NEWTON FALLS — Village officials and council will meet early next year to discuss plans for splitting the duties of the law director and prosecutor.

Attorney Jeff Limbian has been handling the duties of both, but has asked council about remaining the prosecutor but having someone else serve as law director.

Council President Julie Stimpert said a special meeting will be at 6 p.m. Jan. 5 for an executive session to discuss the positions and to interview any applicants for the law director position.

Stimpert said separating the duties of law director and prosecutor has been discussed by council and Limbian at past meetings. She said council will see how many applicants are interested in the law director position.

Stimpert said Limbian has said handling the two duties, as well as his other job as a lawyer, has been overwhelming, so he just wants to be prosecutor.

In a statement to the media, Stimpert said, “The Jan. 5 special meeting was scheduled to allow council to discuss the village’s legal needs considering increased demands within our court system. Council, administration and the current law director / prosecutor have been working collaboratively for the past few months to ensure the village continues to meet its legal and prosecutorial obligations effectively.”

She said despite social media comments, no one has resigned or been terminated.

In November, village officials discussed the idea of splitting the law director / prosecutor position into two part-time positions.

Councilman Brian Axiotis, 2nd Ward, said the amount of work for the prosecutor has increased in recent years.

“I feel we need to split the duties. We need to see what applicants we can get,” he said.

Limbian was hired as law director / prosecutor in February 2024.

Also at the Jan. 5 special meeting, council will have its organizational meeting, make appointments to different committees, and swear in Brian Kropp as the new 1st Ward councilman and Stimpert, who was reelected to the council-at-large seat.

Stimpert said the village’s charter requires council to have an organizational meeting on the first Monday in January.

Bob Burke has told council he will return to the open 3rd Ward seat. Officials said no one ran in the general election for the council seat and no one has applied to serve in the seat.

Council will have its regular first meeting of the year at 6 p.m. Jan. 7.