The court with a jurisdiction of Beavercreek, Fairborn, and Bath and Beavercreek townships has had a “massive” caseload in recent years, Greene County Clerk of Courts A.J. Williams said.
“It may speed up the rate at which we receive the cases — just a little bit,” Williams said. “The Fairborn court is doing a wonderful job already. But adding another judge is going to speed up their process in (moving) over the cases to us here in common pleas.
“That will just be beneficial to everyone in the process,” he added. “There’ll be less lag time — if any. It’ll just speed up the rate these cases come to our court.”
An election to fill the new job will be held in November. It will be a six-term term starting Jan. 1, 2024 with an annual salary of $151,378, state records show.
Ohio municipal courts commonly handle misdemeanor traffic and criminal cases. They also hear civil cases of up to $15,000 and have authority to hold preliminary hearings in felonies, state records show.
A 2022 Dayton Daily News survey found Fairborn had the third highest caseload in the three previous years combined of any responding area municipal court. It was surpassed only by Dayton — which has five judges — and Kettering, which has two.
From 2019-21, respectively, Fairborn had 21,242, 18,058, 17,099 cases, records show. Last year, 13,835 cases were filed in the jurisdiction, more than twice the state average of cases handled by a municipal court judge, according to the court’s annual report.
The only area one-judge municipal court with more cases in 2022 was Vandalia with 14,236, records show.
Fairborn Judge Beth Cappelli said the addition will increase efficiency.
“There’s a little more time per case. And, quite frankly what it does is give more time to do administrative issues,” Cappelli said.
“Really, what it’s doing is … making a more manageable job for the judges,” she added.
Ohio will cover nearly 60% of the costs, which would range from $151,378 to $156,722 annually from 2024-26, state records show.
The remainder will come from Fairborn (60%) and the county (40%) in that time frame, according to the state.
One candidate has filed to seek the seat so far, according to the Greene County Board of Elections. Andrew Hunt, a Beavercreek Republican, is chief trial counsel in the criminal division of the county prosecutor’s office.
The deadline for candidates from other parties to file is Aug. 9, according to the board of elections.
Fairborn’s court is also expecting to hire another prosecutor, Cappelli said. The cost of that position will be nearly $120,000 a year plus additional benefits and payroll-related costs, Ohio records state.
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