What JCRC Ratings Mean
For the November 2009 elections, JCRC member organizations* have rated candidates for municipal court in Cleveland and three suburban courts - Bedford, Lakewood and Parma. The Bedford Municipal Court serves a number of suburbs.
Each JCRC member organization rates every candidate based upon the criteria of integrity, judicial temperament, diligence and professional competence, and each organization gives each candidate who appears a rating of Excellent, Good, Adequate or Not Recommended. The rules of two Judge4yourself.com organizations permit them to use the term "preferred" when two candidates in the same race have an equal rating. If a candidate declines to participate in the Judge4yourself.com process without a reasonable excuse, our grid will indicate "Refused to Participate" or, if Judge4yourself.com organizations have enough information to give such a rating, "Not Recommended".
For voter convenience, we have also provided an average rating for each candidate. We compute each average by adding the numeric values of the various organizations' ratings for that candidate and dividing by the number of organizations providing ratings.
*OWBA was unable to provide ratings for this election.
About the Municipal Courts
What happens in municipal court?
Municipal courts handle civil claims for $15,000 or less, foreclosures of liens on personal property, such as motor vehicles, evictions, traffic offenses, and misdemeanor cases. The Cleveland municipal court also has jurisdictions of real estate foreclosures where the amount claims is $15,000 or less, and in actions by the city to get an injunction against a violation of municipal ordinance or regulation.
Municipal courts are also authorized to hold preliminary hearings in felony cases. Many municipal courts have small claims divisions, where people can bring claims for $3,000 or less without hiring lawyers.
Who can be a municipal court judge?
To serve as judge, a candidate must be a registered voter and resident of a city served by the court, shall be admitted to the practice of the law and shall have been engaged in the practice of the law for at least (6) years preceding his or her election or appointment. A municipal court judge is elected for a term of six (6) years.
How many municipal court judges are elected?
The number of municipal court judges is established by law, and varies according to the size of the jurisdiction. On a municipal court with numerous judges, such as the City of Cleveland, only about 1/3 of the judges are up for election in each election year.
What municipal court serves my city?
There are 2009 elections in the following municipal courts:
- Bedford Municipal Court - Serves Bedford, Bedford Heights, Bentleyville, Chagrin Falls, Chagrin Falls Twp., Cleveland Metroparks, Glenwillow, Highland Hills, Moreland Hills, North Randall, Oakwood, Orange, Solon, Warrensville Heights, Woodmere.
- Cleveland Municipal Court - Serves the City of Cleveland and the Village of Bratenahl.
- Lakewood Municipal Court - Serves the City of Lakewood
- Parma Municipal Court - Serves Parma, Broadview Heights, Brooklyn Heights, Linndale, North Royalton, Parma Heights and Seven Hills.
If your home town is not listed here, there is no municipal court election in 2009. Come back to judge4yourself.com for the 2010 primary and general races, and the 2011 municipal court races.