Morning Journal/Stephanie Ujhelyi East Liverpool Municipal Court Judge Dominic Frank greets defendants during a video arraignment Thursday morning on his opening day of court.

EAST LIVERPOOL — The year 2020 brought a new vibe to the East Liverpool Municipal Court for the majority of attendees most agreed after a new judge took the bench.

Both attorneys, defendants and visitors have expressed fondness for the new relaxed atmosphere in the courtroom, which currently is located on the upper most level of East Liverpool city hall. It is more representative of Dominic Frank’s blue collar upbringing than the pomp and circumstance from his swearing-in earlier in the month.

In November, Frank, a defense attorney and former magistrate, defeated incumbent Melissa Byers-Emmerling overwhelmingly in the November general election, after she had a lock on the judgeship for decades.

Judge Frank acknowledged Friday that some aspects of the job had emerged as even more of priorities than he had envisioned during those opening days. For example, jail inmates who were transported from Columbiana County Jail for pretrials and preliminary hearings found themselves waiting more than two hours Thursday morning before getting their cases heard.

While part of it could be attributed to the presence of a new judge (Frank), new prosecutor (Don Humphrey, who replaced Katelyn Dickey who is now a county municipal court judge in Lisbon) and a relatively new public defender (Kathleen Bartnett herself only with weeks on the job in East Liverpool), much of it was due to the court’s tight schedule, where all five defendants were scheduled for 8:30 a.m. which would not allow them enough time to meet with their public defenders potentially before their cases ultimately would be called.

And, while the alleged wrongdoers, clad in jailhouse jumpsuits and shackles sitting in the front row of the court, awaited their time before Frank, the same could be said of required witnesses that lined the hallway outside the courtroom and clerk’s office. He acknowledged that the process definitely will need some work, and he hopes to streamline this in coming weeks after he gets the lay of the land. Critics have long complained about the wait for his predecessor to take the bench; however, it appears that some of this stemmed from the scheduling, which could be staggered.

In the case of these same witnesses, due to the lack of a permanent security checkpoint, anyone breaching the courtroom must be scanned by a handheld security wand by a bailiff before entering and some people were unaware of this requirement. Frank hopes to modify this in the future, especially considering a perfectly good security system sits still in the box on one of the city hall’s lower floors (unused).

Frank also said as the father of a military veteran, one of his top priorities is to institute some kind of veterans’ court program, like exists at other jurisdictions. The programs can vary in complexity from either a collaborative process that focuses largely on offering community-based support and rehabilitation of veteran defendants, such as nearby Mahoning County’s Honor Court, to something as simple as offering monthly space for veterans’ services personnel to hold office hours in a conference room at the courthouse as in Alliance Municipal Court.

Although he hasn’t finalized his plan of attack, Frank explained that it is part of his agenda as a judge. “We need programs that will help people like that, and I am very committed to this.”

He also wants to hone the existing drug and recovery courts, potentially expanding it and making it more successful for its participants. For this, Frank plans to meet with some of the SOS people next week. “The ultimate goal is to help them get their lives back, and I’m trying to change the perception of this court,” he added.

Relocation of the court also is still on his radar, especially after he visits some of the court personnel in their city hall digs. Judge Frank intends to start checking out his top contenters, hoping to find more space to not only move but park.

As of Friday, Judge Frank’s furniture in his office was somewhat minimal with a small wood table and computer stand with computer; however, he expected that to change by Monday as some friends will help him move in a desk and other necessities now that he has the key.

In the opening days, though, he is going through some of the old cases and releasing some from custody. For example, on Friday, he told of one defendant who has been incarcerated for more than 200 days on a driving under suspension charge. The man, who is a nonviolent offender, is expected to go home by the weekend, wrapping up his weekend.

Next week, Judge Frank will meet with staffers from the Columbiana County clerk of court’s and sheriff’s offices. “From my perspective, there are changes that I want to make. But it won’t happen overnight,” he concluded.