OH- Sex offender reclass suits taxing courts

7-24-2009 Ohio:

MANSFIELD — Many of the 200-plus sex offenders who appealed their reclassifications through Richland County courts committed their offenses elsewhere.

Richland County prosecutor’s office staffers said that has put a burden on local resources.

Mansfield’s two prisons, two halfway houses and sex offender treatment facility triggered an onslaught of Adam Walsh Act reclassification cases filed here.

“Quite frankly, I take some of these (case files) home, along with the work from my private practice,” attorney Frank Ardis said.

Ordinarily, Ardis works for the prosecutor’s office part-time, offering legal advice to commissioners and other county agencies. Assistant Prosecutor Kirsten Pscholka-Gartner usually handles criminal appeals, but a caseload spike necessitated bringing in Ardis.

Sex offenders unhappy with their reclassification by the Ohio Attorney General can challenge their status in common pleas courts.

“I think there’s close to 200 (here),” Ardis said.

Starting around fall 2008, Richland County judges issued a series of rulings saying retroactive classification is unconstitutional. The prosecutor’s office appealed to the Fifth District Court of Appeals. Now appeals rulings — overturning local judges’ decisions — are making their way to Richland County.

As of this week, the appeals court returned 35 reclassification opinions across its 15-county district — 29 to Richland County. Only seven of those cases involved people convicted here.

“So if he is sent to Mansfield prison (or treatment center), he can file it in Richland County,” she said.

Fifth District Court of Appeals Administrator Melinda Cooper said Richland County sex offenders are allowed to file their objections in the county where they “reside.” Richland is the only county in the Fifth District with state prisons.

The result?

The clerk’s office last year processed 337 appeals — “a big increase for us. We generally have 115 to 125 cases a year,” Richland County Clerk of Courts Lin Frary said.

The Fifth District rulings mean common pleas court hearings determine reclassification. Ardis estimates hearings take 20 minutes to two hours.

Pscholka-Gartner said the staff saves time by using similar legal arguments and language for court filings. Still, each reclassification was filed as a separate case, resulting in time and paperwork, she said.

“Just look at how much paper we have consumed, 15 to 20 pages, multiply that by about 200,” Ardis said. “It’s one of those things that the State of Ohio has enacted a statute, and guess who gets stuck with paying for it?”

John Murphy, executive director for the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, agrees prison-related caseloads have been a financial issue.

“We have long supported the idea that the state ought to pick up the cost of some of these prosecutions. It imposes an extra burden,” Murphy said.

Scioto County Prosecutor Mark Kuhn said the presence of a state prison and a Youth Services facility have added significantly to his office’s workload. Kuhn’s office has applied for a federal economic stimulus grant to pay a portion of an assistant prosecutor’s salary to deal with those cases.

Fifth District Court Presiding Judge Sheila G. Farmer said the appeals court received about 280 reclassification appeals, and has 250 pending. That’s a significant bump in the caseload for the Canton-based appeals court, which last year heard 848 cases.

“It has been a lot of additional work for the (appeals) clerks, and a lot of additional work for us,” Farmer said. ..Source.. by LINDA MARTZ • News Journal