The general nature of crime hasn’t changed much over the past quarter century but the local court that handles the most serious of those cases has evolved considerably to meet an ever-increasing volume of cases and changing philosophy in how offenders are handled.
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Goslee readies for new role
Judge Mark S. O’Connor, right, and Judge William T. Goslee laugh Wednesday afternoon at Judge O’Connor’s retirement party in the Logan County Court Center. Judge O’Connor is stepping down after more than 26 years at the helm of the Logan County Common Pleas Court General Division and Judge Goslee will replace him, beginning Tuesday. (EXAMINER PHOTO | REUBEN MEES) “As a judge you have to have a sort of gallows sense of humor.” That’s one piece of judicial advice retiring Logan County Common Pleas Judge Mark S. O’Connor does not have to work too hard to impress upon his successor. In fact, William T. Goslee’s first statement upon being sworn in as a common pleas judge last week was a joke about the gallows. After acknowledging his family, friends and peers in the local legal community, Judge Goslee quoted Winston Churchill. “But whenever I feel this way I always remember that if, instead of making a political speech, I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big,” he joked. Read complete story Thursday’s Examiner. WEB EDITION |
Those changes were steered by Judge Mark S. O’Connor, who steps down this week after 261⁄2 years as Logan County Common Pleas Court General Division judge.
“We see the whole variety of the criminal spectrum,” the judge said a final interview before his retirement. “I don’t think the nature of the crimes has changed much; it just seems the volume has increased.
“We had a pretty active criminal docket when I was prosecuting cases back in the ’70s, but it was the same variety then as it is now. The only difference is that most cases have a drug component; that’s a common factor across the board.”
The criminal caseload alone is more than 2 1⁄2 times what it was when Judge O’Connor was first appointed to the bench in 1990. According to electronic court records, the General Division handled 140 criminal cases in 1990 compared to 360 filed in 2016.
The court also handles major civil litigation cases, which have increased from 233 filed in 1990 to 360 this year. The court’s workload, however, decreased in 2005 with the creation of a new Family Court, which assumed responsibility for domestic relations cases.
“One of the major changes I was involved in was getting another judge on the common pleas bench to be more responsive to the domestic relations docket,” Judge O’Connor said. “When (discussions) first started, there were two magistrates who heard most all of the cases and there was very little involvement by a judge.”
Read complete story Thursday’s Examiner.
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