ASHLAND — Ashland County commissioners on Thursday held off on ratifying the county’s 2026 spending plan in order to gain more clarity on court-ordered increases to the juvenile court’s budget.
Approving the 2026 appropriations was on the commissioners’ agenda for Thursday. They decided to table the resolution after nearly an hour of discussion with Ashland County Juvenile and Probate Judge Karen DeSanto Kellogg.Â
Commissioners will vote on the county’s 2026 appropriations on Dec. 23.
Specifically, commissioners sought clarity on the court’s line items in its juvenile, probate and detention divisions. Those divisions’ budgets are increasing by:Â
- 44% in the probate court division. The increase amounts to $107,248 more than 2025 figures
- 36.5% in the juvenile court office. The increase amounts to $229,043 more than 2025 figures
- 26% in the detention center division. The increase amounts to $44,000 more than 2025 figures
Why?
Kellogg boiled down the increases to smaller subsidies received from the state because of her office’s increase in felony adjudications.
Put simply, the more children are incarcerated, the less money courts receive from the Ohio Department of Youth Services, Kellogg said.
“The less children you incarcerate, the more money you get. Incarcerate children, less money you get,” the judge said.
Kellogg’s court received grant funding from DYS in 2025, but the award was smaller than in previous years. Historically, that money has supplemented some wages in the office, she said.
The state’s grant system is based on a formula that generates credit. A court gets a credit for placing a child in a DYS correctional or treatment facility. The more credits used, the less funding a court receives.
Kellogg said there are currently eight children she’s placed in a DYS correctional or treatment center.
“Relative to the hundreds of kids that we deal with, that’s a very small amount of kids that are driving those numbers, unfortunately,” Kellogg said. The judge said those children face allegations of burglary, robbery, involuntary manslaughter and sex-related crimes.
Why the court order?
Kellogg’s 2026 budget request included a court order to increase wages for the juvenile and probate court employees and an increase to the detention center contract services line item.
State law allows courts to do this, as long as the court justifies those increases. County commissioners can modify those budgets if they can show the request is “unreasonable and unnecessary,” according to Ohio Revised Code.
Commissioner Jim Justice asked Kellogg why she issued a court order for the particular increases to her budget.
“The court has statutory responsibilities — and I’m not gonna miss them, OK?” she said. “And I’m not gonna be in a position where I can’t meet them because I’m worried about finances.”
Justice said the board of commissioners honors Kellogg’s right to issue court orders.
“It’s a legal thing to do. We have other judges that don’t order, they feel a little differently … I appreciate getting an answer,” he said.
Commissioners said they will delay a vote until they receive more specifics from Kellogg. Namely:
- The number of cases a mediator touched in 2025
- Juvenile and probate wage line break downs