Portage County residents who find themselves in Probate or Juvenile court will soon be paying higher court costs.
Portage County Probate and Juvenile Court Judge Patricia Smith told county commissioners on Jan. 20 she is increasing fees for certain filings in juvenile court and creating a new fee in probate court.
In Juvenile Court, costs will double from $30 to $60 for cases involving custody, visitation or parentage. The extra money will fill a Special Projects Fund to pay for co-parenting and mediation programs, Smith said. There will also be a new $35 fee attached to juvenile delinquency, juvenile traffic ticket and adult criminal complaints.
A newly created Probate Court Special Projects Fund will result in an additional $20 fee for all filings except marriage licenses.
The new fees will begin on Feb. 28, and will be funneled into Special Projects Funds meant to acquire and rehabilitate facilities, obtain equipment, provide mediation or dispute resolution services, hire and train staff, access community services programs, train and educate judges, and provide “other related services for the efficient operation” of both courts.
Judges in Portage County courts do not have to ask commissioners to raise court costs or impose fees.
“Judge Smith is a new judge, and she wanted to let the commissioners know why she was doing what she was doing, and she was pretty much wanting to ask our blessing,” Commissioner Tony Badalamenti said.
The new fee structure will be posted online by March 1, Smith said.
Better support, more efficiency
The Juvenile Court Special Projects Fund hasn’t been reviewed since 2017 and is underfunded even with annual cash infusions from Job & Family Services, Smith told the commissioners.
Portage County Juvenile Court hears all Job & Family Services cases involving dependent, neglected and abused children; all juvenile traffic cases; delinquency and unruly offenses; and adult contributing cases. Juvenile Court also has jurisdiction over parentage cases, as well as custody, visitation and support.
Juvenile Court currently does not offer services such as parenting classes, which would be available in Domestic Relations Court, Court Administrator Heather Gyekenyesi said.
“We want to enhance that in the Juvenile Court so that unmarried couples who are going through a custody issue with the court system are able to access those things regardless of whether they are a married or unmarried couple,” she said.
Proceeds will help people negotiate the court system faster, which translates to them saving money “so you’re not having to redo things two or three times because you come in, and you hit an obstacle because you don’t have one of the requirements that the law requires to complete the task,” Gyekenyesi said. “By putting these ancillary services in, we can help people get through the system faster, more efficiently, especially when they’re representing themselves.”
Often, people representing themselves — and Gyekenyesi said more people attempt to do that every year — have no idea what services are available to them.
The special projects fund could provide case managers to help people negotiate the often mystifying court system, especially when they are trying to do it without a lawyer’s help.
“Maybe they want to use mediation. Maybe they just don’t know what paperwork needs to be filed, or where to access that paperwork,” she said.
Proceeds from a Special Projects Fund could provide staff to ensure that people have everything they need for court, and that they know what services are available as well as how to access them.
“Hopefully in the long run it’s going to save everybody money because it’s going to make it more efficient and give them the service they need to get through the system and comply with all the different requirements of the state law,” Gyekenyesi said.
Courts are funded in part by county budgets, putting county commissioners in the driver’s seat, said Community Legal Aid Advocacy Director Rachel Nader.
“The courts are often placed in a position of having to supplement the budget in order to sustain services by imposing fees,” she said. “That’s unfair to the courts, but I think that’s true in every place. They’re all struggling to do more with limited funds.”
Noting that courts deserve more funding, she said she believes they do “an incredible job” of providing access to justice for all residents.
“Most of the courts are struggling to provide the services they think are necessary,” she said. “They’re dealing with limited budgets just like any other county agency, so they’re always looking at having to do more with less.”
A new adult guardian program
If Portage County Juvenile and Probate Court intend for the special projects funds to provide more services, that could well mean more staff, she said.
Portage County Probate Court issues marriage licenses; monitors the administration of decedent estates; manages guardianships of minors and incompetent adults; and presides over all adoptions, name changes, and involuntary mental health and intellectual disability commitments.
Smith would like to create an Adult Guardianship Board so that adults who need guardians because they are deemed legally incompetent to make their own decisions could be matched with well-trained people, Gyekenyesi said.
As things now stand, when Probate Court receives a referral from Portage County Board of Developmental Disabilities, Mental Health & Recovery Board of Portage County, or JFS, it can take four to six months to find a guardian, Smith said. Though emergency provisions for medical attention are in place, for up to half a year no one may be available to make other necessary decisions.
The referring agencies “of course check out family first,” Smith said. “If family cannot or will not do it, then the court has to appoint someone. We don’t have people to do it, so we end up calling the local lawyers and begging them. This is not a solution. The solution is to start an adult guardianship program.”
The referring agencies would act as partners and decision makers to recruit and train potential guardians, Smith told the commissioners.
The Special Projects Fund could also be used to offer an outpatient treatment program through Probate Court, she said, noting that most other counties already have such a program in place.
Bearing the cost of new fees
Under Ohio law, if people cannot pay their costs in any court, they may file paperwork that is available online, Gyekenyesi said.
“If Probate Court declares you indigent, all fees will be waived,” she said.
In Ohio, indigency is established at 187.5% of poverty level, which this year ranges from $13,590 for a single person to $46,630 for a household of eight, according to Health and Human Services guidelines.
Community Legal Aid serves clients in Portage, Trumbull, Summit, Columbiana, Mahoning, Stark, Wayne and Medina counties. Its Ravenna office has been closed for years, but people in need of legal assistance can call 866-584-2350 to make an appointment, Nader said.
Their staff can assist indigent people to file the required paperwork to waive court costs, but the “working poor” are hit hard when court costs rise, Nader said. In those cases, the only recourse is to search different funding pools available in the community.
Juvenile Court Administrator Michelle Zuponcic said negotiating the paperwork may well take some legal know-how.
“If a juvenile or a parent cannot pay, there are numerous remedies. That would be a legal question. They would have to seek a lawyer to see what they could do,” she said.
Zuponcic declined to comment on a 2018 Ohio Supreme Court ruling that “the juvenile court should presume that young people are unable to pay fines and fees, and only impose them after an affirmative showing of ability to pay.”
Court costs are generally imposed on the family, not on the juvenile, Nader said.
“I don’t know of any situation where a minor can be held legally responsible for a debt,” Nader said.
However, if court costs for criminal and traffic violations are assessed and remain unpaid, the judge can prevent the court record from being sealed, which could impact a person’s ability to obtain employment, Nader said.
The court can also issue a warrant block which prevents a person from getting a suspended license back, she said.
Wendy DiAlesandro is a former Record Publishing Co. reporter and contributing writer for The Portager.