ROBERT J. BATCHELOR, JUDGE
COURT DESCRIPTION
CIVIL AND CRIMINAL CASES:
The General Division of the Coshocton County Common Pleas Court is a trial court of general jurisdiction that provides prompt, fair, and just resolution of litigation in civil and criminal cases. The Judge presides over bench and jury trials involving complex civil litigation as well as criminal cases where offenders can receive imprisonment for as little as six months or up to the remainder of their lives or, in the event of a capital murder case, may even receive the death penalty.
DOMESTIC RELATIONS:
The Domestic Relations Court is the division of Common Pleas responsible for hearing all divorce, dissolution, legal separation, annulment and civil domestic violence cases for residents of Coshocton County. Parties may also return to the Court for post-decree resolution of matters including child or spousal support, allocation of parental rights and responsibilities (“custody”), parenting time (“visitation”), among other matters. A Magistrate is appointed by the Court to assist with domestic relations cases. The Magistrate has almost the same authority as the Judge. The Magistrate’s decisions can be appealed directly to the Judge for review.
NEW TO THECOURT IN 2020:
2020 posed unique challenges and opportunities with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the beginning of a Court’s Probation Department. In each instance, the entire Court staff worked together as a team to maintain Court operations during a pandemic while transitioning into a new era of felony supervision. This teamwork required constant inter-office communication, as well as regular contact with the Ohio Supreme Court, the Board of County Commissioners, and local health officials, as well as numerous other agencies. In the end, we realized that there was always someone willing to help no matter the request. The difficulties that confronted the Court were overcome by a resilient team with the help of state and local government agencies across Ohio, as well as the private citizens in Coshocton County.
COVID-19:
On March 23, 2020, the Court took the unprecedented step of locking the courthouse doors to general public access. While we miss the hometown feel of unscheduled visitors looking for a view from the clock tower, the reality of the public health situation requires that general public access to the courthouse be closed for the near future. However, I am proud to say that all court proceedings remain open to the public. Even during a pandemic, the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Ohio are held above all other concerns. Although the doors were locked, court proceedings remain open during the pandemic to anyone who requests entrance.
The next order of business was restarting jury trials after a delay provided by the Ohio General Assembly through a law that essentially stopped the clock from running on cases between March 9,2020, and July 30, 2020. After meeting with members of the local bar association and sifting through the guidance from a special commission, the Court selected The Triple Locks Theater as a venue that could accommodate jury selection and trial, while adhering to social distancing requirements. Two jury trials were conducted at the theater before a decision was made to return jury trials to the courthouse. Both jury trials involved incredible effort and cooperation between court staff and members of the Triple Locks. The willingness of private citizens to help the Court, and to provide service as jurors during a pandemic, speaks to the strength of our community.
Finally, the Court utilized an emergency technology grant from the Ohio Supreme Court to jump start remote video conferencing for many Court hearings. Once again, the Court’s team responded and adapted to changing circumstances. With the help of the County IT Department, the imperfect tool of video conferencing was continually adjusted until we could make it work for almost any court event. Video conferencing is now utilized for most court hearings unless the Judge or Magistrate determine an in person proceeding is necessary. The public access point for remote videoconferencing is the large meeting room just inside the courthouse, where observers can watch hearings on a monitor, while also adhering to social distancing requirements.
PROBATION DEPARTMENT:
In the fall of 2019, the Ohio Adult Parole Authority (APA) stopped performing supervision of felony offenders for most counties, including Coshocton. The Court took advantage of a grant opportunity to develop a probation department according to local needs. A complete transition from state to local control was completed in May. This change to local control allows the Court to order GPS monitoring, remote alcohol monitoring, and an intensive drug testing program. There is also greater flexibility to use inpatient drug treatment services at locations across the state. In addition, the probation department is given the responsibility for pre-trial supervision of persons who are out on bail while awaiting trial. Changes in Ohio law allow the Court to order drug testing and drug treatment as a pretrial order. This is a formidable tool that provides increased community safety.
In order to launch the probation department, the Court relied on extensive cooperation from outside agencies to develop probation standards and implement actual field work that probation officers must perform. This is another example of the help that was made available from agencies across Ohio. Probation departments are all unique in their own way of accomplishing the same goal. There is no standard policies and procedures manual for how probation should be conducted. After consulting with the Ohio Supreme Court and other probation departments, we were able to adopt and apply the standards and procedures that are most effective for Coshocton County. As an example, in addition to traditional probation work, our officers are often seen out in the community working with Sheriff’s deputies to enforce the terms of felony supervision.
PROBATIONDEPARTMENT STATISTICS:
At the end of 2020, there were136 active supervision cases with the Court’s Probation Department.
STANDARD PROBATION (Community Control): 50
INTERVENTION IN LIEU OF CONVICTION: 24
JUDICIAL RELEASE (Early Release from Prison): 13
PRETRIAL SUPERVISION: 49
GPS or SCRAM Alcohol monitors were placed on 33 separate offenders during2020. There were 8 active units in service at the end of the year. Service for 9 units was suspended due to incarceration after sentencing or otherwise. Service was suspended for 13offenders who successfully completed a term of probation or pretrial release. 3 units were terminated as unsuccessful.
Currently Active= 8
Suspended due to incarceration = 9
Successful = 13
Unsuccessful = 3
DRUG TREATMENT:
The Court continues to maintain certification with the Ohio Supreme Court for a special docket program called Recovery Court. Participants are generally first time low level offenders. 55 offenders participated in Recovery Court in 2020.
Recovery Court Participants = 55 Total
Successfully Completed = 22
Unsuccessfully Terminated = 10
Neutral Exit =3 (Placed in a separate special docket program with another court.)
Still Participating 12/31 =20
There are two parts to the significance of 22 successful completions. Graduates of Recovery Court are employed, law abiding, and productive members of the community, who are not likely to commit future crimes. This result adds value to our community, while making it safer at the same time. On the other hand, incarceration of these offenders is a huge tax burden. Imposition of an average 18 month prison term per offender, at a per day cost of $60, would result in the approximate expense of $712,800 to Ohio taxpayers. Locally, if the 22 graduates had been ordered to serve 180 days in the county jail as part of probation, the$44 per day cost of a jail stay amounts to a total of $158,400 in local tax dollars. Our Recovery Court special docket program operates on a $30,000 state grant.
In addition to Recovery Court,15 offenders were placed in 6 different residential treatment facilities during2020. All 15 residential treatments were successful.
CASESTATISTICS:
CIVIL CASESUMMARY:
New Civil Case Filings: 176
Civil Cases Completed: 166
CRIMINAL CASESUMMARY:
New Indictments: 171
Criminal Cases Completed: 177
Prison Terms Imposed: 94
Total Years of Prison Time Imposed: 284.3 (Not including 3 life sentences)
(269Inmates sentenced by the Court were in the Ohio prison system as of February17, 2021.)
DOMESTIC RELATIONS CASE SUMMARY:
New Case Filings: 169
DR Cases Completed: 382
(This figure includes new cases completed, and post-decree motions concerning custody, child support modifications, etc.)
TOTAL COURT CASESCOMPLETED IN 2020 = 725