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WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners in the next few months will be deciding whether to initiate a new system that some say will offer indigent defendants in court a better chance at legal representation.
Several people who deal with judicial matters in the county are proposing commissioners set up a county public defender's office.
Commissioners, who have not made up their minds on whether to renew the existing system, expect to hear more about the idea as the June deadline for the end of the current system approaches.
"Currently, we're still operating with a hybrid system with the lower courts utilizing the state public defender and larger felony level cases being done through appointed counsel," Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa said. "We will be discussing, in the near future, the potential for a countywide public defender system.
"In order to do so, a five-member commission must be formed with appointments from both the commissioners and the common pleas court. With the uncertainty of the reimbursement rate we get from Columbus … this could streamline this process and potentially save the county more money," he said.
State government reimburses at a rate of 70 to 90 percent of the cost for counsel for indigent defendants.
Commissioner Niki Frenchko supports the proposal made by attorney David Rouzzo, who wants to see a county public defender's office.
"I believe this proposal is a step in the right direction. It may improve efficiency for the county," Frenchko said. "And it could potentially improve the quality of legal services to indigent defendants. If we have a diverse board to oversee it, it will improve accountability of the attorneys selected to represent the defendants."
Rouzzo, who directed the office from September 2018 until he resigned in May 2019 to start his own private law practice, said he has worked up a budget for a new county public defender's office that could save more than $400,000 of county funds per year if commissioners move away from the current system of having the Ohio Public Defender's office handle indigent cases in municipal court while having common pleas judges appoint attorneys for indigents charged with felonies.
Rouzzo's proposal would call for a nine-person staff, headed by a director making $96,500 plus benefits and four staff attorneys with salaries ranging from $58,000 to $82,000.
"The rationale for these salaries is to attract talented and qualified attorneys and a pay on par with the assistant prosecutors who they'll be up against in these courts," Rouzzo said, noting the current split system lacks any seasoned attorney who can lead a death penalty case.
For years, common pleas court defendants who can't afford counsel had been tapping into lawyers employed with the Ohio Public Defender's office. But that process changed in 2019 when county commissioners agreed to allow the four common pleas judges to appoint counsel for defendants.
The Ohio Public Defender's office still is providing indigent counsel for defendants in Warren Municipal Court and this split system is causing some issues, according to one judge.
In a letter dated March 11, 2020, to county commissioners, Judge Andrew D. Logan said his court has "observed certain challenges in the appointed counsel system." Logan was writing to the board before the commissioners made the decision last June to keep the current "split" system in place for another year.
"First and foremost, the court must balance principles of fairness, due process and access to justice with the judicial economy necessary to administer justice in an efficient method," Logan wrote. "The current split … system unwittingly sets up barriers to these constitutional principles."
Also Rouzzo noted Trumbull County is the only county in all of northern Ohio to have a contract with the Ohio Public Defender's office. He noted Mahoning County courts have judge-appointed counsel for the indigent, while both Ashtabula and Columbiana counties contract with nonprofit organizations.
"The only counties who still contract with the (Ohio) public defender (office) are located in the southern part of the state," Rouzzo said.
Logan wrote the court is challenged to accommodate the schedules of all counsel and maintain proper docket management. He also states the current "split" system causes confusion and unnecessary repetition at the felony level regarding bail. He said with the Ohio Public Defenders office utilized at the municipal court level, it hinders resolution of cases pre-indictment.
He said a "fluid representation of criminal defendants" will aid in the reduction of unnecessary inmates housed in the jail.
"Plea agreements and bond hearings can be scheduled on an as-needed basis," Logan writes. "As we have seen all too often, the delay of justice often inflicts increasing pain and suffering on the victims' families."
He said the appointed counsel system renders the court somewhat at the whim of the counsel's schedule, especially when these lawyers are coming from places such as Cleveland and Mahoning and Ashtabula counties.
Rouzzo, who regularly appears in common pleas court to be appointed by one of the four judges, said indigent defendants often are confused when they encounter two attorneys -- one through the municipal court system and then after a grand jury indictment. They are asked during arraignment by a common pleas judge about whether they can hire an attorney.
Rouzzo's plan also would eliminate current redundancy with about $40,000 in yearly savings in "office overhead" costs, such as lease, supplies, equipment, technology infrastructure and utilities.
"There is probably room in the old Stone Building (located on High Street NW next to the county jail) for an office for public defenders," Rouzzo said.