With caseloads more than twice the Ohio average, the two general division common pleas judges in Licking County are asking state lawmakers and the Ohio Supreme Court to approve adding a third judge to help carry the load.
And if that happens, they will need more space in the 1876 Licking County Courthouse, which was in the back of the Licking County Commissioners’ minds when they considered buying the former Advocate newspaper building at 22 N. 1st Street.
Thursday morning, commissioners Tim Bubb and Duane Flowers voted to authorize Bubb to sign a contract to purchase the 72,000-square-foot building and adjacent parking lots for $2.3 million. Commissioner Rick Black was absent. After inspections, the commissioners expect to close on the building before the end of the year.
The building dates to 1992 and was last used as a newspaper office by Gannett, which bought the property and three other parcels in 2000 for $9.5 million. That company, now known as USA Today Company, sold off all of the properties by 2018 and it no longer has a press or an office in Licking County.
| Read more: Licking County poised to buy former Advocate building for $2.3 million for future office expansion
Judge Thomas Marcelain, the senior common pleas general division judge, with support from Common Pleas Judge David Branstool and other county officials, sent a letter and supporting documentation to the Ohio Supreme Court on Sept. 25 requesting a third judge.
“We have always felt that we are busy,” Marcelain told The Reporting Project on Oct. 1. “The average number of cases per judge per year across the state is 673, and we average 1,420 cases each. We thought, ‘Well, no wonder we feel busy.’ We need more help here.”
Marcelain talked with state Rep. Kevin Miller, R-Newark, Rep. Thaddeus Claggett, R-Newark, and state Sen. Tim Shaffer, R-Lancaster, about the need and to request legislation to create the position. Ohio Supreme Court approval is part of the process.
The state pays the salary and benefits for common pleas judges, and the county pays for staff and office space. The commissioners support the request for a third judge and are prepared to pay the cost, said Commissioner Tim Bubb.
Licking County had one general division judge until the 1960s, Marcelain said, when the second was added. The county population then was about 90,000, and it has more than doubled since then to about 186,000.
“Several smaller counties have three general division judges,” Marcelain said. “It’s time to do it here. And if that happens, we will need more room in the courthouse.”
If the third common pleas judge is approved for the general division, the commissioners, judges and Licking County Administrator David Edelblute have discussed the possibility of moving the juvenile and probate division to a new space.
Edelblute, who previously worked as the administrator for that court and held a similar position with the Ohio Supreme Court, said the former Advocate building would work well for the juvenile and probate division, which also has seen an increase in caseloads.
And given the size of the juvenile and probate division, Edelblute and Bubb said it takes up about half of the space in the iconic 150-year-old stone courthouse in the center of downtown Newark.
“It wouldn’t make sense to put a third general division judge in a separate space,” Bubb said, but it would make sense to move the juvenile and probate division to dedicated space – much the same as the domestic relations court has been in its own building on the southwest corner of E. Main and S. 1st streets since the 1990s.
“We know the need is coming,” Bubb said about the growing population and the corresponding rise in court caseloads. “A juvenile hall of justice makes sense, and the Advocate building would be the logical place for it.”
The building has 22,000 square feet of office space and 50,000 square feet of warehouse space that could be used for a variety of purposes, Bubb said.
And even if it costs several million dollars to renovate the 34-year-old former newspaper building, it will be far cheaper than building a new courthouse, Bubb said.
“It’s the right time to do it,” he said of the purchase. “We’re just working ahead.”
Alan Miller writes for TheReportingProject.org, the nonprofit news organization of Denison University’s Journalism program, which is supported by generous donations from readers. Sign up for The Reporting Project newsletter here.