by Marty Trese, KnoxPages.com editor
MOUNT VERNON — City Law Director Chip McConville gave his annual report to City Council Monday night. Prosecution of misdemeanor criminal charges and traffic offenses in Mount Vernon Municipal Court constitutes the bulk of the workload of McConville’s office. During 2013, his office was involved in the prosecution of 1,280 misdemeanor criminal charges and aproximately 1,000 minor misdemeanor traffic offenses. 480 cases were reviewed that were submitted by law enforcement agencies and of those, 145 resulted in authorized charges.
The Law Director’s Office also prosecuted 310 cases of alcohol or drug-impaired driving. Five cases were tried by juries in 2013. including two domestic violence cases and threes cases of OVI. The majority of the criminal caseload was handled by Assistant Law Director Rob Broeren and three legal assistants.
During the past year, McConville said they dealt with a wide variety of civil issues, a significant portion of which were related to the Police Department. Among the highlights of the civil matters were:
- Successfully defending the City in an employee age discrimination claim before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission.
- Successfully representing the City before an arbitrator who upheld the discharge of a Mount Vernon Police Sergeant for just cause.
- Settling a tort claim against the City to limit expenditures on outside insurance counsel.
- Representing the City and Municipal Court in a pending tort case in U.S. District Court.
- Working with Police Supervisors to update sections of the Police Department Policies concerning the impound lot and less-lethal weapons.
- Successfully prosecuting dilapidated building and junk car issues to improve neighborhoods.
McConville said that serving as the legal advisor to City Council is another significant segment of the duties of his office. He said he appreciates Council’s support of the revisions of the City’s drug ordinances to combat synthetic drugs in Ordinance 2013-15, and revision of penalties in Ordinance 2013-23.
And looking ahead to 2014, McConville said he looks forward to continuing to work with Council on the Property Maintenance Ordinance proposal during 2014. He believes a consensus can be reached that will lead to a more streamlined enforcement process on building complaints around the City.
