Getting to know your Municipal judge candidates

SENECA COUNTY --- Voters are to decide against current Tiffin-Fostoria Municipal Court Judge Rhonda Best and challenger Jim Fruth this November in the General Election. Judge Best and Fruth were asked a series of questions: The following is more about each candidate and how they responded. Rhonda Best Born and raised in Tiffin, Ohio by Richard and Theresa (Keefe) Best. Judge Best is a lifelong member of Tiffin St. Mary Catholic Church and a 1996 graduate of Calvert High School. After high school, Judge Best graduated from Heidelberg University, then Heidelberg College, in 2002, with a bachelor's in English writing. In December 2005, she graduated with her Juris Doctorate from The University of Toledo, while raising two sons, Ammon and Isaac, who were only 5 and 3, and commuting to Toledo. After graduating from law school, Judge Best accepted a position at Seneca County Common Pleas Court – Probate Division, with the Honorable Paul F. Kutscher, Jr., as an investigator and staff attorney. In 2006, she was offered a position as a Seneca County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in the Felony Crimes Division, moving to the Civil and Juvenile Divisions in 2013. In 2018, Judge Best accepted a position in Crawford County as an assistant prosecutor in the Misdemeanor Division, a position that allowed her to learn new skills and ideas from a different court system. In 2022, Seneca County Prosecutor Derek W. DeVine asked Judge Best to return to Seneca County to replace two prosecutors in the Municipal Court. After the submission of candidates by the Seneca County Republican Central Committee, in November 2022, Gov. Mike DeWine appointed Judge Best to fill the vacant seat in Tiffin-Fostoria Municipal Court. Throughout her career, Judge Best has been active in the community, having been a board member of the First Step Domestic Violence Shelter in Fostoria and CROSSWAEH CBCF in Tiffin. Judge Best has been president of the Seneca County Bar Association and vice president of the Crawford County Bar Association. Judge Best is also a member of the Tiffin Kiwanis Club. In 2022, Judge Best created the Seneca-Wyandot-Crawford (SWC) Women's Bar Association as a collaborative effort to mentor young attorneys and recruit new attorneys to our rural areas in order to provide improved access to legal services to communities with fewer attorneys. While working as an assistant prosecutor, Judge Best also provided counsel to local communities as Solicitor, for the villages of Bloomville, Chatfield, and Nevada, and Special Prosecutor, for the cities of Upper Sandusky and Findlay and Seneca County while working full-time in Crawford County. Since being appointed, Judge Best has been certified by the Ohio Supreme Court for Participating in Victory of Transition (PIVOT) drug court and has completed several educational programs to improve the operations and services at Municipal Court. Additionally, through Judge Best's efforts, the Court was awarded funding from the State to improve access to justice for the community by way of an improved probation management system. In the May 2023 Republican primary, Judge Best received approximately 74% of the vote and received the nomination. Judge Best recently added a daughter-in-law, Alisha, to her family and currently lives in rural Seneca County, where she enjoys being involved in her church and community, and spending time with her family and several pets, including two beagles. 1 - How would you work to make court records more accessible? Best - Records in Municipal Court are already available to the public. We make sure that court-users have copies of records when they leave Court. I am also exploring case management systems that could provide online access to some documents, without disclosure of protected information. We are also working on improvements to the Court's self-help center for court-users looking to represent themselves in Municipal Court. The Court's docket is readily available on the website tiffinfostoriamunicipalcourt.org 2 - If you could change one thing about the functioning/operations of municipal court, what would it be and how would you accomplish that change if you were elected? Best - Since being appointed last year, I have been diligently working with the staff to provide friendly, respectful, more accessible, and efficient service to the public. By having more hands-on interaction with the parties, cases are resolved with fewer interruptions in the court users' everyday lives. We have revived the unused text messaging system to provide reminders of court hearings, and I pursued, and was awarded, a technology grant to update the probation system that will allow electronic updates to court users' contact information to ensure that notices are routed to current addresses and phone numbers. These adjustments cut down on unnecessary hearings and warrants, allowing for lower total court costs and fewer missed working hours for the litigants. This new system also allows sharing of information between probation departments at different courts, cutting down costs and better time management for court employees and court users. 3 - What do you have to say to the voters on why you should be elected? Best - I should be elected because I am the best candidate for this position. Why? Since being appointed almost a year ago, I have been dedicated to providing an open and fair court for the jurisdiction's citizens. We are not just pushing numbers through the court system. We are working with all people, who should have a thorough understanding of the process and their rights. This is true for victims, defendants, and ALL participants in court proceedings. As Judge, I take the time to explain the process and rights involved. Additionally, I have been able to assemble a lengthier list of attorneys willing to represent indigent individuals in Municipal Court. In recent years, the number of attorneys available for appointments in this court has dwindled down to only a few. 4 - If you are elected, how will you address issues in our criminal justice system? Best - If elected, I will continue the positive changes we have been making. Probation services will include more hands-on assistance to court users when working through the intimidating BMV system, hopefully resulting in fewer people driving in our community without valid licenses. As Judge, I have instituted a Driving Under Suspension docket. There are so many individuals in our community who started with one or more suspensions 20 years ago, and, for many different reasons, ended up with driving under suspension charges. After receiving hefty fines and BMV fees, they remain suspended due to their inability to pay. I have been working with these folks toward the goal of having a valid license. These individuals come to court monthly or bimonthly and demonstrate what they've been doing to resolve the issues. I am also looking forward to providing opportunities for people to become productive citizens after serving time in jail, including higher education opportunities and vocational training. Currently, I preside over PIVOT every Thursday, and I am proud to say that I have worked hard to restore this court's relationship with PIVOT, as it has not been at Municipal Court for multiple years. 