Grendell has excelled as judge

Editor’s note: Another Viewpoint is a column The News-Herald makes available so all sides of an issue may be aired. Kimberly Laurie is budget/fiscal director and county liaison for Geauga County Probate and Juvenile Court.

During the six years that Tim Grendell has served as judge, the Geauga County Juvenile and Probate courts have improved efficiency, and have been recognized for judicial services for seniors, families and children. Since I began serving as the budget/fiscal director for both courts, through overhead reduction and increased revenue from nontax funded sources, we have cut tax-funded operating expenses by 4 percent for the Probate Court and 30 percent for the Juvenile Court, while adding services for residents.

The Family Life Improvement Program, initiated by Judge Grendell in 2014, has a 90 percent success rate reunifying Geauga County families, including mentoring to parents successfully retaining custody after reunification. Grendell also started the Court’s Community Garden, where youth on probation can fulfill court-ordered community service by tilling, planting, watering and harvesting crops, which are then donated to Geauga County food banks and senior centers.

Launch Pad assists Geauga County foster youth turning 18 with developing a career plan, college visits, financial aid applications, and finding host families for holiday breaks. This year, Launch Pad and CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) helped two Geauga County foster youth earn full scholarships to Cleveland State University. The Court’s supervised visitation program allows parents and children to conduct supervised visits after work/ school hours and even on weekends, so parents no longer jeopardize their case plan by taking time off work and children can attend school uninterrupted. Mediation is now standard for custody cases, Geauga Learn exposes sixth-graders to agriculture at the Great Geauga County Fair, Start With Hello combats bullying in Geauga County schools, and restorative justice programs pre-emptively address behavior issues in children before reaching the court.

The Ohio Association of Juvenile Court Judges recognized the responsible adjudication of the Chardon High School shooting case by awarding Grendell with the Distinguished Service Award.

CASA volunteers received the Roger Morris Volunteer Helping Hand Award from the Geauga County Board of Mental Health and Recovery Services. CASA has grown from 50 volunteers in 2012 to almost 70 volunteers who contributed over 8,000 volunteer hours in 2016.

The Probate Court’s Good Deeds Program, implemented in Geauga County by Grendell and Recorder Sharon Gingerich in 2012, teaches seniors across the county how to set up their estates to avoid costly and lengthy probate.

As a result, in 2013 the Probate Court received the Geauga County Outstanding Senior Citizen Supporter of the Year award from the Geauga County Department on Aging. This year, Grendell started the Good Deeds for Young Adults program to encourage graduating high school seniors to start thinking about current and future assets as they enter adulthood.

The Probate Court is currently developing a Guardianship Visitation program to ensure that the county’s most vulnerable elderly citizens who are wards of the court are receiving proper care from their guardians.

This month, Grendell was unanimously elected by fellow Probate Court judges across the state of Ohio as the secretary/ historian of the Ohio Association of Probate Judges, which operates for educational and charitable purposes and is comprised of all judges in Ohio with probate court jurisdiction.

Grendell also serves as vice president of the Ohio Association of Juvenile Court Judges, is a member of the Ohio Judicial Conference Executive Board, and is presiding judge of Geauga County Common Pleas Court.

As a former state senator and now as judge, the courage of Tim Grendell to do what is right for Geauga County, standing against those who wish to take advantage of its residents, is unsurpassed. His decisions are based on law, equal justice and his conscience. I imagine he would agree with Frederick Douglass who said, “I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.”

Anyone interested in volunteering to help the community through one of these good programs can contact the court at 440-279-1830.