Ohio Supreme Court rules in judge dispute

CLYDE — The state's highest court made a ruling in an ongoing legal case between two Sandusky County judges. On Thursday, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled in favor of Woodville county court Judge Mary Fiser in a majority decision over Clyde county court Judge John Kolesar. Both judges made filings in the state supreme court in March over a dispute involving proposed pay raises for two employees in Fiser's court. Kolesar, the county's administrative judge, issued an order halting Fiser's attempt to give her employees pay increases and threatened to hold her in contempt if she violated his order. He argued the county's administrative judge has authority over personnel matters. Both judges then filed in the Ohio Supreme Court — Fiser asked justices to stop Kolesar from enforcing his order, and Kolesar asked that Fiser be stopped from infringing on his authority as an administrative judge in the future. Five Ohio Supreme Court justices — Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor and Justices Sharon Kennedy, Patrick Fischer, R. Patrick DeWine and Melody Stewart — concurred in the ruling to throw out Kolesar's order, arguing he did not have the jurisdiction to overrule Fiser. "This case was about judicial independence for Judge Fiser and the limits of judicial power respecting vetoing the orders of a judicial colleague," Fiser's attorney, Andrew Mayle, told the Register. "The Supreme Court made absolutely the right ruling and we hope this is the end of it and the public continues to be well served by the court." Attorneys representing Kolesar did not immediately return a request for comment. One justice, Judith French, partially concurred and partially dissented, stating that she would have dismissed both judges' claims. Another justice, Michael Donnelly, dissented. In a written opinion, Donnelly argued that administrative judges do have the authority to handle courts' administrative issues, like pay raises, and felt the court's ruling set a precedent. "If all judges have authority to issue judicial orders related to administrative matters … which this court appears to sanction today, then we should prepare for an avalanche of cases," Donnelly, a former Cuyahoga County judge, wrote. Donnelly also noted that Fiser and Kolesar should have settled their dispute among themselves rather than go to the Supreme Court, and advocated that Sandusky County's two county courts develop a system where the two judges alternate administrative judge responsibilities annually. Kolesar ran for county common pleas court judge in November's election but was defeated by incumbent Jon Ickes, who replaced former judge John Dewey following Dewey's retirement earlier this year.