The History of the Housing Court
During a time when housing issues were becoming
overwhelming, the City and neighborhood officials
decided upon a plan to resolve and address the declining
houses stock.
While we took a lot of pride in the development of
our city and our beautiful waterfront, we could not
overlook the sight of abandoned, vandalized and
dilapidated structures, scattered throughout our city.
At the urging of many concerned citizens, including
the Citizens Monitoring Board, the need for Housing
Court was taken under advisement.
After many studies and recommendations, on May 6,
1986, the Toledo City Council unanimously passed a
resolution calling for the General Assembly of the State
of Ohio to pass legislation to establish a housing court
in Toledo.
Finally, after the combined efforts of many dedicated
individuals representing several segments of the
community and the urging of Ohio Supreme Court Justice
Andy Douglas a special docket was created to handle
housing and environmental issues in Toledo Municipal
Court. In January of 1987, the Ohio Supreme Court
granted a waiver of a court rule permitting the Toledo
Municipal Court to consolidate the "housing cases" into
one docket.
On April 1, 1987, Toledo Municipal Court began a
separate housing docket. Judge Judith Ann Lanzinger was
appointed to serve as interim Housing Judge.
In 1988, Judge J. Ronald Bowman was installed as the
Court's first elected Housing Judge. Growth in the
Environmental Court's caseload increased 60% over the
number estimated, forcing changes in the very first year
of operation. To regulate this change, Judge Bowman
added several full-day sessions of Environmental Court
in the fourth quarter of 1988.
On July 7, 1989, Judge Roger R. Weiher was appointed
to the Environmental Court to fill the vacancy created
by the appointment of Judge Ronald Bowman to the Court
of Common Pleas. In November 1989 Judge Weiher was
elected to fill Judge Bowman's unexpired term ending
December 31, 1993. Judge Weiher was reelected in 1993,
and remained the Housing Judge until he retired in
December 1999. To better manage an ever-increasing
caseload, Judge Weiher created a new program entitled,
"Monitored Probation." This allowed defendants who were
placed on the program to work with court staff in order
to achieve compliance.
On January 6, 2000, Judge C. Allen McConnell was
elected as the Environmental Court Judge to fill the
vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Roger R.
Weiher. Judge McConnell refined the Monitored Probation
Program, now called "Community Control", and expanded
the programs availability to handle the steadily
increasing number of housing cases. Judge McConnell also
implemented, the "First Offender's Program," which
assists eligible parties to correct the conditions at
their property, which is the subject of the housing
case. Participants who successfully complete the program
have their cases dismissed by the Court and they avoid a
criminal conviction in their case. Judge McConnell
created the Court's Code Violation Abatement Program
(CVAP), which continues to receive the Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from the City of
Toledo. The CVAP program makes small grants to
individuals for minor home repairs that make a major
improvement in living conditions. By assisting
homeowners in maintaining their property, homeowners can
maintain a safe living environment and maintain the
vitality of their neighborhood and local community.
Judge McConnell also implemented a new Case
Management Software System for Housing Court. In 2004,
the final modifications were made to the Case Management
System. The first phase provided the core element of the
application and allowed the Toledo Municipal Court
Housing Specialists to enter, store, and report on case
information in a computerized environment. The second
phase provided automatic data population from the Clerk
of Court's Case Log Information Processing (CLIP)
system. The case management system allows for the
tracking of cases by Neighborhood, Council District,
Census Tract, and Community Development Corporations
(CDC). Phase three, the most technical phase, allowed
the Housing Specialists to provide case level documents
and photo scanning capabilities, specialized reports,
including presentation of case information in map format
(mapping). The Case Management System provides the
Housing Court Judge and staff access to detailed case
information, enhancing both staff and judicial
efficiency. This system has resulted in tremendous
savings of time and substantially improves the
processing of cases assigned to the Housing Specialists.
In addition to the Housing Court docket, the Housing
Judge also handles his share of regular criminal and
civil cases. He alternates with the six other judges by
serving one week in each of the three mandatory courts:
misdemeanor arraignment, felony arraignment, and duties.
The Housing Court docket also includes a civil
docket. Civil matters involve landlord-tenant disputes
known as Forcible Entry and Detainer actions (FED's) and
rent escrow under Chapter 1923 and 5321 of the Ohio
Revised Code.
A Housing Magistrate hears all first causes of action
cases as well as rent escrow cases wherein tenants
deposit rent into an escrow account with the Court
because of a dispute with the landlord. The Magistrate's
orders are submitted to the Housing Court Judge for
approval. In addition to approving the Magistrate's
decision, any objection to the Magistrate's orders is
referred to the Housing Court Judge for decision or
hearing.
Since 1987, substantial changes have occurred in the
Housing and Environmental Court as evidenced by the
escalating caseload. The Housing Court's jurisdiction
has expanded to include cases such as Wildlife (R.C.
§1531), Hunting and Fishing (R.C. §1533), Waterways
Protection and Pollution (R.C. Titles 37 and 15), and
Environmental Services (Toledo Municipal Code, Chapter
9, 11, 15 and 17).
The principal objective of Housing and Environmental
Court still remains achieving compliance with the Code;
however, the Housing Court is presented with many
challenges. First, there are numerous failures to
appear. Second, increasing numbers of individuals who
appear in Court after filing for bankruptcy and they are
not aware that the property is still in their name. This
situation creates a unique problem because a mortgage
company will typically walk away from the property and
leave it in the defendant's name. This problem is
aggravated by the fact that the defendant/debtor does
not have the resources to repair the property.
Despite the many challenges, Judge McConnell and his
staff have taken many initiatives to improve and enhance
the effectiveness of Housing Court.
As the numbers of housing cases grow, more time and creativity will be
necessary to find the most efficient and cost-effective methods and programs to
aid in achieving maximum compliance by those that appear in court. Statistical
yearly growth strongly suggests the need to continue to use an evolving and
flexible approach to handle the growing housing caseload.
Currently, Housing arraignments are set for Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, continuances for compliance and prosecutor pretrials are set for Wednesday afternoons; Housing criminal trials are scheduled on the Friday docket; Housing
civil trials are scheduled on Mondays and some Tuesdays; and jury trials are
scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays.