New Erie County Municipal Courthouse nears completion

I thought we were broke?

Ok, now we're broke!

Really!

Guess you guys don't read the paper very often or you would know that Judge Lux saved up the money to pay for this.

What's really sad about this is that they didn't even support local businesses to provide materials for the building!!!!

From what I have heard, Judge's can dictate what renovations are to be done to their courts. This includes building a new one. And no one (not any city official or the public)can deny them.

http://www.aclu.org/prisoners-ri...
"SANDUSKY, OH- The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio sent a letter today to Erie County Municipal Court Judge Paul Lux questioning recent reports that he has imprisoned people who are unable to pay court costs and fines. In an article in the Sandusky Register, Judge Lux admits he imprisons people who are unable to pay court costs and fines, known as debtors’ prison.

Ohio Revised Code 2947.14 and state constitution strictly prohibit judges from incarcerating people who are unable to pay court costs. State law does allow a judge to imprison a person who fails to pay a court fine associated with a criminal conviction, so long as they are given a hearing to prove they are not indigent. The law also mandates that defendants are credited $50 per day they are imprisoned. In the news report, Judge Lux stated that he does not apply this credit for defendants in his courtroom. In its letter, the ACLU asked Judge Lux to clarify his policy on imprisoning those who cannot pay court costs and fines."

Wow, very nice diggs. So this is where the money goes that the judges saved up. Can't say I blame them for spending it on nicer digs for themselves. What the heck. If they did so with the money gleaned from fines and such, more power to them.

Isn't this what Judge O Brian wants to do with the money he saved back? I don't blame him either....nice room. Go get em, Judge.

Re: Centauri- Totally agree with you on O' Brien- best damn judge we've had. But if the ACLU wants to push at Lux for incarceration for the inability to pay fines and costs, they should check out Norwalk Muni Court-Judge Ridge has been doing it for years.

You'd think the money from fines would go to help paying the LE budget. I see a couple years worth of pay for cops that are getting laid off in these pictures.

I was a bad boy and had to pay a speeding ticket. The breakdown of the ticket was,

Fine Amount $33.00
Court Cost $55.00
Misc. Cost $37.00

I understand the fine amount. I now understand the court cost (fund a building). But, what are the misc. cost that amount to 30% of the total cost? Where doest that money go?

donutshopguy, I think some of the misc. court costs goes to funds such as, public defender, victim of crimes and other state mandated funds not controlled by the local authorities. Some of the court costs and all of the fine amount goes back to the funding authority, in this case the county and the law enforcement agency that made the arrest. All money spent by the court must be budgeted and approved by the funding authority, in this case the county commissioners, in Sandusky it would be the city commission. If one doesn't break the law, they don't fund the court, at least at the municipal level.

Actually, the initial estimated cost for the work exceeded what Judge Lux had "saved." The taxpayers were to "loan" the project the rest.

Of course, if the initial project estimates were met (a real governmental miracle if, in fact, they were hit) the taxpayer is still on the hook for the balance until Judge Luz saves up some more.

Nice digs, far cry from the court on Milan Square that was run in the 70's and 80's. I guess if you're going to get wrung-out by our local ju$tice system, at least it should be done in style.

Will there be a breakfast buffet?

so we as the tax payors should demand they close the court house in sandusky theres know reason to fund them both. Lux should have stayed in sandusky or move all of sanduskys proceeding to the new one