Editor's Note:
This is the third part in a series of three stories that defines an attorney shortage issue across Ashland County and Ohio, and how local judges are responding. Part I was published on Monday, April 22. Part II was published on Tuesday, April 23.
Not too long ago, Juvenile and Probate Judge Karen DeSanto-Kellogg sent a young person to a detention center in a neighboring county. (Delinquents used to be housed in a detention center along Center Street. It shut down in June 2013.)
To avoid unnecessarily long stays in detention centers, attorneys representing delinquents can ask a judge to consider releasing a juvenile. That would have been the case for this youth, DeSanto-Kellogg said.
“We couldn’t find (an attorney) locally,” DeSanto-Kellogg said.
It meant the youth had to spend more time in detention than needed possibly.
“The case gets prolonged without an attorney … the longer it takes to get an attorney, the longer it takes for discovery, getting statements, etc. So we need access to attorneys.”
Sadly, it’s a common story, she said.
“We’ve had to do this several times … there’s a denial to justice for a juvenile who should have their day in court. Well, you can’t have your day in court without an attorney,” she said.
The judge also hears probate cases. In some of them, guardianships need to be established.
“Unfortunately, we have a significant amount of individuals who need guardianship who don’t have close kin who is willing to serve as a guardian. In those cases, we look to attorneys for that role,” she said.
More often that not the court cannot find local attorneys for those roles, she said.
DeSanto-Kellogg handles abuse and neglect cases, too. There were 19 in 2023, down from 23 in 2022. In those cases each parent gets an attorney, along with one each for the kids involved.
“You could have four or five attorneys in one case — well, that’s the whole bar,” she said, scoffing.
DeSanto-Kellogg graduated from Ashland High School in 1993. A Cleveland State University graduate, she was admitted to the Ohio bar in 2000. She then worked as an assistant prosecutor in Morrow, Richland and Ashland counties.
Before elected as juvenile and probate judge in 2020, she was a partner at the Ashland-based DeSanto and Kellogg Law Office, where she focused on family matters.
Ashland, she said, is home. It’s where she chose to raise a family of five children with her husband, Brian. She’s motivated, she said, to own the problem and find a local solution.
“But what can a judge do?” she said. “We’ve solidified it’s an issue. It’s caused us to have cooperative discussions on local solutions.
“We have some ideas, but they require some commitments from outside entities to make it happen.”
A potential answer
A bill signed into law in January 2023 created funding for what’s known as the Rural Practice Incentive Program. Simply put, it provides student loan repayments to young attorneys who work in “underserved counties.”
It’s not hard to find an underserved county in Ohio — there are 82 of them.
The program is orchestrated by the Ohio Department of Education. It’s been heralded by Supreme Court of Ohio Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy as a “wonderful new initiative” meant to improve Ohioans’ access to attorneys that can navigate complex legal issues in all facets of life.
“There is a clear need to foster efforts that drive new legal support to you and your communities,” Kennedy wrote in a letter sent to Stimpert and other judges across Ohio.
Eligible candidates include final-year law students and attorneys who have been practicing for fewer than eight years. They have to commit to a minimum of three years of service, for a total of $10,000 a year for a total loan repayment of $30,000, according to the program’s webpage.
Attorneys who want to continue can request to serve another two years on top of the initial three, for a total of up to $50,000 in loan repayments.
Jeff Robinson, ODE’s director of communications, said the program accepted applications for the first round of participants through March 15.
Statewide, the program received 120 applications. Of those, 104 were from licensed attorneys and 16 came from law students. Robinson declined to specify which law schools are represented in the applicant pool and where the applicants want to work.
No one, however, applied for a position in Ashland County, he said.
Stimpert, Good and DeSanto-Kellogg all acknowledge the rural incentive program sounds promising.
DeSanto-Kellogg called it a “tremendous opportunity.”
But she isn’t convinced it’s a magic bullet. The judge said she’s glad something is being tried. For her, the issue comes down to the heart — not money.
“We gotta go back in an earlier stage of young peoples’ education and help them understand the beauty and gift of public service. And staying in that field — not just long enough for a loan repayment,” she said.
The juvenile and probate judge reflected on what she’ll remember as her dad’s legacy. Most know Bob DeSanto as the prosecutor, the tenacious attorney. His daughter will remember his tenacity in serving his community.
Justice for all should be the main driver, DeSanto-Kellogg said.
“If you aren’t driven to justice for all people first — if that doesn’t keep you up at night — you’re not coming into this field. (Money) can’t make that.”
Part I was published on Monday, April 22. Part II was published on Tuesday, April 23.