A group of Plaintiff class action lawyers has filed lawsuits against numerous Ohio municipal clerks of courts alleging that municipal courts have systematically overbilled criminal and traffic court costs for many years. The Plaintiffs allege that municipal courts overbill criminal defendants by charging court costs for each criminal offense instead of charging court costs only once “per case”; and by charging costs on dismissed charges. Because the Plaintiffs are seeking recovery on behalf of thousands of individuals over a ten year period of time, the potential damages are substantial. On October 31, 2011, the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas ruled in favor of the Plaintiffs and against the Berea Municipal Clerk of Courts and issued an order which would have required the Berea Clerk to reimburse all persons who were overcharged court costs dating back to 1995. The Plaintiff class action lawyers thereafter attempted to use the ruling against the Berea Clerk to argue that other municipal courts were also required to refund court costs to thousands of criminal and traffic offenders. The Berea Clerk appealed, and on appeal several other municipal clerks intervened to file briefs supporting the position of the Berea Clerk.
On May 31, 2012, in the case of Michael Lingo v. State of Ohio, et al., 2012-Ohio-2391, the Ohio Eighth District Court of Appeals reversed and found in favor of the Berea Clerk and the other municipal court clerks who had intervened in the Berea lawsuit. The Ohio municipal clerks raised numerous defenses on appeal to argue that it was improper for Plaintiffs to utilize a class action lawsuit to re-open thousands of criminal cases that were never directly appealed. The Court of Appeals agreed with the municipal clerks and held that the criminal defendants should have appealed their convictions and court costs within 30 days. Because no such appeal was taken in a timely manner, the Court of Appeals ruled that the class action lawsuit was barred by the doctrine of res judicata; and the Court of Common Pleas did not have subject matter jurisdiction to hear a lawsuit which amounted to a belated appeal of municipal court criminal matters. The Court of Appeals recognized that additional potentially viable legal defenses, including judicial and governmental immunity, had been raised, but elected to not decide whether municipal clerks were protected by immunity because the ruling on res judicata and subject matter jurisdiction rendered all remaining legal defenses moot.
This class action litigation affects the operations of the hundreds of municipal and mayor’s courts throughout the State of Ohio. Because the Ohio Supreme Court has not yet decided the issues, it is anticipated that the Plaintiff class action lawyers will attempt an appeal to Ohio’s highest court.
Should you have any questions regarding this decision and its effect on municipal court operations, or if you have any other questions regarding Government/Public Entity Liability, please contact one of our Practice Group Members.
