MANSFIELD — The presence of Linda Frary and Gary Bishop were both in the room Thursday afternoon at the Richland County Administration Building.
As a ribbon was cut to mark the opening of a new Clerk of Courts office and meeting space for the prosecutor’s county grand jury sessions, the former elected officials were on the minds of those in attendance.
Both Frary and Bishop were in office when the Richland County Board of Commissioners began to make plans for the new spaces four years ago by ripping out the old county jail cells on “L2” at the courthouse.
Bishop died in May 2023 after a battle with cancer and Frary in January 2024 a year after being diagnosed with ALS.
Their successors, Clerk of Courts Denise Ruhl and Prosecutor Jodie Schumacher, were both in attendance on Thursday, just a few weeks after both won elections earlier this month to retain their seats for another four years.
“I think Linda would be very excited if she was able to be here today,” said Ruhl, who served as Frary’s deputy clerk for 18 years. “Today we all miss her so much and we know this would have been better with her here today.
“I hope she is looking down on us. It’s a proud moment for her, as well, but it’s also a bittersweet moment,” Ruhl said.
Schumacher, who served as Bishop’s first assistant prosecutor, praised her former boss and friend.
“Gary was a true public servant. He had victims at the forefront of his mind in every prosecution,” Schumacher said.
“I know victims and their rights were in every consideration of his, including the decisions he made, and the input he gave relating to this project,” she said.
“Gary is looking down delighted and with nothing less than a smile seeing the completion of this project,” Schumacher said.
‘It’s just the beginning’
The opening of the new offices is just the beginning of a building-wide renovation project that will include the construction of a new fourth courtroom for the Common Pleas Court General Division and new offices for the Richland County Land Bank, as well as renovated restrooms on all five floors and common areas.
“You really would have had to seen (L2) before to appreciate what an incredible transformation this space has taken,” Commissioner Cliff Mears said. “(We) recognize it’s the taxpayers’ space and we’re optimizing it.
“That being said, it’s just the beginning. This is phase one. This is just the beginning of a transformational process of the county courthouse. It’s going to make Richland County second-to-none in terms of courthouses within the State of Ohio,” he said.
Commissioner Tony Vero credited former Commissioner Marilyn John, now a state legislator representing the county in Columbus, for helping launch talks on how to repurpose the former jail space on “L2,” which sat idle since the new jail was opened in 2008.
“I love when I get to come home and do these types (of events),” John said, recalling the first time Bishop and former county maintenance supervisor Chuck Minnich invited her to look at how the old jail was being used for storage.
“I walked in and went, ‘Wow, this is really crazy the way we’re using the public space.’ It really belongs to the residents of Richland County. I have gotten to do a lot of fun things over the last 15 years and this is really right at the top,” she said.
“I’m so grateful to represent a county that is rocking and rolling like we are here in Richland County,” John said.
(Photos below from a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday afternoon for the new Richland County Clerk of Courts office and grand jury meeting space. The story continues below the images.)
‘It takes a village to renovate an office’
Commissioners have largely paid for the renovations through American Rescue Plan Act funds, though some money from their capital funds will also be expended in the second and third phases of the projects.
The three-member pane, including Commissioner Darrell Banks, have stressed no money has been borrowed to do the renovations of the five-story building constructed in 1968.
Vero thanked elected officials and others for attending the ribbon-cutting event.
“A politician standing where a jail was … insert a joke here … I understand that,” he said, crediting current maintenance supervisor Josh Hicks for helping lead the renovation efforts, as well as county administrator Andrew Keller.
“For those of you who have ever been in a room and think you’re pretty smart, you’re never the smartest person in the room if Andrew is in it. He has been instrumental of making sure the funding for this process was done properly and without borrowing money,” Vero said.
Ruhl said the day had been a long time coming.
“They say it takes a village to raise a child. It takes a village to renovate an office, as well. Everyone has been so patient so I thank all of you for hanging in there with me. It’s an exciting time,” Ruhl said.
“And now our (former) space will be turned into a fourth courtroom, so it’s a win-win across the board,” she said.
Schumacher said she was “immensely thankful” to have a dedicated office space for grand jury sessions, groups which meet in day-long sessions at least two days a week every two weeks.
“We’re immensely excited to be able to come to a dedicated area. I understand we’re still going to be sharing space and I am willing to share. I’m a team player. But to know we’re going to have a space that is both accommodating and private means a lot not only to my office, but should mean a lot to the residents of Richland County,” Schumacher said.
(Photos below show the old Richland County Clerk of Courts office, a courthouse bathroom and the windowless bottom floor room formerly used for county grand jury sessions.)
