JUSTICE
· Last year, the Plain Dealer published an article about a Lyndhurst man that was arrested for drunken jaywalking. He spent four (4) days in jail before seeing the Judge because he could not afford a $700 bond. This individual lost his job and taxpayers paid more than $200 for his jail stay. If elected, I will revise the Court’s bond schedule so that individuals charged with minor, non-violent offenses are released without bail. I will also review all bonds within 24 hours to ensure that individuals that do not pose a threat to the community and are not flight risks are not sitting in jail simply because they cannot afford bail. This will help alleviate the unnecessary financial strain on those individuals charged with criminal offenses and save the public money by reducing jail costs.
· Better address the heroin epidemic at the municipal level by focusing on treatment for non-violent, chemically dependent defendants and expanding the Court’s community outreach by focusing on education and prevention programs for our youth.
Modernization & Transparency
· Of the 13 municipal courts in Cuyahoga County, the Lyndhurst Municipal Court is the only court that does not accept online payments. I would update the Court’s technology so that payments can be accepted online.
· The Court’s website must be updated. Currently, the online case information does not display the most basic of case details such as bond information and the sentence imposed. No pleadings or orders are available online. I would upgrade the Court’s website so that all case information, filings, and orders are available online. These upgrades will increase the Court’s transparency and help the public ensure that all defendants are being treated equally.
· I would implement electronic filing, which is the transmission of case filing via the internet.
· The Lyndhurst Municipal Court has not been committed to improving its technology. The Supreme Court of Ohio has offered technology grant funds to local courts to aid in the implementation of technology-based projects. Over the past three years, approximately $7.5 million in award money has been distributed to courts state-wide. The Lyndhurst Municipal Court received none of this money. For two of the past three years, the Lyndhurst Municipal Court did not even apply for any technology grant money. If elected, I will always seek available technology grant money to improve the Court’s technology.