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Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ohio judges, county, township officials may get annual 5% pay raises
Apr. 15—If the Ohio House gets its say, county and township officials, judges, and members of county boards of elections will soon get substantial pay bumps. The House amended and quickly passed the pay raises into its draft of the state's two-year operating budget, which House Finance Chair Brian Stewart, R-Ashville, said would give "all of our county and township officials" a raise. The provision takes an existing, automatic 1.75% yearly raise for those officials and bumps it to a 5% yearly raise through 2029. While Democrats voted unanimously against the House's draft last week, House Finance Ranking Member Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney, D-Westlake, told reporters that the pay raises weren't a sticking point for her. "A lot of local officials across the board have given real data to show that across other states, they're being underfunded," said Sweeney. "We want to make sure that we have good public servants. No one should be making more than whatever the equivalent in that job is, but oftentimes public servants are less, so I have no problem with making sure people are paid what they're worth." County commissioner pay varies by county population. Montgomery County commissioners are paid $115,431 this year. Pay drops to $102,043 for Butler County and $86,988 for Clark County. County commissioners attend weekly meetings; many, but not all, have other full-time jobs. Other county positions such as engineer, prosecutor and coroner have different pay rates depending on whether they have a private practice job. Township trustees are paid hourly based on the township budget, ranging from a maximum salary of $9,124 to $25,602. Trustees also often have other jobs. Ohio Association of County Commissioners Executive Director Cheryl Subler told this outlet that her organization is in favor of the House's proposal. Her organization and others representing county-level elected officials pushed for a higher year-over-year raise once it became clear that Ohio law wouldn't keep up with inflation. Subler said it's important for county pay rates to remain competitive with the private sector so that counties can still attract highly qualified candidates to fill positions such as county commissioners, engineers, recorders, clerks of court, auditors, coroners, prosecutors and more. The House's budget draft will soon be vetted by the Ohio Senate, whose President Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, has steered clear of commenting on the House's proposals. The House's draft also provides that the listed officials would receive annual salary adjustments beginning in 2030 to match inflation, with a 3% year-over-year cap. The pay raises, if approved, would not impact state lawmakers. In the waning weeks of the previous general assembly, there were discussions of raising pay for a full slate of elected officials, including lawmakers. Rep. Matt Huffman, a Lima Republican who was Senate president last session and leads the House now, told reporters that a lawmaker pay raise couldn't garner support among his chamber. ------ For more stories like this, sign up for our Ohio Politics newsletter. It's free, curated, and delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday evening. Avery Kreemer can be reached at 614-981-1422, on X, via email, or you can drop him a comment/tip with the survey below.
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bipartisan bill would ban Ohio police from using arrest, ticket quotas
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Law enforcement agencies in Ohio would be banned from requiring officers to meet arrest and ticket quotas under a bipartisan Statehouse bill. State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake) reintroduced the legislation last week in the Ohio House as House Bill 131 alongside Rep. Kevin Miller (R-Newark), a former State Highway Patrol officer of 20 years. The bill, which defines a quota as a certain number of arrests made or citations issued for any offense that a police officer must meet in a time period, aims to enhance public safety. U.S. Supreme Court likely to side with Ohio woman's reverse discrimination claim 'Law enforcement officers' primary job is to protect and serve our community — they can't do that if they are expected to meet arbitrary quotas that don't reflect the safety needs of the community,' said Sweeney, who also introduced the measure last General Assembly. 'We want our law enforcement officers to be evaluated based upon the quality of their police work, not the quantity of tickets they can write.' Similar legislation banning quotas has been enacted in 25 other states, including Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, the pair said. They also touted support from the Ohio Patrolmen's Benevolent Association (OPBA) and the Fraternal Order of Police. George Sakellakis, OPBA director of organization, argued that when agencies arbitrarily dictate a certain number of arrests or citations that an officer must issue to keep their job, the trust between the public and law enforcement, as well as the very nature of constitutional policing, is needlessly tested. 'Ohioans must be assured that any citation or arrest is valid, legitimate, and necessary. Police officers, sheriff's deputies and troopers are true professionals who risk their lives to serve our communities, not revenue generators,' said Sakellakis. 'They got into this business to protect our neighborhoods, not occupy them. We are thankful that the legislature is tackling this important issue.' Franklin County court restricts immigration enforcement to protect due process State Senator Tom Patton (R-Strongsville) also supports the legislation, and has introduced a sister bill in the Ohio Senate, Senate Bill 114. The measure would also prohibit law enforcement from requiring officers to meet quotas, and ban agencies from offering a financial reward or other benefits for meeting quotas. 'Law enforcement officers already have the difficult task of keeping us all safe, and should not be saddled with the additional and unreasonable burden of generating revenue for the bureaucracies they serve,' said Patton. 'Quotas make officers' jobs even harder by undermining public trust in law enforcement. Filling quotas also encourage unnecessary encounters between the public and officers, further hindering our primary goal of maintaining public safety.' H.B. 131 has been referred to the House Public Safety Committee for further consideration and awaits sponsor testimony. S.B. 114 has been assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee and is scheduled for sponsor testimony on Wednesday. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Bill looking to eliminate ticket, arrest quotas for law enforcement
Ohio lawmakers are pushing for legislation eliminating ticket and arrest quotas for law enforcement. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] State representatives introduced House Bill 131, which would make such quotas illegal, CBS-affiliate WCPO reported. 'In Ohio, it is completely legal for us to mandate a police officer to go out every single day on a taxpayer dime to produce 10-20 tickets,' said State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake). TRENDING STORIES: Gene Hackman death: Gas company assisting with investigation; Hackman, wife found in different rooms 1 in custody after wrong-way pursuit ends in Montgomery County 'Just like another day;' Neighbors react after pair reportedly kidnaps boy, pours bleach on his face Ken Kober, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Queen City Lodge 69, expressed support for the bill. 'There's some communities that should be focused on violence — should be focusing on community and or policing,' Kober told WCPO. 'If you're requiring officers to go write tickets, it kind of takes away from an opportunity for an officer to do those things.' [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
