|
|
| 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | Search | Upcoming cases |
Public Information Home
Supreme Court Vacates Writ: Muni Judge May Conduct Contempt Proceeding Against Sheriff
2006-1163. State ex rel. Wellington v. Kobly, 2006-Ohio-6571.
Mahoning App. No. 05 MA 228. Judgment reversed.
Moyer, C.J., Resnick, Pfeifer, O'Connor, O'Donnell and Lanzinger, JJ., concur.
Lundberg Stratton, J., dissents.
Opinion: http://www.supremecourtofohio.gov/rod/newpdf/0/2006/2006-Ohio-6571.pdf
(Dec. 20, 2006) In a ruling announced today, the Supreme Court of Ohio reversed a writ of prohibition issued by the 7th District Court of Appeals that had barred Youngstown Municipal Court Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly from conducting contempt proceedings against Mahoning County Sheriff Randall A. Wellington.
The case arose in the aftermath of a 2005 federal court class action in which the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio found that the Mahoning County Justice Center and the Minimum Security Jail were understaffed and overcrowded, creating unsafe and dangerous conditions that the federal court held to be unconstitutional. To respond to the federal court's decision and to resolve the problems related to understaffing, the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas adopted a prisoner-release policy aimed at maintaining an inmate population of no more than 296. That policy provided for the release of inmates from the Justice Center based on a rating system for the seriousness of offenses.
On Nov. 29, 2005, Judge Kobly convicted Ronald Tomlin of the fourth-degree misdemeanor of domestic violence and sentenced him to seven days in the Justice Center. Judge Kobly specified in her sentencing entry, “Sheriff not to release early.” Notwithstanding Judge Kobly's order, Sheriff Wellington released Tomlin the same day that he was sentenced, in accordance with the common pleas court's prisoner-release policy. The next day, Judge Kobly ordered Sheriff Wellington to appear and show cause why he should not be held in contempt of her do-not-release order.
Sheriff Wellington responded with a motion to disqualify Judge Kobly from holding the contempt proceeding, which the presiding judge of the court of common pleas denied. Wellington then filed a complaint in the 7th District Court of Appeals for a writ of prohibition (1) to prevent Judge Kobly from conducting the contempt hearing scheduled for Dec. 28, 2005, regarding the sheriff's release of Tomlin and (2) to prevent Judge Kobly from issuing further orders that would cause the sheriff to violate the prisoner-release policy issued by the court of common pleas. The court of appeals subsequently granted the requested writ. Judge Kobly exercised her right to appeal the 7th District's action to the Supreme Court.
In today's 6-1 decision, the Court reversed the 7th District. In a per curiam majority opinion, the Court held that Wellington was not entitled to a writ of prohibition because Judge Kobly has statutory authority as a municipal court judge to enforce her sentencing orders, and that a section of state law granting common pleas courts authority to review and approve jail procedures and policies, R.C. 341.02, “does not patently and unambiguously divest Judge Kobly of jurisdiction to enforce her sentencing entries and to punish alleged violations of those court orders by contempt.” The Court also noted that vacating the writ of prohibition did not leave the sheriff without any alternative means of legal redress, because he retained the right to appeal any finding of contempt by Judge Kobly.
The Court emphasized that its reversal of the 7th District's decision was procedural rather than substantive in nature, and noted that “(W)e express no opinion on the underlying merits issues, including whether the sheriff is actually in contempt of Judge Kobly's order, because our review is limited to whether Judge Kobly patently and unambiguously lacked jurisdiction to proceed.”
Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer and Justices Alice Robie Resnick, Paul E. Pfeifer, Maureen O'Connor, Terrence O'Donnell and Judith Ann Lanzinger joined the majority decision.
Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton entered a dissenting opinion stating that, in her view, “(w)hen Sheriff Wellington released Tomlin early, he relied on the prisoner-release policy. Jurisdiction to adopt the release policy was conferred exclusively upon the common pleas court by R.C. 341.02. Thus, the court of appeals properly held that once the common pleas court exercised its jurisdiction under R.C. 341.02, Judge Kobly was without jurisdiction to override that policy.”
“Judge Kobly's actions placed Sheriff Wellington between the proverbial rock and a hard place,” wrote Justice Stratton. “If he were to comply with her municipal court sentencing order, he would violate the prisoner-release policy adopted by order of the common pleas court. … Because I believe that Judge Kobly, a municipal court judge, was patently and unambiguously without jurisdiction to countermand the order of the common pleas court, I dissent.”
Contacts
Iris T. Guglucello, 330.742.8874, for
Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly.
Gina DeGenova Bricker, 330.740.2330, for Sheriff Randall A. Wellington.
Please note: Opinion summaries are prepared by the Office of Public Information for the general public and news media. Opinion summaries are not prepared for every opinion released by the Court, but only for those cases considered noteworthy or of great public interest. Opinion summaries are not to be considered as official headnotes or syllabi of Court opinions. The full text of this and other Court opinions from 1992 to the present are available online from the Reporter of Decisions: http://www.supremecourtofohio.gov/ROD/newpdf/. In the Full Text search box, enter the eight-digit case number at the top of this summary and click "Submit."