The Supreme Court Ohio Annual Report

Advisory Committee
on Children, Families
& the Courts
Steve W. Hanson
staff liaison
Hon. Deborah A. Alspach,
co-chair
Hon. Craig R. Baldwin
Jill Beeler
Kelly Castle
Robert Clevenger
Odella Lampkin Crafter
Gary Crow, co-chair
Hon. Denise N. Cubbon
Hon. Charlotte Eufinger
Hon. Timothy J. Grendell
Hon. Charles G. Hague
Alexandra Hull
Dan Kieffer
Jim McCafferty
Jewel Neely
Hon. Dixilene Park
Jennifer Petrella
Rhonda E. Reagh
Cedric D. Riley
Michael Smalz
Heather Sowald
Hon. Matt C. Staley
Hon. Gerald L. Stebelton
In addition, the Case Management Section presented two
caseflow management training seminars where attendees
learned the fundamentals of caseflow management and basic
court performance measurement techniques using the National
Center for State Courts CourTools product. Staff also provided
statistical report form training to common pleas, municipal,
county and mayor’s courts throughout the year.
The section achieved significant reductions in the costs
borne by both the state and local court funding authorities for
assigned judges by encouraging courts to increase their use
of sitting judges who serve at a lower cost than retired judges,
implement improved caseflow management procedures and
more efficiently allocate local judicial resources.
Supreme Court Adopts Expanded
Temporary Judge Rule
The Supreme Court increased the pool of sitting and
retired judges who can be assigned to assist a municipal
or county court by adopting amendments to Rule 17 of
the Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio.
Effective Dec. 1, a sitting or retired common pleas or
court of appeals judge who has not served previously as a
judge of a municipal or county court, but has completed
an Ohio Judicial College educational program, would be
eligible to sit by assignment.
Children, Families & the Courts Section
The Children, Families & the Courts Section provides
technical assistance, training and policy recommendations
to improve court performance in cases involving children
and families. In 2009, major projects included developing
alternative responses to reports of child abuse, neglect and
dependency; juvenile defendant access to legal counsel;
implementation of adult guardianship standards; recruitment
and retention of qualified counsel serving children and
families; release of domestic relations court forms; and
implementation of guardian ad litem standards.
The section also coordinated the 2009 Ohio Summit on
Children, which was held Nov. 12 and 13, 2009, hosted by Chief
Justice Moyer and Governor Strickland in Columbus. A followup
to the 2008 Summit, the event brought together more than
450 professionals from 66 counties to learn how they meet the
needs of children in their communities. County teams included
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