GREENFIELD, Ohio — The Highland County Court’s Madison Township Division — the small-town bench that residents feared was on the chopping block just weeks ago — is set to remain open, with funding secured through 2027 and a new judge to be appointed by the governor when Judge John W. Judkins vacates the seat early next year.
The assurance comes on the heels of the court’s annual budget meeting with the Highland County commissioners, held Monday, according to Monica B. George, the court’s longtime clerk and administrator.
“On Monday, August 24, 2026, Judge Judkins and I met with the Highland County commissioners regarding the 2027 budget for the Highland County Court that I submitted back in June,” George told the Guardian. “This meeting takes place every year for the commissioners to ask questions about my submission and for me to respond with explanations.”
The routine sit-down carried extra weight this year. As the Guardian reported earlier this month, residents of Madison Township launched a grassroots “Save Our Court” campaign after county officials began weighing whether to close or relocate the Greenfield courtroom — the only bench serving the township’s 6,422 residents in the county’s northeastern corner. Judkins issued a forceful public statement opposing any closure, warning that shuttering the court would force residents into a 34-mile round trip to Hillsboro for even minor matters.
But George said Monday’s meeting produced no such reckoning. Instead, she said, commissioners raised only limited questions about the spending plan she filed in June.
“There were only a few questions on a couple of line items in which I had asked for an increase in the budget,” George said. “Contracts and services — I asked for a $500 increase to cover rising licensing fees for our court software, a $1,000 increase in travel and $2,500 increase to supplies, both of which are due to a new judge taking the bench in 2027.”
Those modest bumps — totaling $4,000 — stand in contrast to the sweeping fiscal review some residents feared. By the Save Our Court campaign’s accounting, the court cost the county’s general fund a net $120,454 in 2025, about 0.18% of Highland County’s $66.8 million budget.
George cautioned that the final figures are not yet locked in.
“Since the final county budget is not approved until closer to the end of the year by the commissioners, I cannot provide exact numbers at this time,” she said.
Still, she said the outcome of the meeting was clear.
“Having had this meeting regarding my 2027 budget submission, the court is set to remain open moving forward during this time,” George said.
A NEW JUDGE ON THE HORIZON
The budget lines George flagged for travel and supplies point to the transition ahead. Judkins, who won the May primary for a seat on the Highland County Common Pleas Court, appears on the Nov. 3 general election ballot and has said he will leave the county court bench in February 2027 upon assuming the higher office.
When the seat becomes vacant, the governor will appoint a successor to fill Judkins’ unexpired term, which runs through Dec. 31, 2030. Under Ohio law, gubernatorial judicial appointees must later stand for election to retain the seat.
That appointment will land on the desk of whoever occupies the governor’s office when the vacancy opens — a decision that will shape the Greenfield bench for years to come.
TWO DECADES AT THE COUNTER
George, who has become the institutional memory of the Jefferson Street courtroom, made a point of underscoring the court’s fiscal track record — and the commissioners’ role in scrutinizing it.
“Having served this court for 20 years, including 13 years as court administrator, I have consistently maintained operations within our allocated budget and will continue to do so,” she said. “I fully recognize that evaluating county operations and reviewing fiscal efficiency are core responsibilities of the commissioners. I appreciate the opportunity each year to have this discussion with them.”
The court, seated on the second floor of Greenfield’s municipal building at 300 Jefferson St., handled 976 cases in 2025 — 349 criminal, 428 traffic and 199 civil, including 17 evictions. Greenfield police filed roughly 80% of the criminal and traffic charges.
Court is held Monday, Wednesday and Friday beginning at 9 a.m. until adjournment. The clerk’s office is open to the public Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Thursday from 8 a.m. to noon.
