Mayor’s Court is a ‘Win, Win, Win’ for village says Mayor Wheeler

by Sharon Fell

In January 2021, the city of Akron advised Richfield Village that they had undercharged the village for adjudicating Richfield cases in Akron Municipal Court. The Village was sent a bill for $132,000 to rectify the mistake.

Having been sworn in for his first term as mayor, Michael Wheeler said it was time to bring mayor’s court back to Richfield so that the fines paid by those with minor infractions and traffic tickets, could be retained in-house.

On August 18, 2021, Richfield Village opened its first session of mayor’s court in over five years. In two years, it processed 1,831 infractions, 270 of which were forwarded to Akron.

Former Mayor Bobbie Beshara closed mayor’s court during her term in office, and as a councilperson in 2021 opposed re-instating it, because it brought too many outsiders into Town Hall. 

However, Finance Director Sandy Turk and Assistant Finance Director Kevin Edwards provided an analysis that showed the village would save on processing fees charged by Akron and could keep all fines collected for the infractions it handles when running its own court. The fines would cover the cost for the magistrate, clerk, prosecutor, and other court-related fees with money to spare. 

In the first year of the court, Turk said the revenue from mayor’s court was $76,229.

In addition, police officers do not have to travel to Akron to appear in court, allowing them to spend more time on patrol in the community.

Anyone ticketed by village police for moving and non-moving violations, including criminal misdemeanors, first-offense OVI (operating a vehicle impaired), DUS (driving under suspension), speeding, reckless driving, failure to control a vehicle and parking tickets can have their day in court without going to Akron.

More than half of the citations are given out on the interstate highways, even though only ten miles of the highways are in Richfield.

Mayor’s court is in session every other Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. Tickets issued in the township, more serious infractions, and any involving juveniles are still sent to Akron for processing.

When asked about the value to the village, Mayor Michael Wheeler said, “This is a win, win, win for the village, the village residents, and the village police department. We do not pay Akron 10s of thousands of dollars, our fines cover the court costs in their entirety and the village residents do not have to drive to Akron for a court hearing.”

Wheeler added, “I do not believe there is currently a downside to holding mayor’s court.” ∞