Judge Kovack Merits Re-election

(The Medina Sun - Granger, Medina, Medina Township, Montville)

EDITORIAL

Mary Kovack pledged to make the courts more accessible and friendly to its visitors when she was elected judge of Medina County's domestic relations court six years ago.  True to her word, she has instituted several programs intended to reduce family conflict and make the legal process more understandable and less expensive.  Some examples are the creation of a legal resource center, asupervised parenting time and exchange center, a case services assessment process and a new mediation program.

Her opponent in the November election is Kevin Dunn, a 42-year-old attorney from Westfield Center.  He challenges the effectiveness of Kovack's programs and calls for an expedited docketing method.  However, Kovack offers records that indicate her court terminates cases at a slightly higher rate than they are filed each year.  She also suggests that the use of visiting judges to handle some cases has been considerable cheaper than it would have been to maintain one of the court's magistrates who has been diverted to the new mediation program.

Kovack's new programs also seem to be in the mainstream of trends affecting courts around the state.  The 43-year-old Kovack is familiar with those trends through membership on the executive committee of the Ohio Judicial Conference and the Ohio Association of Domestic Relations Judges, of which she is president-elect.  She is also on the faculty of the Ohio Judicial College.