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Ohio Judicial Conference seeks modest funding and highlights statewide coordination role
Summary
Judge David Hemenowski spoke for the Ohio Judicial Conference, describing the organization's role coordinating 722 judges statewide and its mix of general revenue and dedicated funds; the conference requested modest budget support and emphasized judicial education and uniformity of court practice.
Judge David Hemenowski, representing the Ohio Judicial Conference (OJC), described the OJC's statutory role and its work coordinating judges statewide. "I am David Hemenowski. I'm judge of the probate juvenile division of the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas," he told the committee.
Hemenowski said the OJC represents 722 judges across Ohio, organizes committees and task forces, and prepares uniform recommendations for the judiciary to improve court administration. He noted the OJC publishes resources, holds conferences attended by hundreds of judges, and runs programs funded from both the state's General Revenue Fund and a dedicated purpose fund supported by dues, conference fees and royalties from publications such as Ohio Jury Instructions.
He said the OJC's budget proposal is modest and that the current version of House Bill 96 includes no increases from the executive version. Paul Piper, OJC executive director, answered committee questions about a short-term increase in operating expenses tied to website and technology updates and said the OJC expects to return to lower year‑over‑year increases after those one-time costs.
The transcript records questions from senators about salary benchmarking and judicial data; Hemenowski said the OJC coordinates with the Supreme Court and the Ohio Sentencing Commission on data and studies but does not itself perform statewide sentencing tracking.
No committee vote on the OJC's request was recorded in the hearing transcript.
