Ohio Court of Claims seeks modest budget increase to cover payroll, technology and cybersecurity upgrades

During the Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee's invited testimony on the state operating budget, Anderson Renick, clerk of the Court of Claims of Ohio, described the court's duties and budget request.

"The Court of Claims is the only statutory trial court with statewide jurisdiction," Renick said, and described the court's responsibilities: adjudicating civil actions against the state, hearing certain appeals under the Victims of Crime Act, processing wrongful-imprisonment claims, and serving as a forum for public-records disputes. He asked the committee to support a modest increase in the court's appropriation to cover statutory and cost-of-living payroll adjustments, benefit increases and investments in technology and cybersecurity.

Renick provided figures for the court's request: $5,088,000 for fiscal year 2026 (a 6% increase from FY25) and $5,000,321 for fiscal year 2027 (a 5% increase from 2026). He said about 84% of the court's budget is payroll, 11% is supplies and maintenance including hosting services for case management and e-filing systems, 4% is personal services such as court reporters and IT support, and 1% is equipment.

Renick described cybersecurity steps already taken: mandatory staff cybersecurity awareness training, migration of the case-management system to cloud-based servers, penetration testing and an email security program that quarantines suspicious messages. He said the court has expanded public access to case data and financial information, allowing users to download and analyze data, and is planning a website update.

No committee questions followed Renick's appearance.