Modern courts have become problem solving courts.
Berlin Carroll gave a Civics 101 lesson at Monday's meeting. Berlin is the Court Administrator for both the Probate and Juvenile Divisions of Allen County Common Pleas Court and the President of the Ohio Association For Court Administration. He reviewed the three branches of government: legislative, executive and judicial and explained that the three branches of government were created to be independent and co-equal. That's important because it allows each branch of government to provide checks and balances on each other. "Our form of government is important to, 'We The People.'" The judicial branch interprets and defines the laws and makes sure they are constitutional. Berlin told us that in the past, courts primarily resolved disputes or criminal behavior, but modern courts tend to be problem solvers. "Right here in Allen County we have a drug court, we have a mental health court, and these are courts that take those social issues and work with those individuals in a very unique and direct way to make sure that they are returned to the community as productive and contributing citizens and not just a continuous burden on the tax payer." Berlin says court administrators like himself are "chaos coordinators." They wear many hats and keep the manage the business of operating the courts. Berlin says that to achieve excellence in the courts, they measure all outcomes on a regular basis to make sure they are always progressing.
Also at Monday's meeting, we inducted Amanda Moonen from Golden Reserve retirement planning as our newest member. Please make her welcome!
The club presented a check for $3,337.50 to the Lima Rotary Foundation. These funds have been collected from the voluntary donations you make on your quarterly invoices and will be used to help make a difference in our community and our world, so please be generous!
And we passed the bucket to raise funds to help with the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi and collected $250. Thank you!