5 - Through your work, how do you plan to assure the community that they can trust the justice system? Best - Municipal Court is the community's court. People from all walks of life find themselves in court for various reasons. I intend to continue expanding access to our court and will explore additional methods to utilize the court's resources to assist people before their concerns or issues become far larger problems. Municipal Court is in the best position in the Criminal Justice System to help the community, and I have already made strides toward returning it to that purpose and look forward to continuing my service to our community. I have demonstrated this through my actions in and out of the courtroom. I have appeared before many different judges throughout my career, and those who left the greatest impact were those who found a balance, tough when necessary but never forgetting that the system is made up of regular people who need someone to hear them. As a prosecutor, I had a reputation throughout several counties for being tough, but fair. People often expressed gratitude for having been treated fairly and respectfully, even when discussing punishment. As Judge, I do my best to listen to all of the parties and determine an outcome that protects the public and victims but also allows for growth, change, and rehabilitation when the situation calls for it. My philosophy is that we need to get it done right, not necessarily done right now, if rushing a case through court could result in a violation of someone's rights or create avoidable risk for the public or a victim. Jim Fruth Jim has had a lifelong interest in community involvement, which he comes by naturally as the son of a pastor and a career nurse. After obtaining his bachelor's degree from Heidelberg in 1992, Jim graduated from law school at Capital University in 1995 and passed the bar exam the same year. Soon, Jim returned to Seneca County to practice law. Together with his wife, Tiffany, and their two children, they are pleased to be a part of this community, and have invested a great deal of time and energy in public service. Besides practicing law for nearly 28 years, Jim served Heidelberg as an adjunct professor in political science, criminal law, and communications for 15 years. He has served on the board of the Teen Center for 15 years, has been a member of the Tiffin Rotary Club for 23 years, including serving as its president in 2005-2006, and has been a member of the Tiffin Men's University Club since 2018, and was a member of the cast of the Ritz Players production of "To Kill a Mockingbird" in 2019. Jim served as a member of the city of Tiffin Charter Review Commission in 2000, and was solicitor for the Village of Green Springs from 2004-2008. For the last eight years, Jim has been President of the Seneca County Bar Association. He is an 18-year member of the Facility Governing Board of the CROSSWAEH Community Corrections Facility and is currently its chair. Finally, Jim served the community on the Seneca County Board of Elections for 11 years. He was board chair when the Board of Elections upgraded both its facilities and the voting equipment and the office earned several statewide awards. Jim has a strong interest in baseball and U.S. history, particularly the Civil War and World War II and popular culture. 1 - How would you work to make court records more accessible? Fruth - While public records must be made available as required by law, certain information must be kept confidential including, for instance, social security numbers. No matter what, the court must follow the requirements of Marsy's Law to protect crime victims. Tragically, a couple of months ago, the court failed to protect the identity of a young teen who was the victim of a very violent crime. The court's policies and procedures need to be examined and corrected so crime victims are not revictimized at the courthouse. 2 - If you could change one thing about the functioning/operations of municipal court, what would it be and how would you accomplish that change if you were elected? Fruth - I will bring back monthly hearings to find out why convicted criminals are not paying their court fines. I will not give criminals a free pass to pay their debt to society. I intend to institute a community service program to allow people who have legitimate financial problems to work off their obligation by serving the public. Also, most other area Municipal Courts have some night court sessions. Findlay and Upper Sandusky do it. We used to. I intend to do what I can to bring it back. In a time when people work multiple jobs and have a tough time making ends meet, the court ought to make itself available to ease the burden of missing work or arranging for daycare. 3 - What do you have to say to the voters on why you should be elected? Fruth - Municipal Court is the court most people are likely to experience, and I have served as acting judge for the court and have presided over criminal cases, traffic cases, landlord-tenant cases, civil disputes, and small claims matters already. I also have developed the experience necessary to manage an office. During my time on the Seneca County Board of Elections, we successfully managed our budgets, lived within our means, and dealt with state and federal unfunded mandates. Our office received state awards and was a credit to our taxpayers. 4 - If you are elected, how will you address issues in our criminal justice system? Fruth - The court must tirelessly fight the war on drugs, substance abuse, and violence. The PIVOT Program is a wonderful resource, but is severely underused. So far in 2023, only six Municipal Court defendants have been accepted into PIVOT. PIVOT does not accept people who use medical marijuana, but the Municipal Court currently allows convicted criminals on probation to use medical marijuana. Therefore, a large number of people who would benefit from PIVOT are made ineligible by the court's permissiveness. The Municipal Court must get on the same page with Judge Shuff and Judge Alt so people who desperately need PIVOT services will receive them. 5 - Through your work, how do you plan to assure the community that they can trust the justice system? Fruth - Trust is earned and, once lost, is difficult to restore. It will take time to rebuild what was lost. At a time when the public's confidence in all facets of government is at an all-time low, I will work tirelessly to prove that the justice system is fair. Also, I will work to reduce the Court's usage of retired judges from other communities. When people appear for Court, it should be a rare exception that someone other than their Judge is hearing their case. Having an assortment of judges from other towns hear our cases makes it likely that cases will be handled differently. *Editor's note: Content provided has been edited for space.