office said.

Working with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office on the heightened enforcement called STOP are the Columbus and Ohio State police departments and the Ohio Department of Public Safety. A unique aspect to the effort is the Franklin County Municipal Court’s mobile location on Lane Avenue, as Clerk of Courts Lori Tyack and her staff work on site to process the 50 to 60 arrests on an average game day.

“Before, the officer would have to bring the defendant down to our counter on the second floor at 375 South High Street. And then we would go through the process there at the counter,” Tyack said of the efforts before she joined the STOP program in 2006. “It helps with public safety by being down here allowing the officer to process the paperwork necessary for the court and also to get back out on the street as fast as possible.”

The defendants will have to make a court appearance to answer for their game day transgressions – many of them alcohol-related.

“They’re assigned a date to come in. They’re usually summonsed to come in to court and then they’re arraigned at municipal court on the fourth floor,” Tyack added.

The municipal court working with law enforcement helps keep game day safe.