COLUMBUS, Ohio - Youngstown's municipal judges can expect to wait another six months, or even longer before finding out if the Ohio Supreme Court will order the city to update courtroom facilities.
Last month, attorneys representing the local judges and the city administration spent three days presenting evidence to a court-appointed Special Master who is considering arguments from municipal judges who say their current court facilities are not in compliance with safety and legal standards set by Ohio law.
On Wednesday, the Special Master issued an order giving attorneys for the municipal judges sixty days from April 1 to file post hearing briefs.
Attorneys representing the city administration will then have another forty days after those filings to file their legal briefs.
Attorneys for the judges will then have another twenty days to file a reply, and then the Special Master says he will issue a recommendation within a "reasonable" time after that.
Even after the Special Master issues his findings of fact, parties opposed to the recommendation have another thirty days to file objections, and another twenty days will be set aside to reply to the objections.
After the required deadlines are passed, the Ohio Supreme Court will then consider the case before issuing a ruling.
It has been nearly five years since the judges first asked the Supreme Court to force the city to pay for improved court facilities.
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