By Cheryl Splain, KnoxPages.com Reporter
MOUNT VERNON — City Law Director Rob Broeren met with the Knox County Commissioners on Thursday to discuss the duties of his position as they relate to cases originating throughout the county. He also offered a short-term solution for prosecuting cases that originate in the county’s four villages.
“The law director for the City of Mount Vernon has duties that come from the codified ordinances of Mount Vernon and the Ohio Revised Code,” he said. “Under the codified ordinances, the law director prosecutes city cases, and represents the city and its employees, groups and boards in civil cases. Under the Ohio Revised Code, because the [municipal] court sits in Mount Vernon, the law director has to prosecute all misdemeanor cases that originate in the unincorporated townships. [In Knox County], that is every township.”
Broeren said that traditionally, the city law director has also represented all of the villages under an informal, “handshake” agreement. “Under the Ohio Revised Code, the village solicitor is required to prosecute criminal cases,” he said. “As far back as anyone can remember, the city prosecutor has always done it.”
Recent events have called that informal agreement into question. Broeren has meetings scheduled with village officials for Centerburg, Gambier, Fredericktown and Danville and will offer to make a formal written agreement with the villages.
Under the formal agreement, Broeren will continue to prosecute cases originating in the villages through 2017. He will also collect data and discuss with village officials what percent of his caseload originates in the villages and how much time those cases represent.
“In some cases, it doesn’t take much time, but in some cases it does,” he said.
Broeren said that he is unable to give an estimated percentage because in his opinion the way the statistics are currently collected is not 100 percent accurate. “That’s why for 2017 things will stay the same and we will collect data so that we can all be sure what we are talking about,” he said.
Broeren will continue to prosecute cases originating in Knox County townships. Those cases range from traffic citations and accidents to domestic violence and assaults. He cited Johnstown, Utica and Heath as among the nearby municipalities whose solicitor prosecutes their cases. The Newark city law director prosecutes cases arising in Licking County’s unincorporated townships.
Broeren acknowledged that the recent events that prompted him to look at who has what authority stem from the potential to represent Danville Police Officer Mark Perkins. Perkins, formerly an officer with the Mount Vernon Police Department, has a suit pending against the City of Mount Vernon.
The commissioners’ office is required under the ORC to help pay for representation for unincorporated townships. The county pays $11,000 to the city and $150,000 to the court.