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Court News Ohio
Retirees Bring
Life Experiences to Court as Volunteers
By Stephanie Beougher
November 24, 2015
Each Thursday morning, you’ll find 92-year-old Jack Kinsner at the Avon
Lake Municipal Court.
Kinsner is one of five volunteers who’ve retired from long-time
professions and now spends a day each week helping Judge Darrel
Bilancini and his bailiff with paperwork and other duties during court
days.
“I look forward to this because it’s something to do and I just enjoy
watching the judge and how he handles all these people. We get all
walks of life in here,” Kinsner said. “It’s an education, and we speed
up the court process.”
Judge Bilancini got the idea for volunteers in the courtroom from a
newspaper article about a similar program in another court, with the
initial thought it could help speed up the court process if the bailiff
didn’t have to leave the courtroom to escort defendants to the clerk’s
office. The added benefit is the unique skillsets each volunteer brings
to the courtroom.
“I know all of them so I know that they’re good people, kind people;
very professional, very caring. They want to be here because they want
to help out and they care for the people who are here,” Judge Bilancini
said.
Paul Benson has 40 years of sobriety and has connected defendants who
have alcohol and drug problems to recovery programs like Alcoholics
Anonymous.
Benson is inspired by the state motto, With God, All Things are
Possible, on the wall behind the bench: “I get here at seven and I sit
in that courtroom in the jury box and I look at that and think of the
four years how many people we’ve been able to help.”
Retired NASA engineer James Davis also feels he and his fellow
volunteers are helping defendants.
“People are not familiar with the court and are very nervous about it,
so you have an opportunity to kind of help them settle down and realize
that they’re going to be treated fairly,” Davis said.
“I feel like I have a whole new circle of friends,” retired teacher
Kathy Leopold said. “I have a whole set of knowledge (about the court)
that I didn’t know before.”
Dennis Morgan is on the volunteer team with Jack Kinsner: “I love it.
It gives me something to do. Gets me out of the house, and it keeps you
moving. I enjoy it.”
Judge Bilancini suggests if another judge is interested in replicating
the volunteer program: “I think the judge, assuming he had good friends
who are retired and liked to help people out, those would be the people
I’d look to.”
The volunteer team aids in the court process without putting a burden
on the budget – and adds to the homey atmosphere at the Avon Lake
Municipal Court.
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