ASHLAND — Local lawyers are becoming increasingly difficult to find in Ashland County, according to Ashland Municipal Court Judge John Good.
The court does not have enough money left in its court-appointed council fund to fund the remainder of 2026, Good said Thursday.
The Ashland County Board of Commissioners appropriated $85,000 for the work in 2026, the same as this past year, Good said, when the court also ran out of money to cover appointed council fees.
As the fund depleted at the end of November 2025, the court didn’t seek an additional appropriation from the board before the year ended. Nearly $10,000 in appointed council bills carried over into 2026, the judge said.
Commissioners unanimously approved on Thursday an additional $30,000 to cover anticipated expenses for the remainder of the year.
Good said $30,000 is the amount Ashland County Auditor Cindy Funk estimates will get the court through the rest of the year.
The county is responsible for funding court-appointed council fees for all courts in Ashland County. However, the state currently reimburses 80-percent of those costs as long as the county submits a request for reimbursement within 90 days from the end of the calendar month in which a case was disposed.
Case volume on the rise, number of local lawyers dwindling
Attorneys do not always submit their bills as timely as the judge would prefer, he admitted.
“I’m hesitant to give them a hard time because I only have two lawyers in Ashland County willing to do these cases because we pay them less than half of what they would make otherwise,” he said. “We don’t have many lawyers, hardly, left in town anymore.”
Along with a shortage of local lawyers, Good said the volume of cases in the court continue to rise steadily. As of the end of August, the court was at 8,172 new filings for the year.
Good said the court is on pace for more than 12,000 cases this year. Last year’s total was 11,600.
“We’re going to be (around) 800 to 900 more cases this year, which is another part of why we’ve had more court appointed council (fees),” he told the board.
We just don’t have local lawyers. We have a lawyer shortage like every other rural county in Ohio.
Ashland Municipal Court Judge John Good
The levels of defendants seeking and/or eligible for appointed council are also on the rise, the judge said, citing economic reasons as a driving cause. By the end of August last year, Good had approved 180 individuals with court-appointed council.
This year he’s already approved 201 — a 21-case jump over the same timeline the previous year. Good said there’s four main drivers to the strain on the appointed council budget:
- Carrying bills from 2025 into 2026, taking funds away from this year’s budget.
- Increased case volume.
- More people asking for appointed council.
- Overall rise in cost.
“I’m literally down to two local lawyers,” he said. “I would say the other courts in this county gave up on appointing local lawyers a longtime ago. I haven’t.
“As you know, (I) strongly believe that Ashland County tax dollars should be spent in Ashland County.”
Despite his preference, Good said he’s had to look outside the county border for court appointed council — lawyers in places like Mansfield and Wooster. Using lawyers from outside the county also increases costs due to travel.
The municipal court currently pays about $75 per hour for a court-appointed lawyer.
“We try to set those out-of-town attorneys’ cases all on the same day in a big block so they’re not charging us to travel any more often than necessary,” the judge said. “But there’s only so much we can do. Our deadlines are short and we have to keep cases moving.
“We just don’t have local lawyers. We have a lawyer shortage like every other rural county in Ohio. It’s everywhere across the state.
“It’s a longterm problem. It’s not going to get any better. It’s going to get worse.”
The municipal court currently has three to four jury trials scheduled per week through January, Good said. It’s also not unlikely to have 50 hearings any given day.
‘Growth costs money,’ says Good
Annual reports from 15 to 16 years ago show the court averaged about 8,000 to 9,000 per year, still a relatively high volume for a one-judge court, Good said.
As the city of Ashland and county have continued to grow, specifically with increased housing, it increases the burden on the system, the judge said.
The Ashland County Sheriff’s Office used to file about 350 cases a year in municipal court, he said. That number has since ballooned to an average between 1,700 to 1,800.
“Growth costs money,” Good said. “We’re experiencing that. We’re experiencing additional costs because we have additional case load.”
The judge did present a few alternative methods for commissioners to consider regarding how the county handles court appointed council.
“We use a very traditional method. We appoint local attorneys when we can, and out-of-town attorneys when we have to, to represent these folks and then we pay them a reduced rate on their fees,” Good said.
Thirty-nine of Ohio’s 88 counties currently still operate within this method, he said, including Richland, Medina, Holmes and Morrow, among others.
Many larger counties have transitioned to utilizing a county public defender. In this instance, commissioners appoint a public defender who then hires a staff and attorneys and establishes a budget (partially reimbursed by the state).
Good said 29 counties, mainly those larger in size and more urban than Ashland County, currently use this method.
Ten other counties contract directly with the state’s public defender to establish a branch and perform the duties and responsibilities of providing appointed council.
Wayne, Knox and Delaware counties are a few who utilize the public defender method, the judge said.
“Whether it’s more cost efficient to the county, I really don’t know,” Good said.
“I suspect you’re going to find this (current, traditional method) is still the cheapest way to do it for a county our size,” he told the board. “I suspect you’re going to find it’s not even close, that appointing a county public defender would cost a lot more. But I really don’t know that.”
The board said it plans to research the alternative methods Good presented, possibly seeking input from commissioners in surrounding counties who may use a non-traditional method. Input from other county judges was also discussed as an effort moving forward.
“We have to look down 10 (to) 15 years as the county grows. Your (municipal) court is not going to get any slower,” Commissioner Denny Bittle said.
