Fifty-one Ohio courts received a total of $10.2 million in grant funding to help reduce backlogs of pending court proceedings, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced.

The grants are part of the Ohio Court Backlog Reduction Program, which launched earlier this year to help local courts reduce the time-to-disposition of pending cases, remove barriers to the timely resolution of cases, and apply creative solutions to improve caseflow.

Municipal and county courts, courts of common pleas, and appellate courts were eligible to apply for grants for one- or two-year projects. The Office of Criminal Justice Services, which is a division of the Ohio Department of Public Safety, worked in partnership with the Supreme Court of Ohio to develop the grant criteria and select award recipients.

“The COVID-19 pandemic impacted courts in various ways,” said Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor. “Some courts experienced staffing challenges, while others are using technology to permanently increase efficiency of courts and save time and money for litigants.”

Projects that received funding include pretrial programs, kiosk check-in systems, technology to simplify bench warrant processing, and updates to case management systems that will increase the efficiency of court case processing. Grants were also awarded to help courts maintain adequate staffing levels.

”I’m grateful for all the hard-working people in our courthouses who work every day to uphold the right to a fair trial,” said Governor DeWine. ”The funding we are awarding today will support this work and ensure that justice is served in a timely manner.”

Several courts received a top award of $425,000. Those recipients include:

• Akron Municipal Court to hire a mediator, a project manager, and a technical analyst.
• Butler County Domestic Relations Court to hire a magistrate/mediator and a staff attorney.
• Cleveland Municipal Court to hire pretrial services staff and/or magistrates.
• Franklin County Municipal Court to expand pretrial services staff and/or to increase the use of contract interpreters.
• Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to implement initiatives that could include hiring two bailiffs, updating courtroom technology, or contracting with forensic psychologists.
• Lakewood Municipal Court to hire staff that could include an IT project manager, two part-time law clerks, and a public defender.
• Lorain County Domestic Relations Court to implement initiatives that could include hiring a director of court services and a program/data analyst, contracting with Ohio Legal Help, or upgrading its case management system to increase the efficiency of court case processing.
• Marion County Common Pleas Court to hire one pretrial services officer and to expand its use of GPS.
• Summit County Common Pleas Court to hire a magistrate/mediator and a bailiff.

Several other large grants were awarded, including:

• Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court, which received $400,000 for a new case management system.
• Greene County Common Pleas Court, which received $341,280 to add video to courtrooms and to update its case management systems to increase the efficiency of court case processing.
• Lawrence County Bureau of Community Corrections, which received $425,000 to implement initiatives that could include hiring pretrial services officers, increasing the use of GPS, equipment, implementing kiosks, or upgrading its case management system to increase its efficiency.
• Scioto County Adult Probation Department, which received $413,388.60 to hire a pretrial services officer and a diversion officer.

Some courts submitted requests for relatively small awards. Those included:

• $5,000 to the Geauga County Common Pleas Court to implement a text messaging service.
• $11,970.60 to Vinton County Court to hire a deputy clerk.
• $12,070 to Licking County Domestic Relations Court to buy audio/visual equipment for the courtroom.
• $21,860 to Fairborn Municipal Court to hire a paid intern to help with the warrant backlog.

The Ohio Court Backlog Reduction Program is funded by the $250 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding. The funds are used to counter issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.