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Ohio Supreme Court creates interactive specialty court map

RICHARD WEINER
Technology for Lawyers

Published: September 21, 2018

The Ohio Supreme Court, ever in the forefront of court technology, has put up an interactive online map that shows every specialty court in the state. The map is a quick and informative way for the public (or lawyers, researchers and teachers) to find whether an appropriate specialty docket exists in an offender’s jurisdiction. It may not seem like much, but the map is really pretty cool.

Ohio’s specialty dockets are local courts dedicated primarily to rehabilitating various classes of non-violent offenders. They allow judges to refer certain offenders to treatment or other alternate sentences rather than to jail. Most of them are for first-time offenders.

“The specialized docket map is an interactive and useful tool for the state of Ohio,” said Monica Kagey, manager for the Court’s specialized dockets section. “It helps in our efforts to showcase the focused work of local courts that assist individuals with substance use disorders and other behavioral health needs.”

The Specialized Dockets Section provides technical support to trial courts in analyzing the need for, planning of, and implementation and certification of specialized docket programs.

Ohio’s specialized courts are delineated and overseen by the Ohio Supreme Court. Large counties may have most or all of them, while smaller counties will generally have fewer (or none).

Authorized specialty courts in the state are: mental health courts; drug courts; OVI/DUI courts; child support enforcement courts; re-entry courts (which oversee the re-entry of a person from jail back into society); sex offender courts; veteran’s courts; and family dependency treatment courts.

The interactive map’s dropdown menus allow users to find out which dockets are available in which courts in which counties. For instance, the map shows seven specialty dockets attached to Summit County Common Pleas Court, along with each judge who presides over that copurt.

But probably the coolest part of the map is that it shows the poverty rates for each Ohio county so that counties which do not have a specialty court can make a case for getting one. If you’re interested, the poorest county in the state is Athens (where I got my undergrad at OU). The second poorest county is Ashtabula (where I’m from). The richest is Delaware County.

The interactive map can be found at the Court’s specialty docket page here: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/JCS/specDockets/


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