TROY — The Miami County Common Pleas Court has jurisdiction to decide felony criminal cases, civil cases that exceed $500 and domestic relations cases involving divorce, dissolution, and legal separation. The Miami County Common Pleas Court submitted the following breakdown on the caseloads/jury trials filed in 2022:
• Criminal Cases — 571;
• Civil Cases — 503;
• Relations Cases – 343;
• Seven jury trials were held in 2022.
Regarding technology and operations:
• E-filing — Software application utilized through the court’s case management system that allows attorneys to file court papers electronically rather than in person. The court introduced the software in February of 2021.
• Hyper-Reach — Software system that allows staff members to send mass communication to prospective jurors via phone notification/voice mail messaging to jurors regarding their on-call/reporting status for jury duty.
• ezWarrant — Currently in production, a cloud-based search warrant processing service that allows for law enforcements officer to fill, sign and submit a warrant by electronic means to prosecutors and judges for review/approval. Anticipated launch is in spring of 2023.
Information on Drug Court – “Second Chances:”
• The “Second Chances” specialized drug court docket presided over by Judge Jeannine N. Pratt celebrated National Drug Court Month in May of 2022.
• The court celebrated graduates, honored alumni and invited participant’s family and friends as well as elected officials to attend a special docket to salute the hard work and progress of participants who fight addiction every day and strive to lead a sober lifestyle.
Mental Health Court information:
• In June of 2022, Judge Stacy Wall introduced a new specialty court known as “The Miami County Mental Health Court.”
• The Mental Health Court held a resource fair on the Courthouse Plaza on Sept. 8, 2022. The event was open to the public and featured fifty community partners, including treatment providers, Job and Family Services, Public Health, public transit, YMCA, etc. The resource fair showcased for the community the vast array of services available in and around Miami County with the added benefit of a networking opportunity for all local providers.
The implementation of COVID-19 safety:
• Courtroom seating: The court completed installation of new gallery and jury box seating in both Judge Pratt and Judge Wall’s courtrooms. The new seating provides state of the art theatre seating and maintains the stately, refined style of the building’s architecture while meeting health grade standards imposed due to COVID-19.
• Grand jury meeting room: The grand jury meeting room located in the rear of the law library was moved to the main conference room of the law library. With continuing concerns surrounding COVID, the former room was constricted and did not allow for proper social distancing. The new meeting room now accommodates the 13 jurors, a prosecutor and a witness in a safe, comfortable environment.
