Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer urged state legislators Tuesday to adopt "mayor's court reform legislation." A release from the Supreme Court said that this will strengthen the wall that separates the executive and judicial branches of government at the local level.

Moyer outlined his support of Senate Bill 252 in testimony delivered before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Civil Justice. He applauded the General Assembly's efforts to provide Ohio's judges and court administrators with the tools and training "to ensure that all levels of the courts are fair, efficient and worthy of the respect of all citizens." Moyer also reportedly urged the legislative body to take another step to close a gap in the process that is used to determine thousands of misdemeanor cases each year in Ohio.

Senate Bill 252 is sponsored by state Sen. Kevin Coughlin (R-Cuyahoga Falls). The announcement from the court says the bill would incorporate mayor's courts into the judicial system under the authority of the Supreme Court. The release also said that the bill would transfer cases in mayor's courts in municipalities with a population under 1,600 to the local municipal or county court and make other reforms.

Moyer said it was important that Ohioans have confidence in the judicial system and in the outcome of their case.

"Every citizen of Ohio should know that the only interest of the person adjudicating legal rights and responsibilities in a court, is the fair resolution of the case," Moyer said.

Mayor's courts have been declared unconstitutional by the federal courts, most recently in 1999 by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which found there to be an unconstitutional conflict when a mayor can level a fine that will be paid into a budget the mayor controls.

Moyer said in his testimony that this conflict is not a new development in his testimony. Moyer quoted Chief Justice William Howard Taft in a 1927 Supreme Court case:

"The mayor represents the village and cannot escape his representative capacity. On the other hand, he is given the judicial duty, first, of determining whether the defendant is guilty at all, and second having found his guilt, to measure his punishment.

"With his interest as mayor, in the financial condition of the village and his responsibility therefore, might not a defendant with reason say that he feared he could not get a fair trial or a fair sentence from one who would have so strong a motive to help his village by conviction and heavy fine?"

Moyer said that the bill would preserve the convenience and flexibility of the current system while removing the inherent conflict of interest. The release said that the bill would subject community courts to the Supreme Court rules of superintendence, as is already the case with all other courts. Also, the release said community courts would receive the benefit of services provided to courts by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court's most recent summary of mayor's court activity showed that Ohio's 335 mayor's courts had three times as many cases pending beyond the recommended timeframe of six months at the end of 2007 as compared to 2004.

In May 2007, Chief Justice Moyer testified in support of the House's version of mayor's court reform, House Bill 154, sponsored by state Rep. Larry Wolpert (R-Hilliard).