Dayton Municipal Court: How The Judges Spend Their Time
According to their official website, the Dayton Municipal Court has five elected judges who spend about 40% of their time in court presiding over felony preliminary hearings, in-jail arraignments, and civil cases. These proceedings are cases not officially assigned to each judge’s docket, but must be handled in the course of regular, daily court business. Criminal, traffic and civil cases that are officially assigned to each judge result in a yearly annual average of 1,462 guilty pleas at the pretrial or trial stage, 784 dismissals or other terminations, 398 failure to appear warrants, and 94 trials both by the court or jury. Beyond these reported activities, judges hear default civil cases and preside over probation hearings, motions to suppress, and hundreds of other issues raised by written motions. In addition to time spent in court, each judge must schedule office meetings, conference calls with attorneys and conduct legal research necessary for decisions. The demands of public appearances and service on numerous community and criminal justice boards must also be scheduled into the judge’s calendar.
