Summit County sheriff’s deputies face the task this year of acting on more than 8,000 outstanding warrants stemming from Common Pleas Court cases.
If those warrants were stacked on a desk like old-fashioned paperwork ­— one page per warrant — the pile would approach 3 feet in height.
In the Akron Municipal Court district, the stack contains more than 16,000 active warrants, according to figures provided by Clerk Jim Laria. Barberton Municipal Court has more than 8,000 pending warrants, and there are more than 8,200 in the Stow Municipal Court district.
Sheriff’s Inspector Bill Holland said many law enforcement agencies once had a team of officers — the warrant division — assigned to track down and arrest offenders accused of eluding police or defying court actions.
Not anymore.
Budget deficits and staffing cuts since the 2008 economic downturn have eliminated most, if not all, of the specialized units, Holland said.
It has, in effect, further diminished the warrant enforcement process.
“Even with a warrant crew,” Holland said, “if you have 8,000 warrants, you’re going to prioritize those and go for the most violent, egregious felonies and get those first.”
In Akron and surrounding cities, chasing wanted felons largely has fallen to the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force, a group composed of local police and U.S. marshals. Nonviolent fugitives largely are left to patrol officers, most of whom come across the wanted during traffic stops.
Akron police Capt. Dan Zampelli said the department can only perform the work with the resources available.
“This is good example of how, in these financially tough economic times, we team up with partners. And one of our best partners, when it comes to violent warrants, is the task force,” he said. “They’ve been excellent in assisting us and getting those warrants handled.
“Other warrants, as officers have time, they go out and try to serve. Many of them are served when we do basic traffic stops.”
Massillon retiree’s case
The case that arose a few weeks ago — with an 80-year-old Massillon retiree saying he was “humiliated beyond belief” when he was arrested and jailed on a warrant for missing a scheduled court appearance in a civil matter — would not be a priority.
Police discovered the existence of the warrant Jan. 30, when the retiree drove to a gas station to make a purchase and collided with another vehicle.
“You would never get down to someone such as this 80-year-old gentleman, so to say it would even come across our plate to notify this person that, ‘Hey, you have a court date,’ it just doesn’t happen,” Holland said. “The point of a warrant crew would be to get the dangerous criminals off the street first, so they don’t hurt anyone.”
Following the retiree’s complaint that he never was notified of his court date last March, or of the months-old warrant, the Beacon Journal contacted area court officials and police agencies to determine how the notification process works.
Holland said it was not the responsibility of sheriff’s personnel to notify the Massillon retiree that he was due in court.
“The court is the one that’s in contact with the person if they’re due to show up in court,” he said. “A lot of the warrants that are executed occur the way this one did: in a traffic stop when they run the person’s name through the radio room.”
Holland said there is no way to know how many others are in the same position as the Massillon retiree — unaware a warrant has been issued — for the simple fact that enforcing a warrant under those circumstances would not be on any priority list.
“In a criminal case,” Holland said, “when we’re investigating someone and we get a warrant to arrest, they won’t know until we pick them up most of the time.”
Court procedures
Common Pleas Judge Judy Hunter, the court’s administrative judge in such matters, said the circumstances that led to the retiree going to jail happen infrequently in Summit County civil cases.
“I think there’s a necessary prior question,” Hunter said, “and that is the examination of what notice he had [of his court date] prior to the warrant issuing.”
The attorneys of clients in court actions “often work very hard to avoid [a missed court date],” she said.
Hunter and her veteran bailiff, Ken Masich, went on to explain the general procedures occurring in civil matters when one party seeks monetary compensation from another.
Masich said the case often begins with a “debtor’s exam,” in which the plaintiff seeks a hearing date to question the defendant about his assets and whether there is potential to collect. The plaintiff’s lawyer is the one who usually serves the defendant with a notice about the date of the inquiry.
If, for example, the defendant does not appear for the inquiry, Masich said, the court sets a date for a “show-cause hearing” to determine why the defendant did not appear. Then if the defendant does not appear for that hearing, the court can issue a warrant for arrest.
Hunter said it is her policy to insert a clause in the paperwork summarizing the penalties the court can impose under Ohio law if a party does not appear for a show-cause hearing.
One of the penalties is jail time.
“Usually, that scares them enough that they do show up,” Masich said.
Although the law does not require the court to notify parties about noncompliance penalties, Hunter said she does it anyway.
Anyone with Internet access can check the status of a long-running case on the clerk of court’s website.
In Summit County, the clerk’s website contains online docket information for domestic, civil, criminal and 9th District Court of Appeals cases, along with a link for naturalization records. It can be accessed at www.cpclerk.co.summit.oh.us.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or at emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com. Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.