Old problem

disgusted by abuses revealed by the Dispatch investigation and the lack of court oversight.

“I think it’s certainly crying out for reform,” he said. “And some sort of standards are certainly very, very much needed.”

DeWine’s office and the FBI raided the former Mahoning County probate judge’s office and house in February looking for records of campaign finance reports and lists of donors.

Mark Belinky, 61, a Democrat, resigned from the bench and pleaded guilty this month to tampering with records for failing to disclose campaign contributions, expenses and loans in amounts ranging from $7,500 to $150,000. As part of a plea agreement, he surrendered his law license, and prosecutors recommended probation for him.

Sources close to the Belinky case told The Dispatch that the investigation is ongoing and includes possible misconduct involving guardianships.

The Ohio Supreme Court subcommittee’s discussion of adult guardianships during nearly eight years came to a head a few months ago, after Dispatch reporters began attending its meetings and questioning committee members.

The group of lawyers, judges and guardians put forward its ideas for more oversight, including the central tenet that courts should require guardians who are not relatives to meet with wards at least twice a year.

Julia R. Nack, one of two nationally certified master guardians in Ohio, and a former probate court investigator, said the proposed rule changes are better than nothing but don’t go far enough.

The Supreme Court is to decide on those recommendations after a 30-day period for public comment ends on June 25. For information on commenting, go to the court’s website at www.supremecourt.ohio.gov.

The Dispatch reviewed more than 700 adult guardianship cases opened in 2007, 2008 and 2009 in Franklin County. Those years were chosen because the cases had numerous annual reporting deadlines and because they passed through the hands of the last four county probate judges: Lawrence A. Belskis, Alan Aker, Eric Brown and now, Montgomery.

The newspaper also reviewed more than 400 cases of children placed under guardianship since 2000.

The bulky adult case files detail a system overwhelmed by the increasing number of mentally ill people and an aging population. The cases also show that those needing the most help were treated mostly as names on a page and never seen by the court.

In nearly half of the cases reviewed, The Dispatch found signs of trouble — judicial admonishments, complaints or financial issues that judges in some other counties said would raise red flags.

The newspaper investigation also included the review of an additional 500 cases in the county and across the state in which the court or a third party raised concerns about a ward’s case. The vast majority of the concerns centered on guardians who failed to give the court written updates about their wards’ well-being or account for their finances.

The most prominent players in Franklin County’s guardian system are a handful of lawyers. The court has relied heavily on them, rather than on volunteers, as some other counties do.

“The lawyers have been the ones holding this together,” Montgomery said.

He said that attorney-guardians are deemed trustworthy because they swear to follow a strict code of conduct or face sanctions by the Ohio Supreme Court for dishonest behavior.

“They’re officers of the court,” he said. “When a lawyer signs something, we’re not supposed to have to check that.”

But there is evidence that these lawyers need oversight.

The same day in April that Montgomery spoke with reporters, for example, the attorney general’s office reported the arrest of a lawyer in Preble County who was accused of stealing more than $208,000 from four wards in his care from 2007 to 2013. The lawyer, 38year-old James Thomas Jr., also was charged with three counts of falsification — accused of filing false annual reports with the court about his wards.