MOUNT VERNON — The Mount Vernon Municipal Court’s Annual Report came out recently and it chronicles, among other things, court operations, activities, and statistics from 2018.
Judge John Thatcher listed several accomplishments and activities in his section of the report.
In September, the court’s Mandated Education and Referral into Treatment (MERIT) Drug Court was awarded a Knox County Wellness and Recovery Champion Award by the Mental Health and Recovery Board for Licking and Knox Counties.
Also, in February of 2018, Todd Wells was hired as Court Bailiff. Wells had previously worked as a treatment supervisor for Abraxas Youth and Family Services, as Bailiff/Probation Officer for the Hardin County Municipal Court and as Probation Officer for the Hardin County Court of Common Pleas.
The court also continued to improve court security by upgrading the cameras and it sent the staff to several professional training sessions throughout the year.
Adult Probation
In 2018, the Probation Department took advantage of several opportunities to host and participate in ongoing public awareness events about crime prevention and drug trends found within the community. The department’s Square Roots Drug Abuse, Prevention and Recovery series held two community forums at the Elks Lodge #140 in 2018.
The Department of Adult Probation and TouchPointe Family and Marriage Resource Services co-hosted the Jodi Pfarr workshop, called ‘Tactical Communication” at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
Three probation officers, who are also licensed social workers, all attended 30 hours of bi-annual continuing education to maintain their state licensure.
Each probation officer received 20 hours of required continuing education through the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
In 2018, the continuation of community partnerships and financial stakeholders allow the department to add an in-house integrated community day reporting model and employ an additional probationer officer.
The probation department utilized funds granted in 2017 to pay for the continued services of a full-time specialized MERIT Court Docket Coordinator and add a full-time Probation Officer. The additional officer was hired in February.
Outpatient mental health and drug and alcohol engagement groups along with individualized assessments with Behavioral Health Partners and Freedom Center were added to the Probation Department’s integrated day reporting curriculum. Other in-house services also include wellness screenings with Knox County Health Department, a staff-facilitated fitness class, automated drug testing and “Thinking for a Change” classes.
At the local level, United Way of Knox County-Womans’ United awarded the court $2,500 to continue adding scholarships to the Chris-Fit Program to promote women’s health and recovery.
The Department of Adult Probation received a $2,874.70 grant through the Knox County Health Department and Drug Free Community Program.
In 2018, the Supervised Community Service program expanded to include additional projects with both the city of Mount Vernon and Knox County area non-profit organizations. The supervised community service program worked at 14 individual work sites, including five new locations.
A total of 2,198 supervised community service hours were recorded, compared to 1,063 hours in 2017. An additional 4,808.5 community service hours were performed at various non-profit locations in the Knox County area.
An officer within the department, who is also a certified Thinking for a Change (T4C) instructor and a counselor with Behavioral Health Partners of Central Ohio, co-facilitated four separate 16-week, cognitive behavioral groups throughout the year.
Tyler Hitzfeld of Central Ohio Assessment taught a six-week domestic violence offender course called Hands Down. There were 28 referrals to the class and 27 of them graduated.
The addition of the automated testing allowed the department to adapt testing needs to increasing drug trends to include fentanyl, heroin and buprenorphine. The added testing came after an expansion of in-house testing in 2017.
GPS and Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM) devices are utilized on offenders who are prohibited from consuming alcohol or are prohibited to have contact with a victim or access to specific locations. Devices have been successful with special conditions of pretrial release in an effort to reduce jail overcrowding.
MERIT Court
In 2018, there were 56 referrals resulting in 21 admissions to the MERIT Court Program. Four individuals graduated from the MERIT Court.
Here are some of the statistics regarding cases from 2018 as compared to 2017 and 2016:
•There was a slight increase in probation sentencings in 2018 but a decreased in total cases.
•The number of defendants sentenced to probation was 478 in 2018, compared to 472 in 2017 and 494 the year before. However, the number of overall cases dropped significantly to 1,119 compared to 1,541 in 2017 and 1,525 in 2016. Of the 1,119 cases, 900 were closed during the calendar year.
The amount of SCRAM devices that were utilized during the year was 24 compared to 44 in 2017 and 30 in 2016.
The number of urinalysis tests increased significantly to 20,751 compared to 6,628 in 2017 and 8,788 in 2016. Of the more than 20,000 tests, 18,490 were negative and 2,261 were positive — compared to 685 and 772 positive tests in 2017 and 2016, respectively.
There were significant increases in the types of drugs that were found to be used in 2018. Buprenorphine didn’t even register in 2017 and 2016 but had a 67 percent usage rate in 2018. Oxycodone and fentanyl also had no stats in the previous two years but registered 6.8 percent and 5.1 percent respectively in 2018. Alcohol (at 10.4 percent), OxyContin (6.8 percent), cocaine (2.8 percent) and heroin (2.2 percent) also saw increases in 2018.
Overall cases filed in 2018
There were a total of 7,856 cases filed in 2018 with the highest number coming in the “Other Traffic” categories (with a total of 4,721) followed by 1,366 misdemeanor criminal ones. The remaining cases include 707 contracts, 361 other civil filings, 270 OVI, 260 forcible entry and evictions, 95 felonies, 67 small claims and 12 personal injuries. Of the OVI cases, the months that had the most were July with 34, January with 30 and September with 28.
There were 270 OVI cases that included first, second and multiple offenses as well as felony OVI. The Ohio State Highway Patrol had the most citations with 148, whereas the Knox County Sheriff had 65, the Mount Vernon Police Department had 42 and the various villages had 15 combined.
In the category of domestic violence, there were 103 cases with three still outstanding. Of the total cases, 47 were dismissed and 33 had a plea of guilty, no contest or were found guilty at trial.
Financial report
The Criminal and Traffic Divisions collected most of the revenue, with $634,112.76, where the Civil Division collected $214,159.05 and the Small Claims Division had $6,314.50. Court costs made up the bulk of both Criminal and Civil, with a total of $352,697.01 from Criminal and Traffic and $190,232.05 from the Civil Division. Knox County received $90,680.67 from the Civil Division.
Disbursement funds are legal fees and other expenses collected by the court that go into the general fund of the municipal corporation that employs the officer or municipal employee who filed the case.
The City of Mount Vernon took in a grand total of disbursement funds of $854,586.31 in several divisions in 2018.
Disbursement funds paid to the three villages were Fredericktown, $6,965; Danville, $5,759; and Centerburg, $1,510.
