It was once not entirely uncommon in U.S. history for cities and
town to allow their mayor’s to serve as judges for lower courts;
New York City’s mayor is still referred to as “His Honor” to
reflect the office’s former authority. Most states, however,
have abandoned the practice, the most notable exceptions being
Louisiana and Ohio. It appears however that Ohio is set to
restrict the number of localities which are allowed to establish
such courts. HB 523, as passed by the Ohio House’s Judiciary &
Ethics committee, would increase from 100 to 1,000 the minimum
population a locality must have in order to establish a mayor’s
court. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, this would
eliminate 92 of 318 courts. SB 254, which was approved by the
Senate Judiciary committee, would increase the threshold from
100 to 200, closing no more than 6 courts. Again according to
the Beacon, this increase appears to be focused on one
particular town (Linndale, population 179). This effort is just
the latest effort in the last dec