Medina County Domestic Relations Court holds open house for newly renovated space

MEDINA — Medina County residents and public officials had the opportunity to visit the newly renovated Medina County Domestic Relations Court during an official open house on Wednesday. After work on the new courthouse was complete, the county began to renovate the 1841 courthouse, which housed the Domestic Relations Court. As a result, in January, the Domestic Relations Court temporarily relocated to the 1969 Courthouse while its former space was being renovated. "It was Judge (Mary) Kovack that wanted to stay in (the 1841) building and not move out," Domestic Relations Judge Julie Schafer said. "They made do with what they had." The Domestic Relations Court moved back into the 1841 Courthouse in August after the renovations were finished. She said the space is an improvement from what it was. In the past, a lot of people were jammed into a small amount of space, and that is not the case anymore. "We've got lots of meeting rooms that we did not have before," Schafer said. "Counsel can meet with their clients, and parties can actually sit down and have a meeting in a meeting room where they couldn't do that at all before. It's quite a big difference, and people actually have offices where they were sitting on top of each other before." The court is looking for more ways to decorate the space, she said. "We sent letters to all the schools in the county to the art teachers to ask them to have their students design artwork for us," Schafer said. "The theme would be what family means to me. The kids can make posters that we can print and hang." The open house was held as a way for the public to see what their taxpayer dollars were being spent on, she said. "I'm happy people came to see what the county did," Schafer said. "The money was well spent, so they should see that." Contact reporter Madisyn Woodring at (330) 721-4049 or mwoodring@medina-gazette.com.